According to a respected Old Testament scholar, it may be that the beginning of the Book of Genesis from the Bible has been mistranslated continuously ever since the book was made available in languages other than ancient Hebrew. Professor Ellen van Wolde, who is also a respected author, adds that the sentence “In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth” is not an accurate translation of the meaning in the ancient texts, and that the correct translation would more closely resemble “In the beginning God separated the Heaven and the Earth.”

She reveals that the Hebrew verb “bara” does not in fact mean “to create,” but rather to “spatially separate.” This would, in turn, imply that the planet was in fact already created before God breathed life onto it, and made the plants, animals and people, as the story in the Bible goes. The new translation, if proven accurate, bears considerable implications for Judeo-Christian theologists and scholars, as it proves that God is not the maker of all things, as it has been painted to be over the ages.

Van Wolde, aged 54, will present her thesis at the Radboud University, in The Netherlands, during a conference. This is the same institution where she teaches, The Telegraph reports. She says that the accurate translation does not imply that the Earth started with God. The beginning of the book of Genesis is merely the introduction in a narration, she reveals. “It meant to say that God did create humans and animals, but not the Earth itself,” the expert explains. Christian scholars currently teach that God created everything around us, including the stars and the planet. This no longer seems to be the case, according to the new translation.

“Something was wrong with the verb. God was the subject (God created), followed by two or more objects. Why did God not create just one thing or animal, but always more?” “There was already water. There were sea monsters. God did create some things, but not the Heaven and Earth. The usual idea of creating-out-of-nothing, creatio ex nihilo, is a big misunderstanding,” the expert says.

She concludes that the Bible is meant to say that God merely separated water from land, the sea monsters from the birds, and the Earth from the Heavens. “Maybe I am even hurting myself. I consider myself to be religious and the Creator used to be very special, as a notion of trust. I want to keep that trust. The traditional view of God the Creator is untenable now,” van Wolde admitts.

“The new interpretation is a complete shake up of the story of the Creation as we know it,” a Radboud University spokesman concludes.