Genesis 1:14-19 - Let their be lights in the vault of the sky

1:14-19

We now come to the fourth day. On this day the stars, sun and moon are introduced. All of this chapter takes a very geocentric view, i.e. it focuses on the earth. It is clearly quite at odds with the scientific view. The most common approaches to dealing with this situation are: (i) discount Genesis as a load of nonsense; (ii) discount modern science as a load of nonsense; (iii) try and manipulate what Genesis “is saying” (assuming it is giving a scientific, or partly scientific explanation) and what science says. I have given a very broad brush description here, and I do realise that the approaches are more subtle than this. However, I do think that the answer is that God is not giving a scientific explanation in the way that we think of science, but that the whole emphasis is on purpose and order. Genesis 1 and 2 has sometimes been described as being polemical, i.e. countering the prevailing view in the culture of the time, which was essentially one of the world coming out of chaos and wars between gods. The chapter also counters the tendency to look at the stars, sun and moon from an astrological viewpoint. I.e. the stars determined our future. The truth is that they were put there by God, and they do help mark off the seasons.