Many readers of Genesis 1-11 are not entirely sure how this part of the Bible relates to world and natural history. Creation? Nephelim? Flood? Babel? What is this all about? As the Christian community I am part of begins a “Summer Bible Study” series on this part of the Bible, these type of challenges are more important that ever. I can boil it down to this question: Are these chapters written from the perspective of a human eyewitness observer recording the events as they happen?
When it comes to the Gospels, the New Testament writers make it clear that we are dealing with eyewitness testimony. For example, Luke explicitly claims that he gathered the sources for his Gospel from eyewitnesses to the original events (Luke 1:1-4). But when we come to Genesis, things get a bit more vague. For example, the authorship of Genesis is traditionally attributed to Moses himself. But even the most conservative perspectives must acknowledge that Moses, who lived centuries after the events described in Genesis 1-11, was not sitting up in a tree in the Garden of Eden with his videocamera. So, then how do we understand Genesis 1-11 in relation to actual historical events?
Zondervan Publishers has released a book that tackles the topic, Genesis: History, Fiction or Neither?, as part of its Counterpoint series. The book editor, Houston Baptist University professor Charles Halton explains the purpose behind the book in the following video. The contributors include some veteran Old Testament scholars representing diverse points of views:
- James K. Hoffmeier: Theological history.
- Gordon J. Wenham: Proto-History.
- Kenton L. Sparks: Ancient Historiography.
The book is important for not only Christians who are trying to make sense of the Bible but also skeptics who are trying to figure out if Christianity really makes any sense.
Veracity 