Historical & Literal
By Cougan Collins
lgchurchofchrist@cableone.net

 

Those who attack the authenticity of what the Bible says about creation will say that Genesis 1-11 is mythology. In other words, they say it did not really happen and it is nothing more than a fairytale. They understand if they can convince people that it is mythology, they can destroy the credibility of the Bible and promote their manmade teaching of evolution with its billions of years.

Let’s see what the Bible says. In Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus quotes from Genesis 1 & 2 as being true.  In John 8:44, Jesus called Satan the "father of lies" referring back to Genesis 3:4.  In Matthew 23:35 Jesus spoke of Abel in Genesis 4:2-10 as a historical person. In Matthew 24:37-38, Jesus spoke of the Flood of Noah in Genesis 6-9 as a historical event.  If Genesis 1-11 is a myth, then Jesus was mistaken in all of these instances.

In 1 Corinthians 11:8, 12, Paul states that man was created first, then woman just as Genesis 2:18-23 states.  In 1 Timothy 2:13, Paul called Adam & Eve by name, and in Romans 5:14 he says "death reigned from Adam to Moses."  In 1 Corinthians 15:45, Paul says, "The first man Adam became a living being."  If Adam was only a mythological character, then everything Paul said is false.  In 2 Corinthians 11:3, Paul says, "But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted."  I am afraid many minds have been corrupted by believing that Genesis 1-11 is nothing but a fairytale.

The New Testament shows that the first 11 chapters of Genesis are historical and literal. In fact, there are more than 100 references in the New Testament that refer back to the first eleven chapters of Genesis. Besides this internal evidence, there is ample proof of the global flood as described by the Bible because over 100 cultures historically record a global flood. Also, the fossil record proves that every mountain on earth was covered by water. For example, marine fossils have been found high in the Himalayas, the world’s tallest mountain range. When one begins to examine the internal and external evidence of Genesis 1 – 11, one will be overwhelmed with proof that the Bible is true and not mythology.

There are also those who want to believe in God and evolution at the same time. So, they will say that each day of creation represents millions of years. While there are many ways to prove this wrong, the easiest way is to look at what the Bible says:

Exodus 20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,  10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: … 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Our verses state that man was to work six 24hr-days, and they were to rest on the seventh day. In the next verse, it says creation happened in six 24hr-days and God rested on the seventh day. To squeeze in millions of years into the days of creation, we would have to change the meaning of days in verse 10 to millions of years in verse 11 without any logical reason. If we treat the text honestly, we will have to agree that creation happened in six 24hr-days. Do not let man fool you into believing a lie (Col. 2:8). We invite you to worship with us at the Lone Grove Church of Christ – lgchurchofchrist.com.