In the Beginning, GOD: Creation, Culture, and the Spiritual Life [Paperback]

Marva J. Dawn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 8, 2009

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.

Editorial Reviews

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

"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

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Product Details

• Paperback: 124 pages
• Publisher: IVP Books (July 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830837078
• ISBN-13: 978-0830837076
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #983,285 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marva J. Dawn serves the global Church as a theologian, author, musician, and educator under Christians Equipped for Ministry and as Teaching Fellow in Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. A scholar with four master's degrees and a Ph.D. in Christian Ethics and the Scriptures from the University of Notre Dame, Dr. Dawn has taught for clergy and worship conferences and at seminaries throughout the world. She is also well-known and highly appreciated as a preacher and speaker for all ages and sometimes contributes to worship by means of her musical gifts. She is the author of more than fifteen books and is happy married to Myron Sandberg; they reside in Washington State.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Premise, Severely Flawed Execution, March 19, 2010

By 

Aaron Armstrong (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Beginning, GOD: Creation, Culture, and the Spiritual Life (Paperback)

"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