Download PDF In the Beginning, GOD: Creation, Culture, and the Spiritual Life, by Marva J. Dawn
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In the Beginning, GOD: Creation, Culture, and the Spiritual Life, by Marva J. Dawn
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With the grace and insight for which she is known, Marva Dawn shows how the opening pages of the book of Genesis rivet our attention on God, calling us to worship and to praise. The repeated words, phrases, and actions themselves beckon us into a rhythm of worship which touches our very souls. By focusing on God, we become different people--not by trying to perfect a technique or follow a set of rules, but by allowing who God is to form who we are. As a result, our attitudes and actions change toward the world God has created. Our desire for justice swells. Relationships between men and women are transformed. The consequences of not centering on God are tragic for creation and culture. Yet here Dawn helps us see anew the grace He offers to overcome our rebellious and wandering hearts. Join in this celebration of praise for the difference God makes.
- Sales Rank: #801157 in Books
- Brand: InterVarsity Press
- Published on: 2009-08-08
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.25" h x .40" w x 5.50" l, .35 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 124 pages
From Publishers Weekly
In this eclectic work, which combines relaxed scholarly analysis with theological reflections, personal anecdotes, exclamations of praise and interwoven prayers, theologian and educator Dawn (Joy in Divine Wisdom) argues, in an informal, conversational tone, that today's narcissistic culture distorts biblical reading by focusing on humanity rather than God. Applying a hermeneutics of adoration to the Genesis creation accounts, Dawn suggests that a foundational trust in God's steadfastness will result in an increased desire to worship God, while also accepting God's mystery. Stating a desire to try to get Christians not to fight about Genesis, Dawn offers her own analysis of contentious topics, such as Eve's role in the Fall, human sexuality and the nature of sin. Although vague subheadings and numerous references to other sections give the book a choppy, unsophisticated feel, Christian educators and worship leaders may appreciate Dawn's intriguing analysis of the creation stories as a hymn of praise, and the chapter Keeping the Sabbath Wholly invites sober reflection for harried faithful. (Aug.)
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Review
"This book is a successful example of believing exegesis, well researched and yet accessible to all." (James Chukwuma Okoye, The Bible Today, March 2010)
"Both Marva Dawn and her book are bold, uncompromising, insightful, imbued with humility and fraught with excitement. Chapter by chapter, she drives the focus off of selfish agendas and on to worship. At the core, In the Beginning, God is about spiritual formation, a call to reorient our thinking away from ourselves and around the worship of God. Dawn points us to first things first, inviting us to see the pattern of praise in the order of creation." (Worship Leader, July/August 2009)
"One of her best-written books to date. Sure to spark serious discussion; she does not fit into tidy categories of left or right, liberal or conservative, and that makes her writing all the more intriguing and refreshing." (Arthur Paul Boers, Congregations, Winter 2010)
"The wisdom and care in these few pages reminds me of Eugene Peterson's writing, reflecting not only careful biblical and theological scholarship but also a pastor's heart. For such a small book, its message is truly radical." (Kurt Armstrong, ChristianWeek.org, November 3, 2009)
"It takes courage to present our deepest beliefs in an effort to spur intelligent conversation--Marva Dawn does this and leads her readers to do the same." (Bonnie Lewis, Worship Leader, July/August 2009)
"Dawn refers to the order of creation as liturgy, calling us to see the pattern of praise. And truly, if our goal in reading Scripture is to worship, then it will change our theology. It takes courage to present our deepends beliefs in an effort to spur intelligent conversation--Marva Dawn dows this and leads her readers to do the same." (Bonnie Lewis, WorshipLeader Magazine, July/August 2009)
"Christian educators and worship leaders may appreciate Dawn's intriguing analysis of the creation stories as a hymn of praise." (Publisher's Weekly, June 8, 2009)
"Marva Dawn's writing turns like a kaleidoscope of truth and grace, and this book is no exception." (Mark Labberton, senior pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, and senior fellow, International Justice Mission)
About the Author
Marva J. Dawn (Ph.D., Notre Dame) is a theologian, author, educator and teaching fellow in spiritual theology at Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia. Some of her books include Joy in Divine Wisdom, The Sense of the Call, Talking the Walk, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly and Unfettered Hope: A Call to Faithful Living in an Affluent Society.
Most helpful customer reviews
12 of 17 people found the following review helpful.
Interesting Premise, Severely Flawed Execution
By Aaron Armstrong
"The Bible is all about God," writes Marva J. Dawn in the opening paragraph of her latest work, In the Beginning, God. "That might seem an overly obvious point with which to begin a book on character formation, but if we consider the mater seriously, we discover that we often read the Bible imagining it is about ourselves."
Dawn wants readers to understand the enormous shift in perspective that occurs when we stop asking, "what does this text say about me," and start, instead, by asking, "What is God doing in this text?"
