Genesis Part 1: Should it be Taken Literally?
First, a brief overview of the biblical book of Genesis: Genesis (meaning “beginning” or “origin”) provides a narrative of the Earth's history from its creation to the era of Joseph and his brothers in Egypt. It introduces key concepts such as the beginning of marriage, sin, death, God's plan for redemption, the flood, the origin of languages and ethnic groups, and the historical context of nations. According to Answers in Genesis , “ Genesis is foundational to our understanding of reality.” Clearly, Genesis is an important book, but also important is how we interpret it. Now, many people, both non-Christians and professed Christians have argued that Genesis shouldn't be taken literally as historical narrative but read in a poetic form or interpreted as an allegory. They contend that elements of the narrative are symbols or types, rather than viewing them literally as recording historical events. So how should we approach the point at issue? Is Genesis intended to be ta