Why Care about Genesis?

[Guest shiloh357]

For years I had always been of the opinion that the book of Revelation was the most controversial book in the Bible what with all of the debates and controversy surrounding the various rapture views, the identity of anti-Christ and the varied and sundry views pertaining to the Millennium. I have discovered that there is a far more controversial book in the Bible. That book is Genesis.

Granted, there have been no small number of debates on this board surrounding eschatology and the contents of Revelation, but I think that Genesis is arguably the most hotly debated portion of Scripture on these boards. In particular, I am speaking of Genesis 1-11 and if we narrow it down even further, the hottest part seems to be the first three chapters of Genesis.

There is a view in the Church that is gaining a lot of steam in our day, that Genesis isn’t really all that important, and that the first eleven chapters of Genesis are more of a parable, an allegory or perhaps just a really big metaphor. The argument seems to be based on an assumption that Genesis is disconnected from the rest of the Bible, in particular, the New Testament. The argument reasons that as long as you believe the right things about Jesus, that Jesus died for your sins, and rose again and as long as you believe in Jesus as your Savior, what you believe about Genesis doesn’t matter. In effect, for the Christian, the first eleven chapters of Genesis are expendable and are at best a fictional parable or clever allegory. The end result of this line of reasoning is that the first eleven chapters of Genesis don’t matter.

Why is it so important to view Genesis 1-11 as a collection of actual, historical events? If you believe the right things about Jesus, then how is an allegorical view all that dangerous? Those historical events are a chronicle of God’s dealing with man. They demonstrate why we need a Savior. These events recorded in Genesis 1-11 are the seedbed for all of the theology that comes later in Scripture. The Bible is a system of progressive revelation. Think of it this way. A painter wants to paint a beautiful nature scene with mountains, a beautiful sunset, waterfalls, animals, etc. He doesn’t begin with the foreground. He has to paint the background or the foundational elements first like the sunset, the mountains, grass and so forth. The waterfall, the trees, flowers, animals and so on, are part of the foreground that comes later. In the same way the Bible has to lay the foundation, the background to the plan of redemption that is progressively unfolding as go from Genesis through the Old Testament to the New Testament. Genesis 1-11 forms the background information about the need for man’s redemption. These chapters are like the sunset and mountain range that form the background of the painting. Yet there is an even more important point to make about the absolute necessity of viewing Genesis 1-11 through the lens of literalism: Genesis 1-11 is the foundation for biblical doctrine.

Genesis 1-11 matters as a literal account because of all of the biblical teachings/doctrines that it addresses:

• The origin of sin and the sinfulness of man;
  
• The institution of marriage;
  
• Moral absolutes; justice;
  
• God as man’s eternal Judge;
  
• The origin of death and suffering;
  
• Personal modesty;
  
• The existence of God;
  
• God as Creator of the universe and the source of all life;
  
• God as man’s righteous and merciful Redeemer;
  
• The sovereignty of God;
  
• The omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence of God
  

I don’t have time right now to deal with all of these individually, but this thread, in the coming days, will be about discussing the above eleven doctrinal issues dealt with in Genesis 1-11 and why this portion of Scripture MUST be understood as written in order for the rest of the Bible to make sense.

[missmuffet]

All parts of the Bible are important.

[Jayyycuuup]

Great Thread Shiloh, I am very intrigued by it!

As of right now, I will wait until you open up the discussion. . .because in all honesty I do not even know where to start.

I will be waiting

God bless you!

[Fez]

Nice subject! And I agree, probably more controversial than Revelation, and in my opinion far more important in gaining a foundation of theology.

My most often thought of verse is Genesis 17:1 (which I understand is not included in your post, but which means a lot to me...)

I look forward to the discussion!

[other one]

I think I would have to agree Shiloh. over the centures people have fought over differences of opinion of the book of Revelation, but people have died over differences in Genesis..

[nChrist]

Hello Shiloh,

Good post Brother, and I look forward to future discussions. Genesis is not only the background for many studies throughout the Bible, it's the foundation.

[OneLight]

I also agree. If people can get others to disbelieve Genesis, or creation specifically, then there is no foundation on which to stand. God did what He said He did and that is what I believe.

[wingnut-]

I agree, great topic, I look forward to reading more.

[enoob57]

It 'IS' about Biblical foundation.... it makes the sense in all that follows! awaiting as well....

[The_Patriot21]

you know, the powers that be, figured this out a long time ago. You don't have to discredit Jesus-to get people to get away from Him, you need to discredit Genesis. It is, in reality, the cornerstone (besides Jesus) of the Bible-everything, and I mean everything including the very reason we need a savior, goes back to Genesis. If you can discredit that, then it discredits the entire rest of the Bible. Hence, why the Bible was taken out of schools-and evolution put back in, because they knew, that the theory (its actually a hypothesis but thats another topic) was totally incompatible with the Bible. From there, it was hammer the evolution story into the childs head 5 days a week, after that who cars if their parents brought them to church-theyd get 1, maybe 2 hours of church, vs how much of school? sooner or later, kids will start believing that evolution is true, and chances are they will then see that the creation account is incompatible, so it must not be true-and if you cant trust Genesis, you can't trust the rest of the Bible.

Don't get me wrong. Im not saying that if you believe in evolution or millions of years, that your not a christian, its not a "salvation" issue, I know many good, solid, firm believers, including on these boards, that I hold in high regard and have a lot of respect for. Im saying, that this is a HUGE stumbling block for many, and has led many astray, and it really shouldn't-the science does not support evolution if you take a good, honest look at it.