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Neo-Calvinism Part 4: CREATION, Fall, Redemption

by Derek Melleby

I've discussed the significance of the Neo-Calvinist understanding of scripture as an unfolding narrative. Often, because of this narrative tendency and in order to discuss scripture thematically, Neo-Calvinists will refer to the "Creation, Fall, and Redemption" (CFR) structure of the Bible. CFR is central to understanding how the rest of Neo-Calvinist theology emerges.

Creation
It wasn't until I began to read and hang around Neo-Calvinists that I began to wrestle with the far-reaching implications of the doctrine of creation. I remember sitting in a class where, after reading Genesis 1 and 2, the teacher (Neo-Calvinist) asked, "What would the world be like if we would have developed it the way God intended?" I had never thought of this before. Without ever giving it much thought, my assumption was that most of our cultural activity was a result of the fall. But this teacher was talking about the goodness of the creation and the importance of the human task. The teacher's simple question altered my understanding of both biblical theology and human responsibility.

What would the world be like if we had developed it the way God intended? Would it look anything like the world we have today? How you answer these questions has major implications for how you understand the world.

Neo-Calvinists tend to emphasize two key parts of the creation story: (1) God's wisdom and ordering of creation (Genesis 1-2 & Proverbs 8), and (2) the cultural mandate (Genesis 1:26 & 2:15 ).

God's Wisdom
There is a basic order to creation. There is reason and purpose behind the way in which God created and the creation itself. In The Transforming Vision , Walsh and Middleton suggest:

So wisdom is not merely God's plan for creation in the abstract; it is the wise way he actually designed and ordered the world. The picture is of the Creator crafting and structuring the creation with skill, measuring out the ocean, setting bounds, marking the horizon, fixing the heavens and clouds in their places. In all this, wisdom is God's 'craftsman.' To the ancient Hebrew mind, terms like wisdom, understanding and knowledge are almost synonymous. They refer to the same basic reality, the wise way God has designed and structured creation (p. 47).

The Cultural Mandate
After creating the world, God placed human beings in the Garden of Eden to "work it and take care of it." We were to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it, to rule over the creation as God's stewards. Another way to render the phrase "work it and take care of it" (and a more literal translation) is "to cultivate." We were/are to create culture. That is our God-given task. What would our cultural activity look like? Al Wolters, in Creation Regained , explains:

The given reality of the created order is such that it is possible to have schools and industry, printing and rocketry, needlepoint and chess. The creational law is crying out to be positivized in new and amazing ways. The whole vast range of human civilization is neither the spectacle of the arbitrary aberrations of an evolutionary freak nor the inspiring panorama of the creative achievements of the autonomous Self; it is rather a display of the marvelous wisdom of God in creation and the profound meaningfulness of our task in the world. We are called to participate in the ongoing creational work of God, to be God's helper in executing to the end the blueprint for his masterpiece (p. 38).

Back to the question from my teacher: "What would the world be like if we had developed it the way God intended?" If Wolters is correct, then the "given reality of the created order is such that it is possible" to have pretty much anything. This means that cultural activity is a "good" part of God's world. It is our task. It is how we image God. But obviously, the world does not reflect the image of a good, loving Creator. So, what's wrong? That will be the subject of Part 5.

© Coalition for Christian Outreach 2005

Part 1: What is in a Name?

Part 2: Introductory Reading

Part 3: The Holy Bible

Part 4: CREATION, Fall, Redemption

Part 5: Creation, FALL, Redemption

Part 6: Creation, Fall, REDEMPTION

Part 7: Structure and Direction

Part 8: Sphere Sovereignty

Part 9: Final Remarks and Seerveld's Summary

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