The relationship between creation and redemption in old testament scholarly debate

Authors

  • Reinaldo W. Siqueira

Keywords:

Creation, Redemption, Biblical Theology, Old Testament, History.

Abstract

The relationship between Creation and Redemption in the Bible has been a controversial issue in the theological debate. Divergent views have been proposed on this issue such as: Creation as subordinated to Redemption (von Rad); as related but in polarity with it (Westermann); as an independent tradition (Crüsemann and Lindeskog); or as the "broad horizon" upon which Redemption was built (Schmid and Anderson). These views were usually built upon the interplay of the concepts such as the Documentary Sources hypothesis, the development of the traditions in Ancient Israel as presented by Form and Tradition Criticism, and the belief in Israel's dependence on the other Ancient Near East religions. The idea of Creation as mythological, and therefore unhistorical, plays an important role in the modern views on the subject. However, the very basis upon which much of these theological approaches are built is highly conjectural and difficult to proof. The concept that Creation as mythological is totally foreign to the Bible. Henceforth, this paper questions if any of these views is really satisfactory to understand the relationship between Creation and Redemption in the Old Testament. The analysis of the biblical text evidences that Creation in the Old Testament was always seen as a fully historical event. For the Bible, Creation stands in the line of the history in its extreme points (beginning and end [New Creation]). In order to do justice to the biblical material, Creation and Redemption, together with the Fall, must to be seen in their historical and related dimensions.

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References

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Published

2006-03-23

How to Cite

SIQUEIRA, R. W. The relationship between creation and redemption in old testament scholarly debate. Kerygma, Engenheiro Coelho, SP, v. 2, n. 1, p. 40–55, 2006. Disponível em: https://unasp.emnuvens.com.br/kerygma/article/view/311. Acesso em: 1 feb. 2026.

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Vol. 2 No. 1 (2006)

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