The Creation Concept, The Genesis Creation Narrative In Light of Documents From The Ancient East

This volume is an exercise in intellectual history—in other words, the history of the idea of creation. How was the concept of creation viewed by ancient peoples and expressed in the literature of the Old Testament and in the world of the Bible?

What exactly did the author of Genesis mean when he used certain terms and expressions? Do the words in Genesis necessarily mean the same thing to us today, thousands of years later and thousands of miles removed, as they did to the book's original audience? More importantly, is the study of the creation a mere intellectual exercise, or does it offer some real-life applications to the world in which we live today? What can we determine about the future by enhancing our knowledge of the past? Specifically, how can the knowledge of the beginning of this earth enhance our understanding of the long-prophesied end of the world? The author points out the "close connections" between the creation and the temple.

Brother Palmer, author of The Covenant Concept and The Temple Concept, contends that any study of the temple would be incomplete without a corresponding study of the creation.