Understanding Genesis 1-11

Even before I decided to be a follower of Jesus, when I was atheistic in my thinking as evidenced by my lifestyle, I knew and acknowledged, that if God existed, he could do anything that he chose to do, absolutely anything! I also knew that if God existed, the only way he could make himself known would be to do things that we, as time-bound, physically-limited and intellectually inferior beings, would consider miraculous. He would be able to create and control the physical universe any way he chose, in order to make himself known and to accomplish whatever his purpose might be. If any being revered as a "god" could not do this, then that being would not be divine.

As a follower of Jesus, I still believe that God is able to do things that I can neither understand or explain with my very limited human knowledge. He is not confined by what he brought into existence. He certainly isn't limited to what I think he could or should do, that is, he doesn't have to conform to what I think he should be and/or do.

I say that, especially to those who, like me, are striving to follow Jesus. The events described in Genesis 1-11 that are superhuman/miraculous are completely within the ability of God, as I understand him. He could have created the world in seven literal 24-days in exactly the way and order that the authors of Genesis 1 state. He could have brought about a universal flood. He could have miraculously sustained Noah, his family and all those creatures in a ark made of gopher wood. He could have sustained humans to live for centuries. But is that what the authors of Genesis were trying to say? Is Genesis 1-11 to be taken as literally and historically accurate, word for word? I, personally, do not think so.

Did you know that there are other creation and flood stories, written much earlier than Genesis, which originated among the polytheistic nations that existed long before Israel was a nation? Did the author of Genesis know of these other stories? I can't see how they could not have known them, as the literary evidence indicates that many of these were ubiquitous in the ancient Near East for centuries. Did the authors of Genesis borrow from these creation and flood stories?

I think they did - for a very specific purpose - in order to counter the polytheistic explanations offered by the creation and flood stories written in Sumerian, Akkadian and Ugaritic (among others), that had been circulating for centuries. The authors of Genesis used these well known stories, however, to communicate their belief that one God, not many, creates, sustains and destroys; and that God (Elohim) is the LORD (Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel). While, as the minimalists note, there are significant similarities between portions of Enuma Elish, Adapa, The Epic of Gilgamesh (and others) with Genesis, there are also very significant differences - changes obviously inserted purposely to communicate a monotheistic worldview.

If this is news to you, that's OK. I would encourage you to read an article published in Christian Research Journal, volume 35, number 01 (2012), "Creation Accounts and Ancient Near East Religions" by John A. Bloom and C. John Collins (http://www.equip.org/PDF/JAF3351.pdf). For some, this article will be too "minimalist" and for others it will be far too "maximalist." While I don't agree with every point made, I think this is a decent introduction for those for whom the concept of communicating "truth" via myth is a new idea.

"The goal of early Genesis is not to entertain its listeners nor to justify the political status quo, but to convey a history of God’s actions in creating the world for man, its caretaker, to enjoy in fellowship with his Creator. Of course Genesis uses language and imagery that made sense to the original audience, but these images are universal, timeless, and transcultural, conveying a sequence of creation events both to primitive cultures and to modern scientific ones....the uniqueness of Genesis is readily apparent if they read the other ancient accounts for themselves. Ancient near eastern parallels provide some helpful cultural insights, but they do not explain the Genesis creation account away."

If you're in the ICOC (or not) and a Douglas Jacoby fan, check out the following podcast: https://www.douglasjacoby.com/gqmp3/ or read chapter 4 of Your Bible Questions Answered.