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    Creation: The Apple of God's Eye
    Creation: The Apple of God's Eye
    Creation: The Apple of God's Eye
    Ebook105 pages1 hour

    Creation: The Apple of God's Eye

    By Dr. Justo L. Gonzalez

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    About this ebook

    How and why God loves us—God's good creation

    This book will talk about the doctrine of creation and invite us to look closely at who God is and who we are in relationship with God. As people of faith, we believe that our gracious God created all there is, but does that also mean that God also created evil? How does creation jive with what scientists are telling us about the origin of the universe? What does the doctrine of creation tell us about what we call "the creation," that is, the world, its value, purpose, etc? How does understanding the world as God’s creation teach us about our role in creation care?

    The Bible tells us that God created the heavens and earth, but does that deny the science of the Big Bang? What does believing that God is the Creator say about how God loves, redeems, and sustains us today or does creation say something only about the past? What about the "new creation''? Does this have anything to do with the old creation? Does it mean simply that God is so tired of the rebelliousness of creation that it seems best to erase the present one and start anew? Or is there a connection between the two?

    What does the doctrine of creation say about us? Aren’t we created in God’s image and aren’t we part of the good creation of a loving God? If so, why is there evil and rebelliousness in us? Where does our ill-will, our desire to do evil, come from? Is there freedom of the will or are all things preordained by God? Just how detailed is God’s plan for us?

    While no one author can deal with all these questions, this book will help us begin the conversation and gain new understanding of how the doctrine of creation can help us address these very human and timeless questions.

    Series Description:

    Belief Matters: How to Love God with Your Mind is a series of books written by widely recognized authors who will help readers think more clearly about their faith and better understand their beliefs, so that they can live more faithfully. These books will also help readers become aware of thoughtful resources and conceptual frames of reference that not only will deepen their faith, but also help them better understand what we say and do in Church. Conversational in tone, these books are reflections on major theological topics and are suitable for a 4-session individual or group study. The intent of the series is to help readers feel as though they are sitting, having coffee as authors share their “take” and show that by thinking more clearly about the faith, persons can love God more fully, live with confidence, and change the world.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAbingdon Press
    Release dateNov 3, 2015
    ISBN9781501805264
    Creation: The Apple of God's Eye
    Author

    Dr. Justo L. Gonzalez

    Justo L. Gonzalez has taught at the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico and Candler School of Theology, Emory University. He is the author of many books, including Church History: An Essential Guide and To All Nations From All Nations, both published by Abingdon Press. Justo L. Gonzalez es un ampliamente leido y respetado historiador y teologo. Es el autor de numerosas obras que incluyen tres volumenes de su Historia del Pensamiento Cristiano, la coleccion de Tres Meses en la Escuela de... (Mateo... Juan... Patmos... Prision... Espiritu), Breve Historia de las Doctrinas Cristianas y El ministerio de la palabra escrita, todas publicadas por Abingdon Press.

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      Book preview

      Creation - Dr. Justo L. Gonzalez

      9781501805264_cov.jpg

      Half-Title Page

      17953.png

      Other Books in the Belief Matters Series

      Other Books in the Belief Matters Series

      Incarnation by William H. Willimon

      Holy Communion by Kenneth M. Loyer

      Trinity by Jason Byassee

      Title Page

      18029.png

      Copyright Page

      CREATION:

      THE APPLE OF GOD’S EYE

      Copyright © 2015 by Abingdon Press

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed in writing to Permissions, The United Methodist Publishing House, 2222 Rosa L. Parks Blvd., PO Box 280988, Nashville, TN 37228-0988, or e-mailed to permissions@umpublishing.org.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Gonzalez, Justo L.

      Creation : the apple of God’s eye / Justo L. Gonzalez. — First

      [edition].

      1 online resource. — (Belief matters ; 4)

      Includes bibliographical references.

      Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by

      publisher; resource not viewed.

      ISBN 978-1-5018-0526-4 (e-pub) — ISBN 978-1-4267-8595-5 (binding:

      pbk.) 1. Creation—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Title.

      BT695

      231.7’65—dc23

      2015016890

      Scripture quotations unless noted otherwise are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by the Common English Bible. All rights reserved. Used by permission. www.CommonEnglishBible.com.

      Scripture quotations noted NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      Dedication Page

      To Juanita

      the apple of my eye

      Dad

      Contents

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      Editor’s Introduction

      Chapter 1

      What Do We Mean by Creation?

