Creation According to Hebrew

[Justice]

Have you heard about the Young's Literal Translation of the Old Testament? I think I've linked and discussed it before. Read the introduction on the link below so you can understand what the YLT is and what it is not.

I really like what it says about the creation. I'll bold what I really like:

Genesis 1:

1 In the beginning of God`s preparing the heavens and the earth --

2 the earth hath existed waste and void, and darkness is on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God fluttering on the face of the waters,

3 and God saith, `Let light be;` and light is.

This is strong evidence (depending only on the authenticity of their understanding of Hebrew) that God used existing matter or elements to create the Heaven and Earth. To say "the earth hath existed" is proof, if they are right, about the Hebrew meaning. The addition of "preparing" in verse 1 adds more evidence, and supports Joseph Smith's view on how it was planned before it was created.

Very powerful words here.

Many other faiths believe that in verse 1 He actually creates the unorganized, unfinished universe, and then goes on to describe how He finishes it. However, the pattern throughout the chapter is that God creates by speaking. The first thing He creates in Genesis chapter 1 is light, not heaven or earth, and that isn't until verse 3. He describes how He creates Heaven in verses 6 through 8, and Earth in verses 9 and 10. It is clear by the pattern in chapter 1, and as the evidence of this translation shows, that light was the first thing created, and that verse 1 is a "title" or planning about what was coming.

If you're ever involved in a discussion with someone of a different faith, this is a very good tool since it was not produced by the Church.

Parallel Hebrew Old Testament

[Traveler]

The stand taken by Joseph Smith and the modern revelations that have followed have shown to be a step forward considering the environment in which Joseph lived and what we think we know today. Even the most ardent critics of Joseph Smith realize that there is good argument for the LDS interpretation of ancient scripture. In the last 50 years there has been a significant shift in religious stands concerning the creation. Even among the strictest fundamentalist there has emerged an attitude of tolerance towards creation from eternal stuff. Let us not forget that a few hundred years ago the very idea of an earth older than 6,000 years was punishable by death.

What we are learning over time and discovery of ancient culture is that the arguments for creation from nothing are becoming profoundly weaker and the arguments of creation as organization from chaos becoming profoundly stronger. In the current landscape any educated individual must admit that the ancient scriptures can be interpreted as a creation of order over chaos but what many arguing for creation from nothingnes is the very culture in which scriptures were given in the first place.

Moses was educated in the very best that Egypt offered. The best scientist and religious minds of Egypt were his mentors. Why is this important? Because if Moses had intended to change the understanding of his day - without doubt he would have taken very clear and precise steps to distance Israel’s understanding of the false notions of Egypt - He would not have used the Egypt model as the primary vehicle to project the creation. He would have distanced his description from the corrupt creation notions of Egypt as much as he distanced his descriptions of G-d from the corrupt notions of Egyptian g-ds. The fact that the writings of Moses do not clearly define a creation from nothing - the fact that he did not demand and clearly state that the initial state was not a previous state of chaos but a state of nothingness clearly deflates the interpreter from nothingness as someone grasping straws and resisting witnesses of truth from every possible source - including the scriptures and the context in which the scriptures were given.

The Traveler