long since been decoupled from local sightings of the first crescent, the Muslim calendar still is determined in this way; American Muslims, according to recent newspaper articles, have had some theological problems over this, because the first crescent is often not visible in the United States on the same day that it is visible in Mecca. In any event, an indefinite period of time would not be divided into an evening and a morning. It is clear that in this account of creation, the word yom is being used with its ordinary meaning.
There have long been questions about the details of Genesis 1-2:3, about why the various things named are created on this day rather than that day, and especially about how light could have been created at the beginning of the first day when the Sun was not created until the fourth day. Further, how could plants have been created on the third day if there was no sunlight until the fourth day? Why are birds and fish created on the fifth day, but all other creatures, including humans, on the sixth day? Is there any real logic to this account at all? Yes, there is, but it is not a modern logic.
Isaac AsimovÆs In the Beginning is a peculiarly useful book for the enterprise being undertaken here. Asimov, as all readers of modern science fiction know, was a master storyteller, and so has the intuitive insight that only a storyteller can have into how a story has been constructed. He was theologically a devout agnostic, yet was very proud of his Russian Jewish heritage, and was a highly vocal member of the New York Jewish intellectual community. Among his more than 100 books are many investigating Biblical and other religious topics. Perhaps in another time and place he might have been a Rabbi, but in America, having become a writer, he used his writing to educate his vast audience. He is not one to interpret Genesis literally, but he also believes in its importance and does not insult the intellige...