That is the big idea behind In the Beginning, God. The book primarily is a study of Genesis 1-3 and how their focus on God as the principle transforms our attitude toward faith, Scripture and worship from self-improvement to adoration.
There's actually quite a bit to like in this book. Dawn's suggestion of reading the creation account of Genesis 1:1-2:3 as liturgy emphasizing the poetic aspect of the chapter is intriguing. It's an approach that I've never come across before. Her reason for emphasizing this point: to emphasize the beauty of creation and the Creator. "The point of beauty is to display the glorious creativity of God. The point of pondering it is to heighten our worship," writes Dawn (p. 25). She continues:
The purpose of noting it in this chapter on liturgy is to prevent silly fights or scientific debates over Genesis 1-2. Science does not disprove praise, nor does the Bible's beginning claim to be an explanation--rather an exultation. The opening liturgy draws us into wonder and adoration because in the darkness of void and emptiness the Trinity continues to be present and to speak to create, to cause brilliant beings to appear.
I really appreciate her emphasis of the beauty of the creation account as it's something that is well worth pointing out.
The big idea behind the book is actually my favorite thing about it. Dawn wants to remind us that the Bible is, in fact, all about God, and to be made in the image of God means that we must care about the things He does. Beauty, art, stewardship of creation, justice... These are really important and it's wise to recover a biblical foundation for the pursuit of each of these.
As much as I enjoyed the big ideas, I did find that sometimes Dawn goes a bit too far in her arguments and her language can be extremely confusing. For example, she writes that the creation of man is not the culmination of creation based on the liturgical structure of the text. "Since all the main nouns in this first account occur in multiples of seven and some of them have not occurred yet in such a number, we are clearly shown that the culmination of God's process and design has not been reached with the human beings" (p. 56). Rather, the culmination of the creation is the Sabbath.
"[W]e wait until the seventh day to encounter the pinnacle of God's design, the Sabbath day. The Jews celebrate her preeminence by calling her Queen Sabbath and by welcoming her with songs and solemn rituals, festivities, and special foods." (p. 62)
That surprised me, not because I don't see what she's saying about the liturgical structure; in that sense, she's right. The culmination of the creation account would be the seventh day. But when I read the statement quoted from page 62, I was immediately reminded of Mark 2:27, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."
Now I'm not sure if she's advocating the above as a good thing. She does, rightly in some sense, remind us that it is to our peril to ignore the gift of the Sabbath. It is to our benefit to enjoy rest and enjoy God in our rest. But I'm concerned that she might be making it an idol, just as the Jews of Jesus' day did (see Mark 2:23-28). Even in observing the Sabbath as the gift from God that it is for us, we must remember Paul's admonition in Colossians 2:16, "Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath."
I'm also really not sure how to take the following:
"The word being gives us a better sense of one into whose nostrils God would breathe His breath or Spirit of life. We are filled to saturation with God's wind! And it causes us each to be made in God's image. Of course, God is immeasurably beyond us...so we can each bear only a wee dab of the Trinity's image. It takes every single person throughout time and space to tell us all that God wants to say about Himself.[...] Imagine that just a miniscule flake of God is enough to fill us to saturation with individuality. Ponder what delight that gives to each of our lives. We do not have to pretend anything to be special. We only need be ourselves with all the God-image we channel to the world. Immediately, as I contemplate the itsy bit of God that is mine to transmit to others, I muse about the meager but magnificent Godness in everyone. It would change the way we treated others if we kept remembering the Trinity in each one we meet..." (pp. 75-76)
There's some stuff that just doesn't sit right in this passage. It doesn't take every single person throughout time and space to tell us all that God wants to say about Himself. It takes one Man, the God-Man, Jesus Christ (cf. Hebrews 1:3; John 14:9). As for "God flakes" and "the meager but magnificent Godness in everyone..." This is language that is just too squishy and open to unbiblical interpretation. I'm not sure if she's saying that God's Spirit dwells within all people (which is false) or, is simply affirming that all humans are created in the image of God (albeit with some rather confusing language).
There are a number of other passages that left me concerned in a similar manner, including an assertion that God didn't curse us (p. 95), although Romans 5:18 strongly suggests otherwise saying that all have been condemned because of Adam's transgression.
In the Beginning, God is a book with a wonderful premise, but one that I found severely flawed in its execution. My hope is that the things that concern me in the book are merely issues with the way I'm reading them, or that perhaps Dawn is writing exclusively to an audience she assumes is Christian. But despite the great premise and first chapter, as well as some good bits scattered throughout, I don't know if it's one that I could recommend.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
It was a wonderfully written book and an interesting read
By Bridget Williams
I used this book to assist in writing a paper. It was a wonderfully written book and an interesting read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Some good points
By Ye Shall Be As Gods
I appreciated a lot of the points in this book, and its core point that we need to get out of our egocentric heads a bit when we read the Bible. I disagree a bit with her on theology on places, especially her points about the Sabbath, but I found this text to be well worth reading.
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