01 | In the Beginning: Genesis vs Science
The Bible is the most widely read and yet most widely criticized book ever written in the history of literature and language. And while there are plenty of biblical topics that are heavily debated, perhaps none of them have been more controversial than the events described in the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis.
The Book of Genesis derives its name from a Hebrew word that simply means beginning, and it addresses some of the most basic questions that have fascinated humanity throughout the course of history. Questions such as:
Who am I?
Why am I here?
What is wrong with the world?
And what is the solution?
However, in addition to these basic questions, perhaps the most prevalent question that has been on the mind of more modern readers of Genesis is the question regarding how — How did everything begin? How has it become everything that we see today? And how long has it taken to get to where we are today?
These How questions are the ones that seem to fascinate us the most today. These types of questions have been on the minds of modern readers ever since the release of a nineteenth-century book that presented a revolutionary idea about the beginning of everything. Since 1859 and the publication of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species, the theory of evolution has become a widely accepted explanation for exploring all of our questions concerning how everything began.
The basic explanation presented by evolutionary theory is that everything began through a natural phenomenon that initiated a natural process where everything has become what we see today through random chemical reactions occurring over billions and billions of years. Needless to say, this kind of explanation for how everything began has been unsettling for many in the church.
Many in the church have grown up being taught that God created everything from nothing spontaneously in just six days, and that event took place just a few thousand years ago. It seems that science and Genesis are telling two different stories, and they seem to be giving conflicting answers about our beginnings and the age of the universe. Therefore many in the church have come to believe the lie that they must either reject the science, reject the Scriptures or look for a unique way to try and make the two fit together.
When left with only these three options, many within the church fall into the trap of portraying science as the enemy of our faith. But what if we found out that such a portrayal was not necessary?
What if we realized that there might be another option for approaching modern science and the ancient Scriptures?
What if this option affirms the Genesis account of creation without the requirement to reject or even accommodate modern scientific theories like evolution?
And what if this option actually upholds what can be described as a literal interpretation of Scripture?
What if Genesis and science seem to be telling two different stories because Genesis and science are actually trying to answer a different set of questions?
So many of us have been approaching Genesis with our How questions and yet Genesis seems to be more concerned with the questions concerning Who and Why. Many of us scan Genesis looking for clues about how God created everything, but what if Genesis is mainly trying to teach us about who God is? Many of us spend time and energy arguing about the age of the universe and how long it took God to create everything, but what if Genesis is mainly trying to teach us about why God created everything?
It is unfortunate that we tend to only read and study Genesis with these kinds of interpretive lenses because the How questions are actually not nearly as important as the Who and Why questions anyway.
Think about it this way: Suppose you received an unexpected gift in the mail, and you opened it up and saw that it was some sort of new device that you had never seen before. Your first question would not be, "I wonder how long it took to make this" or "I wonder what tools were used to make this?"
Your first question would be, "I wonder who is this gift from, and what am I supposed to do with it?" You would want to know who was behind the gift and why they gave it to you. How the gift was made and how long it took to make it probably would not even enter your mind.
When it comes to Genesis 1-11, it is much more important for us to know who is responsible for this world and why it has been given to us instead of how long it took to make it and exactly how God did it. To put it plainly, we will fail to learn what we are intended to learn if we keep asking Genesis questions that it was never trying to answer.
So for the purposes of our study of Genesis 1-11, it is important that we realize that Genesis is not necessarily about the How of our origins but rather the Who and the Why. It is not primarily addressing the questions of modern science. It is primarily confronting the beliefs of the ancient world in which it was written, and it is revealing that the God of the Bible is the one true God over creation who has a special plan for humanity.
A Theological Critique
One of the basic rules to Bible study is asking the question, "What is the original author trying to communicate to his original audience?” Or to put it another way, "What was the intention of the original author and how would the original audience have understood what he is saying?"
Genesis was not originally written or read by people who had an interest in the materialistic or modern scientific understanding of the universe that we do today. It was written and read by ancient people with an ancient perception of the world. Therefore, we must be willing to admit and accept the fact that reading Genesis is a cross-cultural experience that requires us to try and step into another culture’s way of seeing things. We must put ourselves in the shoes of someone living over three-thousand years ago in the ancient Near East — someone who would have been familiar with the origin stories of ancient Babylon and Egypt.
Throughout the history of the church, it has been assumed that Moses was the author of the first five books of the Bible — which obviously includes the book of Genesis. It was not until the last two centuries that this assumption began to be challenged. Critical scholars began to argue that the first five books of the Bible were written by multiple authors, and that they were then compiled into the final form that we have today during the time of the Babylonian exile (almost 1,000 years after Moses). Although it is difficult to prove exactly when Genesis was written, a likely theory concerning the authorship of Genesis is that Moses was in fact the original author, but then slight revisions to names, spelling and grammar were made in later periods to help later readers better understand the book’s message. Either way, the book of Genesis would have been an important resource of hope and identity for God’s people right after their exodus from Egypt and also in the midst of their exile into Babylon.
Based on this context then, it should not surprise us to find that the themes of Genesis 1-11 are strikingly similar to the Ancient Near Eastern accounts of humanity’s origins from Egypt and Babylon. But with that being said, it is even more striking to recognize the revolutionary ways in which the Genesis account breaks away from these Ancient Near Eastern accounts.
Genesis vs Other Ancient Near Eastern Accounts:
Whereas the Ancient Near Eastern accounts describe many gods who were parts of the creation, Genesis reveals one God and Creator who transcends his creation.
