HOME   FRAMEWORK   READING   GYM

The Framework Interpretation of Genesis One

Here are two files (a main paper and an addendum) that discuss my research on how to interpret the text of Genesis chapter one.  My conclusion is that the Framework Interpretation (aka Framework Hypothesis) is the best interpretation.


Genesis One and Beyond: An Investigation of the Temporal Questions of Creation in the Biblical Texts
This is the main paper.
- HTML format (web format)
- PDF format
- PDF format with footnotes (footnotes better than endnotes!)


One, Two, Three, and an Ordinal for Thee - Grammatical Irregularities, Definitions, and Genesis One
(a critique of a paper by Andrew Steinmann entitled "ECHAD as an Ordinal Number and the Meaning of Genesis 1:51")
This was an addendum written later.
- HTML format (web format)
- PDF format
- PDF format with footnotes



Here is a summary of why I think the literary Framework Interpretation is to be preferred over both the standard Young-Earth and Day-Age interpretations.

1. The two-triadic literary framework in Genesis 1.

2. The evidence that Day 4 is a return to the events of Day 1 and describes in more detail how God separated the light from the darkness.

3. The principle of continuity, showing that God established the ordinary means of sustaining a creation before he created it.

4. The argument from semantics showing that the days must mean normal solar days. Neither abnormal non-solar 24-hour periods nor long ages can be considered within the semantic range of the Genesis 1 creation 'days'.

4b. (not in the papers, but same principle) The argument from semantics concerning 'evening' and 'morning' shows that the days must mean normal solar days. Neither abnormal non-solar 24-hour periods nor long ages can be considered to fit with the very narrow semantic ranges of these words, that refer to the time of day when the sun rises/sets.

5. The metaphorical interpretation of the Exodus 20/31 passages is most consistent with the FI view on Genesis 1.

6. The eternal nature of the seventh day requires a metaphorical interpretation.

7. Moses purposely avoided using the standard grammatical pattern of enumerating time periods in his construction of the Genesis narrative.

The most straightforward explanation for Moses avoiding the time-period-enumeration pattern is that he did not intend to enumerate time periods, but was constructing a narrative according to a literary framework. This finding is an additional support for the Framework Interpretation and cuts against those interpretations that espouse a time-period-enumeration view such as the 24-hour and Day-Age views. [from the addendum]

Depending on the volume of email I get, I'll eventually try to put up some answers to the most frequent questions I get.  Email me at bbhotm@hotmail.com  I make no promises on response time!


Links:
Framework Interpretation information at The Upper Register - look around Lee Irons' site, lots of good stuff

Space and Time in the Genesis Cosmogony by Meredith Kline
Because It Had Not Rained by Meredith Kline
Because it Had Rained by Mark Futato [Part 2]


HOME   FRAMEWORK   READING   GYM