Robin Routledge. Ancient Near Eastern. Did God Create Chaos?
Instructions from my professor: For this assignment, you are simply to summarize your chosen article without any
commentary on what you think or others think about what he author says or the Bible passage the
author is discussing.
Your summary should be about 5–6 pages double-spaced. A Good Summary
There is an art to writing a good summary. A good summary focuses on the main or the
important things an author says, and it does not get encumbered with unimportant details.
Remember, in a summary you cannot say everything that an author says: you are giving a
shortened version.
It is important to remember that a summary is not an outline: they are too different types
of description.
Summaries can be any length, and in fact for this assignment you will be writing 3
summaries of your article: a one sentence summary, a one paragraph summary, and a roughly 5-
page double-spaced summary.
The one sentence summary is similar to a thesis statement, and should be in the form: So
and So (the author) argues that … (and here you give their primary argument.
The one paragraph summary is otherwise known as an abstract. It should be about half a
page long double spaced. On ATLA many of the articles come with an abstract. I would use this
as your basis, but make sure that you completely put it in your words and acknowledge in a
footnote that you have used this abstract. Thus, you will put a footnote saying: This abstract is
based on the one found at ATLA. Sometimes, the abstract on ATLA is the same as the one found
in the beginning of the article itself. You will then reference it as you would anything else from
an article.
The full summary will be about 5 pages double spaced. Naturally you are to use standard
12-point text and 10-point for footnotes.Focus on the Argument
Your summary should focus on the main argument of the article. This will help you when you
come to analysis, where you will be analysing this argument.Headings
Your paper will have three headings
The first will be “One-Sentence Summary”. Place you one-sentence summary under this
heading.
The second will be “One-Paragraph Summary”. Under this sub-title you will summarize
the text in one paragraph (half a page double-spaced). This one paragraph summary of a text is
often called an abstract. You will then summarize your article in one paragraph: “Smith argues
that . . . (here you can repeat your one-sentence summary). First, he demonstrates that . . . He
then follows with several examples showing . . . etc.”
The third will be “Full Summary”. Here you will give the full summary. In this summary,
you will expand on what you have said in the one-paragraph summary.Documentation
You will need to constantly state in your summary where in the article you can find what
you are summarizing. You will also need to constantly be using the authors name or a pronoun
referring to the author so it is absolutely clear that every statement you are making is the author
of the article's opinion and not your own. The first time you use the author's name you need will
use his first name, and after that only his last name. You are to reference the article by putting
page numbers in parentheses.
For example:
Steven R. Scott by giving an overview of the contents of the
priestly creation account (56). In doing so he draws attention the natural
structural divisions of the text. He then presents a diagram of his
proposed chiastic structure (57) and proceeds to discuss this structure in
detail in the rest of the paper.
Scott begins by noting that the priestly creation account is
enclosed by a very clear inclusio (58). He notes that the order of the
elements is slightly reversed which he says is common in Hebrew poetry
and provides examples (58).
He then discusses what he calls the chiasm proper which for him
begins with the creation of light (59).
For this assignment I want you to use in text citation. As you are only referring to one text only
the numbers are necessary. A bibliography at the end is not required.
Tutor
Course
Date
Article Summary: Did God Create Chaos?
One sentence summary
Robin Routledge provided an account that most writers involved in writing the Old Testament used numerous forms of imagery that was found in Ancient Near Eastern texts that portrayed creation as the victory and also the transformation of chaos by God (69).
One paragraph summary
Routledge begins his assessment by providing a brief account of the manner that the Old Testament writers utilized imagery in most of their writings. He highlighted that such description was found in other Ancient Near Eastern texts. This imagery is used to portray God’s victory over chaos and also how h transformed chaos. This is sometimes connected with the expression tohu wabohu which means formless and empty (69). This term is also highlighted in Genesis 1:2.The most recent interpretations of Genesis 1:1-2 indicate that this chaos which was formed already existed even before God initiated his works involving creation.
Full summary
Since most writers of the Old Testament utilized imagery, Routledge argued that a more traditional view is that Genesis 1:1 has numerous implications. In Genesis, there are implications that the cosmos was formless and hence initially, created out of nothing (69). The main argument of Routledge was that the first chapter of Genesis does point to a heavenly being as the originator of everything.
Genesis 1 also highlights that creation is an element of the order of chaos and therefore, Genesis does not do a lot in its attempt to resolve the growing tensions concerning this notions (69). The essential element is the religious importance of holding and accepting these ideas of creation and chaos. One of these assertions points towards the transcendence, power and the pre-existence of God.
The alternative assertion indicates that creation should be comprehended as a process whereby chaos should be the antithesis of creation. The author further states that the second assertion will allow the possibility that chaos can quickly return as a consequence of human sin (69). He provided an example of the flood. Therefore new life and hop can be brought to difficult scenarios such an exile which is highlighted as a return towards chaos such as in the book of Jeremiah 4:23 (69).
One sentence summary
In the process of validating his arguments concerning creation, Routledge stated that Chaoskampf motif depicts creation as a contest between God and the forces of chaos which is represented by the primeval waters, and portrayed mainly in the Babylonian creation myth Enuma Elish (69).
One paragraph summary
Enuma Elish describes the manner that the storm god Marduk defeated Tiamat which was the primeval salt water ocean and separated her body to form the earth and the heavens. The Ugaritic myth which is known as Baal and the Sea has a similar representation. Here, the god Baal defeats Yam which is represented as the turbulent sea (70).
Full summary
The Babylonian creation myth, Enuma Elish does not show a definitive account of creation, and numerous scholars do not consider this a creation myth. The author, however, stated that there is a suggestion that Baal’s triumphs over Yam and later on over Mot, represented as death, lead to the formation of the cosmos which includes pouring the wellbeing out into the earth and calmness into most of the fields (70). This led to rain during its season. Accompanied by the acknowledgment of the kingship of Baal and the building of the temple, this has led to a substantial cosmological discovery which was the perception that creation does exist to some extent within the Ugaritic text.
It has been vastly acknowledged that some of these representations are included in the Ancient Near Eastern myth found in the Old Testament. Passages within these texts refer to Leviathan as an equivalent to Lotan in Baal myth. Here, both represent the monster and identified with Yam or named as one of the cohorts of Yam (71). Rahab which is mentioned in the book of Job 26:12 can be utilized as a substitute for Leviathan although this term is not included anywhere within the Old Testament.
Therefore, Routledge determines that the numerous times that such terms in passages describe or are associated with God’s creation and may suggest a version of Chaoskampf in the Old Testament. However, such a motif has been provided with a massive new meaning and importance (72).
The author mentioned Gunkel’s narrative of the creation found in the book of Genesis. This has been numerously linked with Enuma Elish. However, some experts have indicated that this narrative emerges from an Egyptian background. Gunkel claimed that the Genesis account of creation represents a Judaicised version of Enuma Elish (72).The author further exclaimed that there might be enough evidence on the similarities between the Old Testament writers and th...