Why Genesis 1 11 May Be Considered Accurate History

¶ … Genesis of the Bible is the sovereignty of God throughout the four events described in the first 11 chapters: the creation, the fall, the flood and the Babel dispersion. In the next chapters, up to chapter 50, there is presented God's relationship to four outstanding people; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.

Throughout centuries, skeptics developed theories that sustained the idea that especially the first eleven chapters of the Genesis are to be considered as series of legends and myths rather than actual historical facts. Let us have a look first at the reasons that could make us believe the contrary: the sources. There are two main literary sources: the priestly source and the Yahwist narrative.

The myths of the Creation and destruction of the world can be viewed in a much larger sense as attempts to explain a culture's believes and practices, as a reflection of that culture's own view. One can find in the first eleven chapters of the Genesis natural sciences such as: geology, cosmology, biology. Not only are these natural sciences present here, but also sciences that study the human relationships such as: sociology, psychology and anthropology and finally, sciences that study the spiritual relationships such as: theology and philosophy. In the light of all these there is one thing to be sensed in the opening of the Bible; the man is recognized as a part of the past of the universe.

We arrive at the human knowledge and the explanation of the means for gathering it: one is provided by the human nature through its senses, the other one is provided be the revelation. The Genesis was also written as the result of these two ways of knowing. The revelation of the meaning of the Spirit of God came as the physical things resulted from reflections of an inner reality.

"Records of many persons that scientists have said never existed have been brought to light; many places that they said were only bible names have been unearthed."

Moses used also written sources for the first chapters of the Genesis, not only were they used as sources for the rest of the Scriptures.

It is true that we encounter at the beginning of the creation, which seems to cover around 2000 years, a few names and families instead of references to nations and folks. Walter Kaiser raised a question here that anyone of us could ask: "The question that arises is this: how can divine revelation for the whole human race be intended when the stories are so limited or the families of such small scope? Are not these stories unworthy of the transnational identity of the God of Scriptures?"

As we see it in the Genesis itself, God started with Adam and Eve. It seems like it was decided to put the lights on particular human beings as the ancestors of the humankind. The lives Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and his family have implications on a worldly scale.

We are coming to the following 12 to 50 chapters of the Genesis and going further to the whole Scripture and find the unifying theme to the whole book: the sovereignty of God. The first characters of the Genesis are referred to in many other books of the Bible, as real, historical, not mythical. We can understand the first chapters only in the light of the rest. "The Lord Jesus Christ referred to the Creation of Adam and Eve as a real historical event, by quoting Genesis 1:27 and 2:24 in His teaching about divorce"

As many scholars pointed out referring to the first eleven chapter of the Genesis as accurate history, the second part of it and the whole rest would have no meaning any more if the beginning of it was nothing more than legends. The first chapters are a table of contents for the Bible. What would it be without it? Every part of it reinforces the one before it and its authenticity. Reading the bible without the first eleven chapters, one would not understand why the main theme was redemption. The answer is to be found in the beginning of the Genesis: to be saved from the sin that got power over mankind.

"Unless we know that the entrance of sin to the human race was a true historical fact, God's purpose in providing a substitutionary atonement is a mystery"

The conclusion is that no writing than the Bible is more important for understanding the history of man, but also no writing in the Bible can explain better the world as we know it today, but also the world from the history books, from the cuneiform writings, and the world as Moses viewed it to begin with.