The following article is the eighth installment in a series of blog posts by several thoughtful Adventist writers, bloggers, scholars, and theologians on the 28 fundamental tenets of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. (Readers will note that the installments of this series do not follow the chronological order of the 28 beliefs.)
This series of posts (dubbed Camp Meeting 2.0) organized by the Spectrum Blog is working through all 28 fundamental beliefs seeking to answer the following question:
How do each of our Seventh-day Adventist fundamental beliefs translate into habits or actions today?
This installment draws out spiritual practices that emerge from an understanding of the creation narrative found in Genesis. It's author, Jared Wright, is pursuing a Masters of Divinity degree from La Sierra University in California, and is the author of the Adventist Environmental Advocacy blog."In the beginning God created..."
For Seventh-day Adventists, the Genesis creation narrative comes first, both chronologically as well as in terms of doctrinal significance. The creation story provides a framework for many of the themes that emerge throughout the Scriptures – a context for the human-divine relationship, a foundation for human interpersonal relationships, a basis for Sabbath-keeping, and a precedent of stewardship.
The authors of Adventism’s definitive (read officially endorsed) work on SDA fundamental tenets, “Seventh-day Adventists Believe,” had this to say about the foundational role of Creation theology:
“People are tempted to ignore the doctrine of Creation. ‘Who cares,’ they say, ‘how God created the earth? What we need to know is how to get to heaven.’ Yet the doctrine of a divine Creation forms ‘the indispensable foundation for a Christian and biblical theology.’ A number of fundamental biblical concepts are rooted in the divine Creation.”[1]
The question of primary interest in this series is “how do each of our Seventh-day Adventist fundamental beliefs translate into habits or actions today?”
This article will examine the statements of belief set forth in the sixth Adventist fundamental belief, Creation, through the lens of translating belief into practice. The sixth fundamental belief states:
God is Creator of all things, and has revealed in Scripture the authentic account of His creative activity. In six days the Lord made "the heaven and the earth" and all living things upon the earth, and rested on the seventh day of that first week. Thus He established the Sabbath as a perpetual memorial of His completed creative work. The first man and woman were made in the image of God as the crowning work of Creation, given dominion over the world, and charged with responsibility to care for it. When the world was finished it was ``very good,'' declaring the glory of God. (Gen. 1; 2; Ex. 20:8-11; Ps. 19:1-6; 33:6, 9; 104; Heb. 11:3.) [2]
God is Creator
From our understanding of God as the Creator flows our practice of worship. Worship is rooted in who God is and what He does. Throughout Scripture, the pattern of worship finds its basis in a God who creates, from the Psalms which proclaim, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well,"[3] to Revelation: “Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."[4] Worship is the practice of honoring God not only for what he has done, but also what he continues to do and will do.
Of all the creation myths handed down from ancient times, the Judeo-Christian faith tradition affirms the Genesis narrative. While the biblical account of origins bears similarities to other creation stories that emerged from Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece, there are some notable differences – differences that can be very instructive for Christian practice. Whereas other accounts were full of violence and warring deities, the Genesis narrative conveys peace, the necessity of human relationships (“it is not good for the man to be alone…”), and an unprecedented intimacy with the divine.
Sabbath As A Perpetual Memorial
Adventists trace the practice of Sabbath-keeping to the close of the creation week when God rested from the work of his hands. As human beings, we derive a sense of satisfaction and perhaps even a sense of importance from the work that we do. And yet it is precisely when we follow God’s injunction to cease working that we are able to fully appreciate the work that God does. The practice of Sabbath-keeping is rooted in the realization that, ultimately, the work that gives us true value and meaning is not the work that we ourselves do (indeed it is not work that we can do). Rather, we find our truest identity in the work that God has done and continues to do. In a paradoxical way, it is only when we stop working and find rest and meaning in God’s work on our behalf, that we are able to realize our potential as human beings. It is significant, then, that the first full day that the first man and woman experienced on earth, according to the Genesis narrative, was a day of rest – a day to experience, enjoy, and relish all the work that God had done for no other purpose than to bless them.
