Posted on 02/06/2023 8:44:34 AM PST by SeekAndFind
In the middle of the 19th century, an archaeologist discovered fragments of multiple clay tablets in what is modern-day Iraq. Translated, the cuneiform writing on these and other tablets subsequently found revealed the “Enuma Elish,” the Babylonian account of the creation of the world.
The Enuma Elish starts with formless chaos and water. The waters divide into a god and a goddess, who have children who are also gods. War breaks out between mother and father, and between mother and children. Ultimately, the offspring of the first two gods create human beings to be their servants.
Other ancient cultures have strikingly similar creation stories. Egyptians believed multiple creation myths, but most also begin with chaos and water, out of which come gods, war, and ultimately, human beings. The Genesis account, skeptics proclaim, is simply one of these accounts, and therefore should not be taken any more seriously than the others.
Too many Christians, even those who may not go as far as to call the Genesis account false, seem embarrassed by it. A purely naturalistic and neo-Darwinian account of human origins now dominates both the academy and the wider culture, and most Christians simply lack the confidence to engage the issue at all. So instead, they merely accept the claim that Genesis should be filed away under ancient creation myths with all the others.
Not only does this approach ignore the scientific doubts growing about these theories mistaken for fact and fail to take Jesus’ professed belief about the Genesis account seriously, it leaves unquestioned the assumed premise. Are the similarities between the biblical account of creation and other ancient accounts as obvious and conclusive as we are told?
C.S. Lewis didn’t think so. In his book Miracles, Lewis argued for the opposite conclusion. If multiple disparate cultures recorded similar stories of the world’s beginning, isn’t it possible these ancient peoples derived clues from the nature around them about the world’s actual beginning? In other words, if a story is true, we should expect multiple people in multiple places to discover it, and to muddy details along the way.
As an example, Lewis noted how the biblical account of the Incarnation, when God became man, followed a pattern similar to other ancient deities, especially those associated with agriculture. Noting that seeds fall to the ground, die, and then bear fruit, ancient tribes worshiped gods of seeds, fruit, and harvest. God became man, died, descended into burial, and then re-ascended into life and Heaven. Does this mean the Jesus story plagiarized what Lewis called the “Corn-Kings” of ancient civilizations? Not at all.
"The Hebrews throughout their history were being constantly headed off from the worship of Nature-gods; not because the Nature-gods were in all respects unlike the God of Nature but because, at best, they were merely like, and it was the destiny of that nation to be turned away from likenesses to the thing itself."
Even more, if the similarities between ancient deities and creation myths do not disqualify the biblical accounts, what about the obvious differences?
In an excellent analysis in his new book Biblical Critical Theory, scholar Christopher Watkin rightfully concludes that the Genesis account stands apart as profoundly different from other creation myths:
Genesis 1, by contrast, spares us the violence and conflict. Indeed there is no one for God to be in conflict with, no rival to play the antagonist in his grand creation plan, stealing away the sun he puts in the sky or pulling up his newly created trees and plants. In contrast to other ancient creation myths, Genesis 1 is remarkably calm and ordered. No one gets hurt, no one loses a corporeal appendage, and no one dies. The universe is not created in war and through fighting but in peace and through speaking.
Not only is this account of creation not like the others, but every claim it makes about the world also holds up to human experience, even today. That’s one reason belief persists in the Genesis story, unlike the other ancient myths. A world born of violence and power inevitably leads to privileging violence and power above all else. The Genesis account explains the violence and power that plagues the world but puts it in the larger context of a world made of order and peace, made by a loving Creator. That’s not only a better story, it better reflects the world as we know and experience it.
Originally published at BreakPoint.
John Stonestreet serves as president of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. He’s a sought-after author and speaker on areas of faith and culture, theology, worldview, education and apologetics.
Maria Baer works for the Colson Center for Christian Worldview.
I believe it but consider, was this the second earth creation? Was the earth before the home of the angels which could have lasted for eons. Then he who is not name and his allies other angels possibly living on the earth rebel and there was the fall. If they had been living on earth they faced God’s wrath upon the earth and it was destroyed by a flood and then you get the earth being re-created/built-—replenished in the Genesis version. It is an interesting interpretation that I have read about before.
There is a verse in the Bible that says there is “nothing new under the sun.” It would explain the ancient legends of India, Atlantis etc...
RE: Yes
Well, don’t stop there, tell us why.
“Well you absolutely had me in full agreement until you denied objectivity with the “all other stories but the Bible are wrong.”
I don’t know all of them, but take Greek mythology for an example. It is filled with fanciful explanations for the origins of the seasons, the wind, and lightning. All of which are fun but false.
Or take Norse mythology:
“Odin and his brothers slew Ymir and set about constructing the world from his corpse. They fashioned the oceans from his blood, the soil from his skin and muscles, vegetation from his hair, clouds from his brains, and the sky from his skull. Four dwarves, corresponding to the four cardinal points, held Ymir’s skull aloft above the earth.”
No part of that can be reconciled with what we now know to be reality.
By contrast “God said, Let there be light, and there was light.” and all that follows is a very beautiful metaphor for what we have strong evidence for really occurring.
The best theory of the great flood encompassing the entire Earth is from Dr. Walt Brown at creationscience.com.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hhE6tzJR_c
Long video - 2:41:11 but the free online book will take you even longer and go even further in depth.
No other account has the phenomenal record of fulfilled prophecies.
He ignores the literal text.. Blows smoke over, around, above and below what the Heavenly Father gave Moses to pen. Kind of like that symbolic tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 1:2. ‘AND’ the earth became without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters waters.
This verse two is describing the over throw and casting down of Lucifer.
Isaiah penned this earth was not created without form, or void. Peter describes three different heaven/earth worlds (ages). The first world age that was, had a flood, sure was not Noah’s flood.
Isaiah and Ezekiel describe the overthrow/ casting down of the king of Tyre. And the judgment to death of the devil, who has gone by many names and played many roles.
A world born of violence and power inevitably leads to privileging violence and power above all else.Exactly. Pagan cultures used god myths to legitimize present-tense political order. The Old Testament does the opposite.
I highly recommend Dr. Michael S. Heiser's book The Unseen RealmThanks for the suggestion. Just ordered it.
I think he (or she?) actually won the Oscar for best soundtrack.
“Supper’s Ready” is an Easter-time tradition around my house.
The Spirit of God outwits the Dark Side on a level that the bad actors reject from the start.
Kind of like Haman & Sons being confident in their intellect and ability to win at 8D chess, while Mordecai and Esther enjoy a fun, relaxing little game of checkers.
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