Here is the second part of my conversation with John Walton on how order not sin frames the book of Genesis – including the Fall. In this talk John gets more specific about the order spectrum of order, non-order and disorder.
‘Sin’ is obviously an important word, and central to the Christian doctrine. But it is also a loaded word, and one that works like a sinkhole to suck in streams of meaning – some of which may not be helpful. It is not just an intellectual word, but an existential one because it so easily tugs into deep feelings of guilt and unworthiness that plague many people – indeed all of us from time to time if we are honest. That is why being as ‘biblical’ as possible to get behind the word into the conceptual frames that inform it, is so important. And John’s talks here are among the most helpful ‘paradigm shifters’ that I know.
I wrote an article some years ago on ‘sin’ and what I thought about it. I might change some of the thinking now – and I wrote it before I had the benefit of this talk with John. Nonetheless I think it is worth posting it on our website so we will do that soon after this talk.
If you want to dive more in some of John’s thinking, a good place to start is his book on Genesis called “The Lost World of Genesis One”.
Of course you can also dive into more of John talks on our website. John gave a wonderful series on Genesis and also Deuteronomy in 2013. Both are worth listening to, but here is a link to his first talk on Genesis 1 – “The Cosmos as God’s House”. So if you integrate the ‘order’ series with his “God’s house” you get a powerful mandate for our jobs on the earth: bring order to God’s house and make it a ‘home’ not just a ‘house’ (John’s words not mine). https://www.gospelconversations.com/series/genesis-the-cosmos-as-gods-house
How order not sin frames Genesis Pt 2 - With John Walton