1. [adv]  before now; "why didn't you tell me in the first place?"
2. [adv]  with reference to the origin or beginning

In the Beginning...
While the stories of the vcreation of the world and of the fall of humankind have often given rise to conflict - fundamentalists twist the Bible into science and history while rationalists approach this issue by divorcing God from creation - Cardinal Ratzinger presents the Catholic middle ground between extremist positions in explaining the vitality of these early Old Testament writings.

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