The Beginning

This is clearly a key word in the Bible. It is the first word in the Hebrew Bible. It is also used at the beginning of both John’s gospel and his first epistle. When we think of world beginnings we tend to think in terms of the universe. But the Bible doesn’t. The Bible focuses on God as the beginning.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” John 1:1-2

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of Life.” 1 John 1:1

St Augustine wrote,

“What meaning other than allegorical have the words: ‘In the beginning God created heaven and earth?” Were heaven and earth made in the beginning of time, or first in all creation, or in the Beginning who is the Word, the only begotten Son of God?”i

This personification of the beginning is seen at the end of the Bible,

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.” Revelation 21:6

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Revelation 22:13

The Bible teaches that this is where thinking should start,

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10

Truth has been defined as ‘a concept a compatible with God’. It is difficult to come to any other meaningful definition. It cannot be consensus. God must be the term of reference for any claim to truth. However this definition is virtually meaningless unless there is a God who has clearly revealed himself. Jesus took on himself this remarkable status, claiming to be ‘the truth’ (John 14:6)

Consequently any science or way of thinking that leaves him out is doomed to be wrong. Natural science was built on this belief that there is a rational God of integrity who has created a rational world. The God who made this world is himself truthful so any quest for truth, whether in science, philosophy or theology must do so with this same integrity. This integrity must be found both in the process of sifting evidence and in the foundational realization that we are dependent on a God who has revealed himself. Why do we accept that rational thought is valid if there is no rational God behind our existence? Why is it that we still maintain that any intellectual work is undertaken with this integrity but not that we are also dependent on the one who is the beginning

We all need to ensure that we always start at the beginning!

i Augustine, ‘Commentary on the Book of Genesis’ Chapter 1 Nos. 1-2 (completed in 415AD)