      Chapter 2

      Creation as an Act of Love

      Chapter 3

      The Human Creature

      Chapter 4

      Enter Evil

      Chapter 5

      God’s Presence in Creation

      Chapter 6

      God’s Absence from Creation

      Chapter 7

      Creation and Hope

      Editor’s Introduction

      18199.png

      What do you see when you look out your window? While others may see nature, or the cosmos, Christians believe we see creation. That there is something rather than nothing, that the world we inhabit is not only useful but often beautiful, that even though we have learned much through a couple of centuries of scientific investigation of the world we still are able to stand in awe before the majesty and mystery of the world within and without us—all this is testimony to the power of our belief in the world as a creation of God.

      Now, more than ever, as we honestly confront the sad results of our poor stewardship of creation, as we attempt to take responsibility as coworkers with the Creator in our defense of God’s handwork, as we try to make sense of ourselves and the world around us, we, as Christians, need to think together about the significance of our conviction that the world didn’t just occur; the world is creation. The world is not a place to be exploited; the world is for us sacred responsibility, tangible, visible evidence of the sort of God whose first, generative word is addressed, not to us, but to the formless void (Gen 1:2 NRSV): God’s joyful, creative command, Let there be light (v. 3).

      Justo González, a lifelong teacher of the history and doctrine of the church, has written a book that amply demonstrates the practical implications of—and the sheer joy of believing—the truth that we live in creation. Belief Matters is a series that encourages the best minds in the church to share with their fellow Christians why our core beliefs matter. Dr. González, in this book on creation, has taken up the challenge of communicating the importance of orthodox Christian doctrine in an exuberant, joyful hymn to the continuing God who is not only savior, redeemer, but also a relentless, unceasing Creator.

      Strikingly, Dr. González has not simply written an explication of correct Christian doctrine; he has written a story about the love that creates something out of nothing, beauty out of chaos, and generates life out of death, love that moves the sun, the moon, and stars. What God did at creation, what God continues to do in us and in the world now, fresh every morning, God does out of love. Down deep, at the heart of it all is more than a set of natural laws or chemical equations. At the heart of things is a God who is not only sovereign but also lovingly creative. Therein is our hope and the world’s hope as well.

      —Will Willimon

      Chapter 1

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      What do we mean by creation? Suppose that there is a famous fashion designer by the name of Armand, and a sign at a high-end fashion store reads, Creations by Armand. We are told that a student’s paper shows great creativity. Some are accused of creative bookkeeping. And there is even a publication called Creative Loafing. So before we turn to matters of faith and doctrine, it may be well to examine what the very notion of creation means in everyday life.

      When the fashion store advertises that it is selling creations by Armand, it is referring not so much to the act of creating as to the gown it wishes to sell. So they tell prospective buyers that the gown is a creation. In a sense every gown is somebody’s creation. But the store would never put up a sign, Creations by John Doe. What makes this particular gown more valuable is not just the gown itself, but the fact that it was created by Armand. The store calls this gown a creation not just because somebody made it but because it was Armand who made it. The very name of Armand gives particular value to his creation. Thus, we value the creation (the dress) because we value the creator (Armand).

      Yet the opposite is also true. Were we to look at an entire collection of Armand’s gowns, we would be able tell much about Armand himself, particularly about his taste and his values. So while Armand defines and gives value to his creation, the gown itself is also a reflection of Armand. In this case, we come to know the creator (Armand) through his creation (his dresses). In brief, what makes a creation significant is both the creation itself—in this case, the gown—and the creator—in this case, Armand.

      Although one could stretch the word to mean anything that anyone makes, we normally reserve the title of creation for something that has other characteristics beyond the mere fact of being made.

      For one, we expect a creation to be unique. Were Armand to mass-produce his gowns and sell thousands of them, the store would no longer call them creations. Whoever invented the cookie cutter was probably a creative person, and therefore that first cookie-cutter was a creation. But now the very reference to a cookie-cutter is practically the exact opposite of creativity.

      Second, a creation is something that the mind conceives and then brings into existence. A student is creative because in her mind she connects things in ways others have not done and then gives flesh to those thoughts in a paper. In this sense, a clear example of unique creativity is a composer who hears the music in his head and then composes a symphony. Think of the creativity of Beethoven, who could continue composing what he heard in his head even after his ears were no longer able to hear it!

      Third, a creation has a purpose. Every doodle is unique and, no matter how briefly, every line was

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