Made in God's Image
While the nature of humanity is not the focus of this article (that topic will be dealt with separately later in this series), it is worth noting a few of the practices that emerge from our understanding of God’s creation of human beings. The creation story reveals striking details about the making of humans. When God created the heavens and the earth and everything in them, he commanded from a distance, and things appeared. However, in creating people, God formed with his hands, and breathed with his mouth, and created a living being. The sense of closeness and intimacy with which God created humans set them apart from the rest of creation. In addition, the Scriptures say that unlike anything else in Creation, the man and women were made in God’s likeness. This reveals that God honored humans above all else. God later revealed the full extent of the value placed on humans when “the word was made flesh and lived among us.” In becoming human, God honored humanity in the highest way possible.
Out of these beliefs flows the practice of honoring the body. If God regarded human bodies in their entirety (physically, mentally, and spiritually) so highly, we likewise have an obligation to treat our own bodies and those of others with dignity and honor as bodies created by God. In addition, when we see all humanity as being made by God in God’s own likeness, we see all humans as deserving of our highest respect. That is true regardless of gender, regardless of nationality, and regardless of religion or creed. All humans are made by God in his likeness.
As soon as human beings appear in the creation account, God charges them with the task of caring for creation. “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”[5] This theme appears throughout Scripture and follows a pattern of creation and care – God creates, and then entrusts what he creates to the care of human beings. Further examples of this pattern are found in Jesus’ charge to Peter to care for his sheep and lambs, and in the “Great Commission” in Matthew 28. In both cases, Jesus handed over what he created to his followers’ for care. From the very beginning, humans have been charged with stewardship of God’s creation. In that light, environmental concerns cannot be construed as being part of a political agenda, but rather, caring for our earth is a fundamental responsibility of all people.
Creation Care
Taking care of God’s creation isn’t simply a matter of using resources in a responsible manner, it means treating the earth in such a way that human impact betters our environment. Jesus drew out this principle in his parable of talents given to several servants. Clearly, when God gives, He provides opportunities for betterment and improvement of His gifts. (It’s interesting to think that even after God saw that all He had made was “good”, there was room for people to continue to improve it!) The imagery employed in Genesis of God’s spirit hovering over the earth is very similar language to the words Jesus used when he described a mother hen brooding over its chicks. The imagery is not primarily one of protection, but rather of moving over and stimulating to life and growth – making it all come alive! Considering that imagery, it seems that implicit in the account of God’s creating is a strong sense in which this creation must be preserved, stimulated and fostered. Creation care not only implies environmental stewardship, but also careful attention to all created things: plants, animals, and people.
And It Was Good
When God found words for what He had made, He said, “It is Good.” Such a simple proclamation is easy to gloss over, and yet it has profound implications for how we practice. God affirmed goodness. It went without saying, it would seem, and yet God proclaimed creation “good.” The practice of affirmation has to do with finding and acknowledging what is good. Words can have a powerful transformational effect, and affirmation of good certainly transforms not only our outlook on life, but indeed life itself. Concerning affirming the good, Paul wrote, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”[6]
Creation Reveals God's Glory
Nature is often considered God’s second book, because like the Scriptures, Creation reveals God. A very influential member of the early Adventist community had this to say about the way in which Nature reveals God:
Nature and revelation alike testify of God's love. . . The sunshine and the rain, that gladden and refresh the earth, the hills and seas and plains, all speak to us of the Creator's love. It is God who supplies the daily needs of all His creatures. In the beautiful words of the psalmist--
“The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing." Psalm 145:15, 16.[7]
When we consider the ways that God communicates to us through the natural world, it becomes evident that caring for what God has made is not only about protecting endangered species and delicate habitats, creation care is also about preserving God’s voice that speaks to us in the world around us. In that light, such mundane acts as reducing consumption, reusing rather than throwing away, and recycling used materials can become spiritual practices that preserve God’s voice by protecting Creation from pollution and degradation. Creation care is a way in which we pay attention to and work to preserve the many, many ways God reveals Himself to us. Then as we listen, we find that
“The heavens [still] declare the glory of God;
the skies [continue to] proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.[8]
[1]Seventh-day Adventists Believe: A Biblical Exposition of Fundamental Doctrines (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Assoc, 1988), p. 73
[2] Fundamental Beliefs (http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/fundamental/index.html) retrieved 7.22.2007
[3] See Psalm 139:13-16
[4] Revelation 14:7b
[5] Genesis 2:15
[6] Philippians 4:8
[7] White, E.G., Steps To Christ (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Assoc, 1893), pg. 9
[8] Psalm 19:1-3
8 comments:
Thanks Jared, for such a beautiful, thoughtful response to belief number six. It is the belief that has caused much debate of late. Your take on it is truly refreshing. I like the idea that God wants us to improve the gifts that He has given. Creation Care as a way of worship puts new meaning into a walk by the lake picking up trash along the way and other small acts of caring about the environment.
