I love the first few chapters of Genesis, which give the history of Creation, and the Fall, and several other key worldview events. I grab and read anything I can find that deals with creation and forming a biblical worldview based on the authority and reliability of Genesis and the Bible.

When I saw Biblical Portraits Of Creation, I decided to read it, even though I was unfamiliar with either of the authors. This book will not be on my go-to list of books dealing with creation and Genesis, however it did offer a few interesting insights.

This book examines several different biblical passages that are creation focused. Each passage is examined and reviewed in a very brief fashion, not going into detail very deeply. I was slightly disappointed by this. I would have enjoyed examining each passage in light of creation, seeing how the rest of the Bible supports and refers back to the early chapters of Genesis.

This book does not do that. Instead, it examines each of these passages in a more devotional manner, outlining them for a lighter study, lending these passages more to a preaching outline than a detailed study. Some of these outlines are intriguing enough to consider adapting for future lessons or sermons. Most are not developed that well, and would require a lot of further study in order to make them work well.

While these passages are focused on creation, and how it is presented through out the Bible, several of the chapters leave the topic of creation as a sideline discussion and focus on other aspects of the passage instead. For example, when the authors address Isaiah 65 and 66, there is more of a discussion of their millennial views than there is on creation. I found this somewhat disappointing.

The passages included in this overview are Proverbs 3:19-20, 8:22-31; Genesis 1; Genesis 2:4-25; Psalm 104; Psalm 8, 19:1-6; Psalm 29; Psalm 33:6-13; Psalm 148; Job 38-39; Matthew 1:1-17; Isaiah 65:17-25, 66:22-24; and 2 Corinthians 4:6, 5:17.

Overall, this book was encouraging from a devotional point of view, but not from a serious study aspect. I enjoyed reading it, and was able to read it quite quickly. But I was not challenged by it very deeply at all. There were a few insights that were thought-provoking, but most of it was fairly commonplace material.

One of the best features of the book is found at the end of each chapter in the discussion questions. In a group setting, these might lead to some deeper conversations about each of the texts. However, in order for this to happen, other resources will need to be added to supplement this material.

Question: What is your favorite passage about creation in the Bible? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

I received this book free from Cross Focused Media as part of their Cross Focused Reviews blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.