Act 1: Foundations of a Biblical Worldview
Genesis 1-3, Images 1 through 5
What follows is a supplemental commentary on the first Act in “The Canon" collection of captioned art.
Summary
The first 5 images of "The Canon" systematically illustrate the opening chapters of the Bible. Undoubtedly this is the most focused segment of the entire collection: 5 images addressing 3 pages of scripture. 24 images remain to synthesize the remaining 1400 pages (give or take based on the font size of your Bible). So, why the bias? Because Genesis 1-3 establishes the context from which we are intended to understand everything which follows; it establishes our metaphysical presuppositions and introduces a conflict which will be carried out throughout the rest of the plot. Key take aways to hold on to?
- God is the generative force behind life itself, and declares "It is good".
- Mankind is bestowed a special role in this creative landscape, one which is imparted honor, dignity, and responsibility.
- As agents of freewill, man is left to evaluate the legitimacy of these claims, and asks, "is God truly good? Does He know best?"
- The inaugural actors in our story consider that the answer may be "no", and consequently depart from their life-giver, endeavoring to find wisdom in the "shadowlands". A journey only made possible by the persisting eminence of God's light.
Out of a cloud of aimless chaos
Image 1 of 29
Inspired by Genesis 1:2a
"Now the earth then was welter and waste, and darkness over the deep..." Robert Alter's translation
The ANE cosmology did not view the pre-creation state as an empty void, instead what was missing was purpose and order. It was not good, it was not bad, it just was. And that evoked both the anticipation of potential. and unbridled danger. There is a desire to be comissioned, enlisted to be made into "something". And image one is how I imagine the opening scene of this great story.
God's love breathed life: "It is good"
Image 2 of 29
Inspired by Genesis 1:31a
"And God saw all the He had done, and, look, it was very good..." Robert Alter's translation
Following our pre-creation scene of an ominous, but morally indifferent, chaos cloud we then witness a generative action that begins to move things towards order.The poetic structure alone of Genesis 1 images the purpose and direction which is imparted through God's spoken acts. Light, the earth, and the sea are all deployed to foster abundant life where it previously could not be sustained. Its an action encompassing seperation. purification, and animation. And the linerization and compartmentalization of the formerly nebulous cloud is how I imagine the initial moments of God's creative act.
Mankind was made in God's own image, comissioned to be stewards of His creation
Image 3 of 29
Inspired by Genesis 1:26 and 2:15
"And God said, 'Let us make a human in our image, by our likeness, to hold sway over the fish of the sea and the fowl of the heavens and the cattle and the wild beasts and all the crawling things that crawl upon the earth.'"
"And the LORD God took the human and set him down in the garden of Eden to till it and watch it." Robert Alter's translation
The "goodness" introduced in scene three becomes personified as we transition into the Garden. Life takes hold, and the formless matter in the pre-creation state becomes living actors in an unfolding dynamic world. Mankind specifically is bestowed a special role that seems to be both descriptive and prescriptive: they will be image bearers. And while the delegation is worth celebrating, the act itself is still short of actualization. I imagine the Garden scene as this hopeful state of anticipation, where we are given a glimpse of the vibrant light-filled picture of what might be, but have yet to experience it in its full focus.
But man did not believe that God was good
Image 4 of 29
Inspired by Genesis 3:6 and Romans 1:21-22
"When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it."
"For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools."
Is God good? If there is one question that the Bible poses to us, or even the human experience as a whole I belive it is this. This is the crux of the creator's redemptive story. Its complicated, because as free-willed beings we're inclined to perceive ourselves as fully atonomous. And we are. But only to the extent that we remain illuminated in the light of our life-giver. Distance invites darkness, and in this scene, for the first time, I imagine that the shade is being drawn. Light persists, but man has elected to explore the shadowlands. And the journey of "existing in the shadows" is how I imagine the rest of the story of the Bible.
The hearts of humanity divorced themselves from the life-giver
Image 5 of 29
Inspired by Genesis 3:8, 4:16, and John 5:40
"Now they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden."
"And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden."
"And yet you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life."
Marriage is arguably the most pervasive metaphor used in the Bible to illustrate what the relationship is intended to be like between man and God. Conversely, divorce is the image which comes to mind when I reflect upon their seperation. But even then, it fails to capture the full tragedy of the fall - because man's departure from God is not just a relational breach, but an ontological one: man elects to depart from its very source of life. Man chooses suicide. But despite the inevitable natural conseqience, the story does not end: life graciously persists. And because of life's persistence, God provides man with an opportunity to return to the light (an idea which I develop further in image 6).
