Birthed as a PhD thesis under the direction of Walter Moberly, Chambers follows a methodological interest of his Doktorvater, studying the history of interpretation of Gen 1, specifically the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo. He examines the passage and also the histories of interpretation of both doctrine and passage, from its ancient Near Eastern context, through the early church, the medieval period, to the modern era by both biblical scholars and theologians. Not only Christian but also Jewish interpreters are engaged.
After evaluating careful application of comparative studies, the first chapter compares Gen 1 with possible cosmological parallels from Canaan (little comparison), Egypt (the Memphite Theology being most helpful), and Mesopotamia (Enuma Elish being key). Chambers notes the importance of recognizing symbolic and phenomenological language when reading all the comparative literature, including the biblical.
Chapter two uses Christian doctrine as the lens to analyze creatio ex nihilo after briefly...