Study of Genesis

Study of Genesis

Materials used for study:

The New Defender's Study Bible, by Dr. Henry Morris
The Archaeological Study Bible

I will use other relevant materials to go into more detail on some topics throughout this study, but these are the main material that I will use, besides the scriptures, of course.

Genesis is the Book of Beginnings. It is foundational to our faith and our very existence. Genesis lays out for us in simple, but profound, language how we came to be and what we are doing here. The stories in Genesis are the first ones we teach to our kids, but seem to be to stories that we first put aside the more "educated" we become. The age of the earth, evolution, the origin of humans, and other subjects in popular science are sharply contrasted by what is contained in Genesis. I believe when we look at what facts are out there, we can find confidence in what is presented in Genesis and the foundation of what we believe. The basis of our faith - creation, sin, atonement, grace, redemption, faith, justification, salvation, and many others are presented in Genesis.

I believe that Genesis is very important to the life of a Christian. This book plainly lays out the history of the origin of mankind and of all creation. It also establishes our relationship to God and what he intends for our lives. The importance of our belief in Genesis comes down to this: is Genesis and the creation account, the fall, Abraham, and the tower of Babel, Noah and the flood, etc... just a collection of old legends or are they real history? I believe that the chief way that our young people begin to lose faith in what they are taught at church is how they are presented "facts" at school and on educational programs on TV, etc... about our origin that contradicts Genesis and its account of creation. Many of us Christians try to find a way to melt evolution theories together with creationism, which is not supported by what is written in Genesis.

Jesus himself referred often to Genesis and Genesis is referred to at least 200 times in the New Testament, which is more than any other book in the Old Testament. When Jesus appeared to the disciples on the Road to Emmaus, he referred to Genesis. Luke 24:27 says "Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself."

Question: What do you think of when you hear about Evolution? How do you reconcile what popular science tells us about the age of the Earth and our creation with what the Bible says?

Author and Organization: Moses is the author/compiler. The first 11 books are called the "primeval history", books 12-50 are "patriarchal history". Moses wrote/compiled Genesis between 1440-1400 B.C. Genesis is really a collection of histories written by those that were there, beginning with Adam. Much of the book happened before Moses was born, but is written from an eye-witness account. There is no evidence that Moses was given this knowledge from God, so it is logical that he compiled writtings of previous authors. The sections are clearly defined by the inclusion of "These are the generations of ..." throughout the book. There are also some differences in the writing style between some of the sections, which supports this viewpoint.

The New Defender's Study Bible says "In sum, we can be absolutely confident that the events described in Genesis are not merely ancient legends or religious allegories, but the actual eyewitness accounts of the places, events, and people of those early days of earth history, written by men who were there, then transcribed to Moses, who finally compiled and edited them into a permanent record of those ancient times.

Question: If Genesis isn't historical fact, then what is it? What does Genesis present itself as - allegorical or factual. If Genesis is just stories, why is it in the Bible? Do you think it is possible that all of Genesis is an eyewitness account?