Genesis 1-11 is probably one of the most controversial parts of the Bible. There are several reasons for this, but surely the main one is that it deals with such fundamental issues: the origins and nature of our world, and of our own species. This means that it has profound implications for how we think of ourselves, and for how we live.
These early chapters of Genesis deal with the beginnings of the human race and explain, in a series of powerful and unforgettable stories, why we are as we are. God created a good world, but it was spoiled by our sin, and the whole of human society is hopelessly corrupt as a result. As a consequence, God judged the primitive world three times: He ejected Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, destroyed Noah’s generation with a flood, and punished the builders of the Tower of Babel by confusing their language.
Is this history (as we would define it), or is it myth? For many people, this is the same as asking if it is fact or fiction. But these categories do not overlap.
From chapter 12 onwards, Genesis contains stories of Abraham’s family, presumably handed down orally through the generations until written down by Moses. This should indeed be classified as ‘history’ – but we cannot therefore assume that chapters 1-11 are in the same category. Abraham is firmly rooted in both geography and history; the places where he lived are known to us, and we are given enough cultural detail to date him to around 2100 BC. We cannot say the same for Noah. Nor can we locate the Garden of Eden, despite the geographical information given; two of the rivers named are on different continents (Genesis 2:10-14)! It’s a bit like looking at one of those old maps, where America is missing but Australia fills the southern hemisphere, and recognisable places are mixed up with statements of “here be dragons” on uncharted territory. We run into similar problems when we try to integrate recent scientific discoveries with the accounts of creation in Genesis 1 and 2. We need a different approach altogether.
The stories in the first part of Genesis also have a very different ‘feel’ to those in the later chapters in the way they are narrated. The characters frequently have conversations with God (or with the devil, in Eve’s case), but rarely talk to each other. When they do speak, all the recorded dialogue takes the form of prophetic pronouncements or ‘oracles’ e.g. Genesis 2:23; 4:23,24). (The one exception, Cain’s words to Abel in Genesis 4:8, is not in the original Hebrew text) This is not ‘real life’, but commentary on it.
Maybe Genesis 1-11 was written not so much to answer the questions “How?” or “When?“ but “What?” and “Why?” The author wanted to stimulate our imaginations, rather than follow the constraints of technical and historical accuracy; it may therefore be idle to wonder whether Eve actually had a conversation with a talking snake. Date and place are left vague, because the truths being taught are spiritual, timeless and universal. And yet it would be a grave mistake to regard these stories as pure fiction… they describe real events.
Our spiritual prehistory, like our anthropological prehistory, is largely lost in the mists of time. The glimpses that we see through the veil are not clear ‘photographic’ images, such as we are accustomed to, but rather ‘artist’s impressions’. They should be interpreted accordingly.
Discovering the Bible 