In his famous work “In the Beginning”, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger reasons about the real purpose of the first chapters of the Bible. He explains that the very first chapters of Genesis are not purposed to educate humanity about the scientific background of the process of creation, its exact chronological periods, any possible details on the astronomic building of the Universe, etc; the real purpose of Genesis’ account on creation is in vindicating God as an Almighty Creator through whom all the living things in the Universe including spiritual and physical beings came into existence, and material objects such as planets and stars were designed. The author explains that the Bible is not a textbook on science; on the contrary, it is a religious book aimed to raise faith in God in an individual’s heart, mind, and soul.
The biblical account of creation in the book of Genesis is not just about the beginning; it is rather about the beginning of a human race of the Earth. Such a conclusion can be made because God did not have an objective to scientifically educate people; rather he wanted to explain basic things which are important for any human to trust him. It is known that the writer of the first books of the Bible is Moses whose occupation is shepherding. Of course, a person with such education would have great trouble in understanding scientific matters; for this reason, God explained the things which were to be put into the Bible in a simple way and from the point of view of an earthly observer. Thus, for instance, when he said that the Sun and the Moon appeared in the sky, he meant that they became evident for the earthly observer. In reality, the fact that the Sun and the Moon became evident for the observer in the Earth much later than the Planet was created is supported by numerous scientists who explained that initially, the atmosphere of the Earth was very different, and it did not let sun rays to go through it which explained why heavenly objects were not seen. The story that begins “In the beginning” is not only about the beginning, but it also reveals a number of details about the personality of the Creator, his eternal purpose, his relationships with first humans, and his spiritual creatures such as the Word and the rest of the angels.
The story in the book of Genesis explains that we are God’s creatures; highly valued by him, and even called his children in the Bible; God is shown as an Almighty person who created the Universe including both material Universe with planets, stars, and the other heavenly bodies, and spiritual creatures such as angels, seraphs, and cherubs that live in spiritual realm together with God himself.
In his work, Ratzinger writes:
Scripture would not wish to inform us about how the different species of plant life gradually appeared or how the sun and the moon and the stars were established. Its purpose ultimately would be to say one thing: God created the world (par. 15).
Using these words, the author is trying to say that the Bible does not aim to offer the readers a specific scientific picture of the process of creation; otherwise, it would be enormously big, and inconvenient for the use in daily life, and will be difficult to understand for common people. Rather, the author explains that the main objective of the biblical message is to help people cultivate their faith in God the Creator, which is very important with regards to God’s eternal purpose.
Works Cited
Ratzinger, Joseph. “In the Beginning” 1995. Web.