Reading Genesis

This Fall we are beginning a series in Genesis 1-3. The purpose of this series is to provide a biblical framework for answering the question: What does it mean to be human? Genesis provides foundational material for biblical anthropology, helping us understand what we are, who we are, and why we are the way we are. It weaves together God’s design and purpose for humanity, humanity’s rebellion and fall, and God’s incredible plan of redemption and restoration. 

My hope is that this series will give us foundational pillars for navigating the complex and often confusing narratives of our culture, enabling us to live in light of the truth, goodness, and beauty of what it means to be human.

Reading Genesis: 

When approaching the book of Genesis, particularly its early chapters, our temptation is to get sidetracked by contemporary debates about the age of the earth, six “literal” days, and talking serpents. The question becomes: Is this fact or fiction? Did this actually happen or not?

This dichotomy between fact and fiction can often be narrowly defined by modern conceptions of science and history. Modern science is primarily concerned with explaining how the material world works, while historical inquiry is concerned with documenting what happened in the past. Both are commonly understood to deal primarily in matters of fact. Neither discipline, however, is equipped by itself to answer questions of ultimate meaning, purpose, or moral value. Nor are either discipline entirely free from the influence of assumptions and value judgments.

Albert Einstein once said, “the function of setting up goals and passing statements of value transcends the domain of science.” In other words, science has necessary limits when it comes to questions of teleology—the purpose or goal of things—and ethics—judgments about what is good or valuable.

It’s no wonder, then, that our contemporary cultural origin story is one of exploding gases, evolutionary processes, and an expanding universe, while remaining relatively silent on the questions that “transcend the domain of science”—Why did this happen and what is it all for? 

The Reformers spoke of the “two books” of God: creation and Scripture. Both reveal truth to us—about God, creation, and humanity—and therefore there can be no ultimate conflict between these two divinely authored books. However, while creation and Scripture harmonize with one another, they sing very different notes. Attempts to reinterpret Scripture to make it conform to modern scientific theories, or to reject modern science whenever it appears to contradict our reading of Genesis, are both wrong-headed. We are required to receive Genesis on its own terms. When we do, we find that it not only reveals truths about the world but also helps us to interpret the world around us.

What is Genesis 1-3? 

We need to recognise Genesis 1-3 for what it is: a story. It is the true story of the origin of the universe — a special revelation from God concerning our primordial history — but it is a particular type of story.

Here are three ways we should understand the kind of story Genesis is:

1.     An Artistic Story 

Like all literature, Genesis makes use of literary devices. The creation account is highly poetic, making use of repetition, refrain, merism (“heaven and earth”), gradation, symmetry, metaphor, irony, and wordplay. Recognizing the artistry of Genesis will help us to interpret it well and avoid simplistic and shallow “literalistic” interpretations.[1] We do this naturally with other biblical texts. When the Psalmist says, for example, “You knit me together in my mother’s womb” we intuitively know that this doesn’t suppose actual knitting needles but is intended to communicate the truth of God’s intimate involvement in our formation! Getting tangled up in questions of yarn would be to miss the point entirely.[2]

Genesis is not a science or history textbook that aims to describe creation as if there were a camera documenting the material events chronologically. It’s more like a poem that artistically reveals and interprets the truth of these historical (and prehistorical) events.

Rather than asking whether we should read Genesis literally, we should first learn to read it literarily — attentive to the linguistic, poetic, rhetorical, and literary features through which the author communicates. This does not dismiss the historicity of the events described; it means paying attention to the medium through which those events are communicated. The arrangement of the days of creation, for example, display a “deliberate and delightful symmetry” with days 1-3 corresponding and complementing days 4-6.[3] This tells us something important about the relationship between creation’s habitats and inhabitants, rather than simply giving us a sequence or schedule of events. 

2.    An Ancient Story

Having recognised the artistry of Genesis, we also need to consider its ancient context. It is an old book, which means there is a significant cultural and historical distance between them and us—a distance that requires effort and attention to bridge.

Contemporary scientific readers are often prone to ask HOW questions, while ancient authors were frequently more concerned with WHY questions. Ancient authors were less interested in explaining process, and more interested in communicating purpose.

Knowing this allows us to ask of the text the questions it seeks to answer, such as, “How are we to relate to God and to one another?” It also prevents us from demanding answers to questions Genesis does not appear to be addressing, such as, “How are we to measure the length of days 1–3 before the creation of the sun on day 4?”

Acknowledging the historical and cultural location of Genesis also helps us consider another kind of distance: not simply the distance between us and them, but the distance between God and humanity. 

Whenever God communicates with humanity, divine condescension is necessary.[4] God accommodates Himself to human language, culture, and understanding in order to communicate and commune with us. As such, while Genesis is intended to shape our worldview, it communicates within the cultural and conceptual world of the people to whom it was originally given.

Which leads to the final point.   

3.    An Alternative Story 

Finally, it is helpful to recognise that Genesis is also an alternative story.

It can be quite unnerving for a young Christian to discover that the cosmogeny in Genesis has strong parallels with other stories in the Ancient Near East. Does the existence of other ancient origin stories undermine the originality—and therefore the truthfulness—of Genesis? No. In fact, the similarities help us see what Genesis is doing. Genesis was written intentionally as a polemic against these alternative stories and therefore, for us to understand it, it’s helpful to consider the ways in which it contrasts with them. 

Other ANE stories speak of the origin of gods, creation as the result of divine conflict, and humanity created for servitude. Genesis, by contrast, speaks of an uncreated God who sovereignly speaks creation into being, declares it good, and creates humanity as the crown of that good creation. Seeing these differences not only reveals the intentions of the divinely inspired author but also reminds us that Genesis continues to function polemically against contemporary alternative stories about God and humanity.