John h walton biography of albert

American biblical scholar and professor

John H. Walton (born 1952) is an Old Testamentscholar. He is Professor Emeritus at Wheaton College and was a Moody Bible Institute professor previously.^[1] He specializes in the Ancient Near Eastern backgrounds of the Old Testament, especially Genesis and its creation account, as well as interpretation of Job.

Views on Genesis

Walton espouses a view of Genesis creation narrative that resonates with ancient Near Eastern mindsets, much like a temple dedication ceremony, and not a strictly material account of cosmological origins.

He uses a restaurant as an analogy, arguing that a restaurant does not begin to exist when the material building is completed, but when the owner declares the restaurant open for business.^[2] Through his book The Lost World of Genesis One he presents the Genesis creation as being functional rather than material.^[3] This view is opposed by some theologians such as