Faith and Fossils: The Bible, Creation, and Evolution

by Lester L. Grabbe

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2018

Overview

Many books have been written on the Bible and evolution by scientists, but this volume is written by a biblical specialist. In Faith and Fossils, Lester Grabbe, a prominent Hebrew Bible scholar, examines the Bible in its ancient context and explores its meaning in light of emerging scientific evidence.

Journeying from the Bible Belt to the premier centers of higher education, Grabbe grapples with who we are and where we came from. Both the Bible and the fossil record raise significant questions about what it means to be human. Written in uncomplicated language and featuring spectacular full-color photographs, Faith and Fossils brings science and faith into creative conversation.

Key Features

• Includes photographs to help illustrate the discussion of this difficult topic
• Presents an engaging discussion of Christianity and science
• Written in an accessible manner with uncomplicated language

Contents

• Part I: A Scholar's Story
  • From Bible Belt to Bible Scholar: The Journey Begins
  • Creation in the Bible: The Ancient Near East and the Beginnings of the World
  • The Flood Story: Mesopotamian Parallels
  • “After Its Kind”: Genetics and Evolution
• Part II: Evangelicals and Evolution
  • A Shifting Conversation: Science and Religion
  • . Science and Faith: The Believing Scientist
  • Genesis Reconsidered: How We Got the Bible
• Part III: Adam and Human Ancestry
  • Homo Neanderthalensis, Homo Denisova, and Homo Sapiens: Deep Ancestry
  • The Adam Debate: An Iconic Human
  • . “In Our Image”: Reflections of a Biblical Scholar

Top Highlights

“The writer of Genesis 1 has turned the Babylonian version on its head” (Page 16)

“The sooner we jettison our categories when we approach the text, the better we can appreciate it on its own terms. There is nothing in the chapter that suggests any advanced knowledge of cosmology, astronomy, geology, biology, or physical reality. As we have seen, the author’s understanding of astronomy has the earth with a basin covering it in which are embedded the sun, the moon, and stars that somehow travel or move with the sphere of the disk of the earth. The writer knows nothing of solar systems, galaxies, red giants, white dwarfs, interstellar clouds, or supernovas.” (Page 13)

“The value of Genesis 1 is theological, and for nurturing the life of faith. It did not ever express itself as empirical science.” (Page 13)

“The cosmological picture given to us is of a return to the primitive watery chaos that prevailed before creation” (Page 43)

“the Hebrew God, YHWH, is sovereign over the gods of Babylonian mythology, which here become no gods at all.” (Page 16)

Product Details

• Title: Faith and Fossils: The Bible, Creation, and Evolution
• Author: Lester L. Grabbe
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 196
• Christian Group: Evangelicals
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Topic: Science

About Lester L. Grabbe

Lester Grabbe (Ph.D. Claremont) is Professor of Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism at the University of Hull, UK. He is the author of Wisdom of Solomon in this series, Good Kings and Bad Kings and A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period, Vol. 1 (included in the Second Temple Period Collection) and Can a “History of Israel” be Written? (included in the Studies in Old Testament Themes).