Biblical Worldview - Part 4 - Are Genesis Chapters 1 and 2 Reliable?
By Ben Quine
****The way we act is shaped by the way we look at the world. Our lives are shaped by our basic assumptions and convictions. These Worldview Articles will explore what a “worldview” is. Each person has a worldview, whether they know it or not, and it determines every decision and choice a person makes. Do you have a Biblical Worldview or are factors other than the Bible informing your choices and decisions. In this series of articles, we will take an in-depth look at 7 Vital Worldview Questions, as the starting place for building a Biblical Worldview. (These articles are adapted from David Quine’s Answers for Difficult Days “Seven Vital Worldview Questions.” David is Ben’s father and the founder of Cornerstone Curriculum a Biblically based Homeschool Curriculum.)
Many people find it difficult to believe the teaching of the first two chapters of Genesis. It is easy to ask, “Are we sure that account is reliable?” or “Isn’t that just a general picture? It’s not meant to be taken literally, right?”
If we have a question about the Bible, the best place to find the answer is the Bible. As Major Ian Thomas was fond of saying, “The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible!” So what does the rest of Scripture teach us about Genesis Chapters 1 and 2?
6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. (Psalm 33:6, 9)
The Bible teaches that God created the world simply by speaking it into existence.
By faith, we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (Hebrews 11:3)
Hebrews affirms that God created the entire universe out of nothing.
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:11)
God created by His will. Not because He needed anything. Not because He was lacking anything. He is our Master, and He is worthy of authority because He is the Creator.
Ok, so Scripture confirms that God is the Creator, but maybe the details are not truly historical. Maybe it’s just a song that gives a colorful, creative, but not truly accurate account?
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
5 to him who by understanding made the heavens…
6 to him who spread out the earth above the waters…
7 to him who made the great lights…
8 the sun to rule over the day…
9 the moon and stars to rule over the night… (Psalm 136:1, 5-9)
Psalm 136 recounts the events of Genesis Chapter 1 as real history.
10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt…
11 and brought Israel out from among them… (Psalm 136:10-11)
Psalm 136 places Genesis Chapter 1 on equal historical footing as the Exodus.
17 to him who struck down great kings…
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites…
20 and Og, king of Bashan…
21 and gave their land as a heritage…
22 a heritage to Israel his servant… (Psalm 136:17, 19-22)
Psalm 136 places Genesis Chapter 1 on equal historical footing as God giving Israel the land.
But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ (Genesis 1:27)
‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ (Genesis 2:24)
So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. (Mark 10:6-9)
In this remarkable passage from the gospel of Mark, Jesus himself authenticates the authority and accuracy of Genesis Chapters 1-2. He quotes both chapters back to back, assumes their authority and unity, treats Adam and Eve as historical, and confirms that they were the first humans.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. (Romans 5:12-14)
The Apostle Paul teaches that the first man, Adam, was a real person who sinned and brought death into the world. But if that is the case, Adam must have been the first person! Otherwise, why would anything or anyone before him have died?
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. (Genesis 1:31)
“This one verse precludes any interpretation of Genesis which seeks to accommodate the geological ages in its system. The ‘geological ages’ are identified by the fossils found in the sedimentary rocks of the earth’s crust, which supposedly depict a billion-year history of the evolution of life on the earth. In this case, simple fossils are found in ancient rocks, and more complex fossils in younger rocks. But fossils really depict a world in which death reigns!
Fossils are the remains of dead organisms, from amoebae to man, and thus represent a world full of suffering and death, not a world pronounced by God as ‘very good.’
Six times before in this chapter, God had adjudged His work to be ‘good.’ Now, after completing everything, He declared it all to be ‘exceedingly good’ (the literal meaning of the Hebrew word rendered ‘very’). The evolutionary ages of geology represent a billion years of wasteful inefficiency and profound cruelty if they were, indeed, a part of God’s work. They would completely discredit God as a God of order, intelligence, power, grace, and love.
Death represents ‘the wages of sin’ (Romans 6:23), not of divine love.
Thus, the ‘gap theory’ (placing the geological ages before creation week) and the ‘day-age’ or ‘progressive creation’ theory (incorporating the geological ages during creation week) in effect imply that the Creator is either a bumbler or a monster. In reality, the geological ages are nothing but evolutionary delusions; the fossils are much more realistically explained in terms of the flood.” (Henry Morris Study Bible)
Many Christians feel pressured towards Syncretism regarding creation. They feel that in order to be “intelligent” or “scientific,” they must incorporate Darwin’s views as expressed in his work, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. But nothing could be further from the truth! In fact, the scientific data are best summarized and understood through a consistent Biblical Worldview and the lens of intelligent design.
The Secular Worldview has only achieved dominance because of evolutionary theory — without Darwin’s racist theory of evolution, the Secular mind has no answer to its origin. Evolution is entirely incompatible with the Bible’s teaching, but it is popular precisely because people don’t want to acknowledge God or His authority over His creation. Evolution gives humanity an out: “We don’t have to be subject to the creator because there is no creator!”
But there are further problems with evolution. The theory has no answer for the patterns, laws, and beauty found in the universe. How could such order ever come from chaos? It also cannot explain why people have personality, a need for love, and a desire for meaning. How can those be explained?
Evolution is a primary cause of the terrible isolation, despair, and immorality we see all around us — if there is no God, then there is no meaning, and life is hopeless. Without the God of creation, there is no foundation for justice, morality, or love. How terribly tragic! No answers. No purpose. Just matters in motion.
There are many other instances where the New Testament confirms the historicity and accuracy of the first chapters of Genesis (Luke 3:38, I Corinthians 15:22, I Timothy 2:13).
In short, the events of creation as recorded in Genesis Chapters 1 and 2 are real history. They are as real as Abraham, David, and Jesus. Genesis teaches that God created the world in six 24-hour days without evolution, that His creation was filled with beauty and order, and that by God’s own evaluation, it was very good. We know where we came from and why we are here! Praise the Lord!
Hence, to summarize where we are in the flow of history, we can say that there is first creation out of nothing, then differentiation in various forms, then differentiation of man from all that preceded, and then, in a very special way, differentiation of Eve from Adam, woman from man. The whole sequence testifies to Adam and Eve standing in space-time history. (Francis A. Schaeffer)
Ben Quine is Vice President of Christians Engaged and is the Director of Curriculum Development and Strategic Ministry Partnerships.
Learn more about Ben on our website: christiansengaged.org/leadership
Find Ben’s corresponding “Answers for Difficult Days” books in our Christians Engaged Store