Although the LCMS officially claims to elevate the Bible above human opinions, they actually turn that posture on its head. For over eleven years I urged in vain for my fellow LCMS clergy to at least consider an alternate interpretation that is far more faithful to the Word of God in Genesis 1 than is the LCMS view. Two examples include the facts both that 1:1-2 is entirely consistent with Big Bang cosmology, while the “evening/morning” creation-day refrain that the chapter repeatedly employs, widely distances itself from the specification of a standard day according to Leviticus 23:32. Why this obvious disparity? It is because the text of Genesis 1 points in a direction that differs from the rutted path the LCMS is taking.