The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

I. Introductory Survey of Record of Creation

According to the uniform testimony of Sacred Scripture, the heaven and the earth with its inhabitants, were brought into being by fiat creation: CFF1 29.2

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6). “For he spake, and at was done; he commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:9). CFF1 29.3

The first chapter of Genesis describes the creation of living creatures after the earth and the vegetation had been set in order: CFF1 29.4

“God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good .... And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind. and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, ... and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness... So God created man in his own image ...; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:20-27). CFF1 29.5

Picture 1: Adam in Eden:
Man, the Crown of Creation, Placed Amid the Beauties and Perfection of Eden, Was Without Bent to Sin and Had the Potentiality of Endless Life and Happiness Without a Shadow.
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Chapter two recapitulates the story of creation with additional details: CFF1 31.1

“The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). “And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food” (Genesis 2:9). “And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air” (Genesis 2:19).

In this recital three expressions call for special notice at the very beginning of our survey, “God created man in his own image,” “man became a living soul,” and “breath of life.”