Whereas the Ancient Near Eastern accounts describe the sun, moon, stars and sea creatures as powerful gods, Genesis reveals that they are all just parts of the creation made by God. It is likely to be very intentional that the author of Genesis leaves out the terms “sun” and “moon”. Ancient beliefs considered the sun and moon to be gods, but Genesis simply calls them “the big light” and “the smaller light”.
Whereas the Ancient Near Eastern accounts describe the gods’ control over the universe as an ongoing celestial struggle against chaos and darkness, Genesis reveals one God who has effortlessly built order into the creation and rests as the sovereign ruler in complete control over the world. In Ancient Egyptian beliefs, the sun god would fight the chaos sea monster every night and then rise victoriously every morning. The author of Genesis deliberately uses the word “created” when talking about the great sea creatures (a word only used in verse Genesis 1:1, 1:21 and 1:27). This was to emphasize the fact that the true God of Creation has no rival.
Whereas the Ancient Near Eastern accounts describe history as being cyclical with endless repetition, Genesis reveals that history is linear and that God has a special plan to take it somewhere. The Ancient Egyptians viewed creation as “the first time”; Genesis portrays creation as “in the beginning”.
And whereas the Ancient Near Eastern accounts describe humanity as expendable servants made to supply the gods with food, Genesis reveals a good God who gives a special significance to humanity and provides an abundance of food for them.
So why are these striking similarities but equally striking differences so significant to our understanding of Genesis?
Because it lets us know that the author of Genesis is doing something very intentional with regard to the Ancient Near Eastern beliefs about the world. It is not trying to give the reader scientific details on how God made everything and how long it took him. It is trying to offer a theological critique of the beliefs held by its surrounding cultures.
When Genesis describes primordial waters, light out of darkness, the separation of sky and land, sea creatures and luminaries that rule the day and night, the author of Genesis is using what would have been culturally familiar concepts, images and language in order to reject the theology of Israel’s neighbors. This is not the same as saying all these things are strictly symbolic, but we are pointing out the fact that the author is using imagery and language that its original ancient audience would have understood in order to reshape that audience’s view of who God is and why he made this world.
These things and the order in which they occur are not trying to tell you how the world was created and how long it took to create it as much as it is trying to reveal who created the world and why he is supreme.
Genesis is not dealing with the issues raised by twentieth-century science but with the ideas current in the ancient Near East over three-thousand years ago. In the middle of a world that believed in many gods and goddesses of varying wisdom and power, Genesis declares that there is one God of absolute power and holiness. And in a world that viewed mankind as slaves to the gods, Genesis declares that man was the goal of creation and that his welfare is God’s supreme concern.
An Awesome Creator
Modern readers who are used to the idea of one supreme deity can easily overlook how astonished the original ancient readers would have been at this idea of a one all-powerful and yet gracious God. A transcendent God who is controlling a linear history with humanity as his ruling representatives here on earth was a revolutionary worldview in ancient history. This is the story that Genesis is telling, and the first eleven chapters pave the way for what we discover throughout the rest of Scripture.
Genesis 1-11 introduces us to the awesome Creator who made a good world and then surprisingly commissioned humans to rule over it with him. But then it also reveals the tragic beginning of humanity’s story of giving in to evil and choosing autonomy for themselves. Humanity has rebelled against God and ruined his good world.
In other ancient accounts, it was an overflow of human fertility that provoked the gods to send a global flood, but Genesis declares that it was human sin. In other ancient accounts, the Babylonian civilization was esteemed as the most advanced and enlightened on earth, but Genesis declares that it was the most destructive and corrupt. Unlike other ancient beliefs, Genesis 1-11 provides a profoundly pessimistic view of human nature and society, but also unlike other ancient beliefs, Genesis 1-11 provides a stunningly optimistic view of the God over creation.
The God of the Bible is an awesome Creator who created a good world that we have made bad. We all make decisions that contribute to a world of broken relationships, conflict and violence. But instead of wiping us out and putting an end to the human experiment, God keeps giving us a chance to do what is right with his world. God is grieved by human evil, but he will not give up on his plan for humanity. Although humanity has chosen to rebel, God promises to rescue us and his world. Genesis 1-11 fills us with wonder, but it should also lead us to worship. It sets the stage for the redemptive story that unfolds throughout the rest of the Bible, and it should lead us to join in with the psalmist declaring:
“There is none like you among the gods, Oh Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, Oh Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.” (Psalm 86:8-10)
Conclusion
Genesis 1-11 is not about the How of our origins but about the Who and Why. Up against the belief in many gods that was prevalent throughout the ancient Near East, Genesis introduces us to the awesome Creator of this world who cares about humanity and who has a special plan for them in spite of their rebellion.
We run the risk of missing out on what we are intended to learn if we keep asking Genesis questions that it is not trying to answer. Therefore, we need to concentrate on the original intentions of Genesis and recognize the remarkably unique and balanced worldview that it provides.
The modern secular mindset believes that this world is an accident and that it is the only thing that is real and so we ought to just live for what is in front of us right now. All the great religions teach that this world is not the ultimate reality and that salvation is escaping this world and entering into some spiritual existence away from this world. However, Genesis tells us that this world is real, beautiful, important and good, and that it was created by a good God who is taking it somewhere special. That is why all the other ancient religions never produced science and social justice and an end to slavery, and why the modern secular mindset has no philosophical basis for promoting such things either. Only a worldview that believes a good God created a good world with a special plan for that world can open up the door for modern science, social justice and the belief that every human life has equal value.
So as we go through this study, lets read Genesis 1-11 for what it is and let the intentions of the text shape our worldview and how we think about the origins of the world and humanity. Let’s avoid bringing in our modern scientific baggage and find ourselves focused on the bigger questions that Genesis is trying to answer.
Who is God?
Who am I?
Why am I here?
What’s wrong with the world?
And what’s the solution?
