A careful and unbiased analysis of how thinkers from church history interpreted the creation narrative in Genesis
   
How literally are we meant to take the creation week of Genesis 1? In this polarizing debate, contemporary interpreters invoke great theologians from history to support their own side, whether that be a young Earth or theistic evolution.
 
The problem lies in trying to force ancient authors into contemporary boxes, as Andrew J. Brown shows in this thought-provoking volume. Covering Philo, Basil, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, and more, Brown carefully interprets great thinkers’ readings of Genesis 1 in their intellectual contexts. He then assesses how these authors have been subject to cherry-picking and misappropriation in the trenches of the modern creation debate.
 
By studying the intellectual history of the church in this way—to revisit rather than recruit the ancients—we can enrich our own biblical interpretation. Irenic and magisterial, Brown’s guide will interest both scholars of historical theology and anyone invested in the creation debate.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 
Notes to the Reader 
Abbreviations 
Glossary 
Introduction 
1. Philo and the Figurative 
2. The Creation Week as a Historical Timeline. Part One: Millennial Roots of the World-Week Scheme 
3. The Creation Week as a Historical Timeline. Part Two: The World-Week Scheme Historicized in Augustine 
4. Simple, Sequential, Yet Spiritual: Three Literal Interpretations of the Creation Week 
5. Basil: Creation on the Border of Time and Eternity 
6. Augustine’s Instantaneous Creation 
7. The Middle Ages from Bede to Aquinas 
8. Martin Luther—Scripture’s Straight Shooter 
9. John Calvin’s Space of Six Days 
10. From Westminster Confession to John Wesley 
Conclusion: On Revisiting, Not Recruiting, the Ancients