Awesome treatment of the Creation Theology.
I especially liked how you extricated stewardship over the earth from a political action to an ethical imperative. It sidesteps the whole argument against political involvement and places the concern squarely in the faith of believers. Awesome.
Thank you for the contribution.
Thanks Jared! Three questions: (1) What does creation theology tell us about the proper relationships between men and women? (2) How should we respond to those who say that the doctrine of creation is partly responsible for the environmental crisis because it chases all the gods out of the natural world? (3) Do all non-human beings exist only for our purposes or does God value them apart from their usefulness to us? Thank you!
Yeah, very appropriate and worthwhile questions. When the authors of the fundamentals opined that this particular doctrine was a foundation for many (or most) of the others, they were right!
There are probably countless tangents and implications worth exploring that arise from a few verses in the opening pages of Scripture.
For what it's worth, my answer to the second question would be along these lines:
According to the Christian sacred texts, God entrusted all that he made into the care of people (the concept of Stewardship). It has always been up to us to care for what God makes. In that light, issues of disasters like famines, genocide, global warming, and environmental crises are more indicative of human failure to live up to our charge to be stewards, and less indicative of the absence of God (or gods).
But I tend to doubt the efficacy of that line of thinking to placate many people.
Good responses! But I want to nudge you a bit more. As you understand it, are male superordination and female subordination expressions of God's Good Creation or are they consequences of The Fall? Thanks1
Thanks Jared.
So much time and money has been spent within Adventism on the issue of Creation, yet the ethical dimensions -- global warming is a moral issue -- escape notice.
All too often, the old guard rails against the dubious anti-human "agenda" among those who take evolution more seriously than not, and yet they remain mum on the anti-creation agenda by oil, auto, and tobacco corporations.
Too many Adventist leaders are stuck in the old spotted owl, don't litter debates of the last generation -- barely comfortable enough to recycle without seeming like a "tree hugger" to their friends. In light of that, I salute the Review for printing this essay by CaUC science chair : Adventists and Global Warming.
Unfortunately, as the Review notes, the church and its media has not yet taken an official position on global warming.
And more unfortunately, the Review does not print the official church statement on the creation care, which is a good first step.
To keep climate change within bearable limits, the emissions of greenhouse gasses, especially carbon dioxide (CO2), need to be significantly reduced. Industrialized countries are the main source of these emissions, while the first victims are the small island states and low-lying coastal countries.
Despite the clear risks, governments appear slow to act.
The world membership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church requests that the governments concerned take steps necessary to avert the danger:
1) By fulfilling the agreement reached in Rio de Janeiro (1992 Convention on Climate Change) to stabilize carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2000 at 1990 levels,
2) By establishing plans for further reductions in carbon dioxide emissions after the year 2000, and
3) By initiating more forcefully public debate on the risks of climate change.
Alex,
Thanks for those comments. I agree that not only the Adventist Church, but also the US government is very slow to take on issues of climate change and take proactive measures to combat them.
I am convinced that the Adventist Church would increase its relevance and its witness to the world 10 fold...maybe 100 fold, by putting our best scientific minds to work in finding ways to combat climate change and to encourage and enable sustainable energy instead of squandering our collective brainpower and manpower on trying to prove the veracity of events that ultimately have no bearing on forwarding God's kingdom on earth.
(I shied away from that type of opinion in the article in order to make it more publishable should this series ever go to press.)
As for Larson's second question, I haven't been ignoring it, but rather moving into a new apartment in Riverside over the last two days.
I would probably defer to people like Trisha and those who have really worked out the implications of the creation story in terms of male / female dominance and subordination.
I would say this (and mentioned it in brief in the article):
If we really believe that *all* people equally bear God's image or likeness, then it really leads to the conclusion that all people share the same status as far as authority and subservience go. I see nothing in the creation narrative that suggests superordination or subordination. I may be missing something, but I don't see it there.
As far as animals go, I strongly reject the idea that God-given dominon ever implies the right to exploit or to use *anything* for whatever purposes suit us best.
The kind of dominion I see referred to in the creation story is that of care-taking, cultivating, and fostering. But I suppose I already said that...
Yes, a well written challenge on our moral imperative towards all that made by our creator God. I agree with this great post (and ensuing comments) on creation care.
-johnny
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