By Chad Browne
Introduction
There seems to be some confusion between what God has done and what evolution has claimed to do. Some persons link the theory of evolution to the Bible and then assume that Genesis is symbolic or a myth. Recently, a well-known minister, Rev. John Rogers, mentioned in his sermon that you could categorise the first eleven chapters of Genesis as a myth. However, I plan to refute that Genesis is a myth with evidence to support my claim. According to Rogers, consider the ramifications if it were a myth and how this would affect the Christian faith.
Defense for Genesis as History
Firstly, Genesis has considered a prose narrative by the evidence in the text itself: “Genesis as a whole is prose narrative, with some embedded pieces that are poetic and sometimes future-oriented (Gen. 49)” (Poythress).
Also, another point in Genesis: “The Bible consistently shows that death did not exist before Adam’s sin.” (Chaffey).
Finally, today we can see the evidence of rapid burial in the rock layers, under the ground of catastrophic proportions. “On every continent are found layers of sedimentary rocks over vast areas. Many of these sediment layers can be traced across continents, and even between continents. Furthermore, when geologists look closely at these rocks, they find evidence that the sediments were deposited rapidly”(Snelling).
In simple terms, we would expect that due to the flood animals were buried very rapidly under the rock layers of the earth. Consider the circumstances of a flood similar to Ukraine’s war where the results would produce a lot of dead bodies to be buried all at once. The evidence of the fossils a couple of years later would prove that the flood indeed happened. Therefore, this scientific fact places Genesis as history.
Consider the Ramifications
If the book of Genesis 1-11 is a myth, then there is no history of Jesus to be prophesied about. There is no reason for our current suffering and why we die, why we wear clothing, why we eat meat today, and more importantly, there is no God to obey. “If Darwin is right, we’re just sophisticated monkeys. The Bible is wrong. There is no God. And without God, there’s no right or wrong”. (Strobel,11).
We have the theory of evolution where somehow with enough time and natural selection we can go from a single cell organism to mankind and non-life can produce real life. The order of Genesis would have to start with the sun first, where the text mentions water, and where would this water come from? Finally, John 5:39 NIV says, “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me.” You can never know God or have a creator if He did not do as Genesis says.
Genesis must be a fact
In conclusion, there is no hope if Genesis is a myth and certainly God would know what is real and what is fake. He stated that you would find him in these scriptures. Looking at the first prophecy about Jesus, in the Book of Genesis 3:14-16, we read that Jesus was to come from a woman with no earthly Father.
We now know that prophecies were fulfilled based on the reliable sources of the New Testament. Without Genesis, there would be no salvation, no hell, no heaven, no need for morals, not be any ability to think, no consciousness, no free will and finally no life.