New Wednesday Study || God's Pattern of Creation, by W. Robert Godfrey

God’s Pattern For Creation

New Study, 7PM on Wednesday

---

This Wednesday we’ll begin a new study. We’ll be reading and discussing Robert Godfrey’s book God’s Pattern For Creation: A Covenantal Reading of Genesis 1. You can pick up a copy here. This coincides with our ongoing sermon series through Genesis 1-11.

There has been a glut of books on creation. So why are we reading this one? There are a handful of reasons. One is that Dr. Godfrey is writing to a group just like ours, reformed Christians comprised mostly of lay people. He is writing for an astute reader, but not a trained theologian.

Another is that Dr. Godfrey is writing constructively. His book builds a case for a particular reading of Genesis 1 by looking primarily to scripture. His work is not seeking to settle any debate, or to serve as a rejoinder to any other work. Instead, Godfrey wants us to look closely at scripture, and leads us there again and again. Many books among the gallons of ink spilled on this topic are quite polemical. They are seeking to prove their case against some other case. Dr. Godfrey avoids this pitfall by focusing on scripture and treating other views both generously in tenor and sparingly in practice. His focus is on understanding the written word of God, not on the debate of the age.

Lastly, we’re working through this book so that we might all pay closer attention to Genesis. Dr. Godfrey connects Genesis 1 to the rest of the book, and helpfully draws out principles for interpreting Genesis 1 that will serve all of us as readers of the whole of the Bible.

What is in it?

The book is brief and simple. There’s an introduction and three chapters. The first chapter covers days one through three, the second days four through seven, and the third chapter and conclusion draw the threads of the close interpretation of Genesis 1 into what it is and isn’t teaching us.