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 taken literally or figuratively? 

Hermeneutics (from the Greek word hermeneuo, which means to explain or interpret) is the branch of theology that focuses on identifying and applying sound principles of biblical interpretation. While the Bible is generally quite clear, proper interpretation skills are still exceedingly important and useful. If we are serious about Scripture, we must be careful to correctly read and apply it (exegesis), ensuring that we aren’t reading into the text (eisegesis) what we want it to say. 

This is a particularly vital principle when reading Genesis. The best method of interpretation is known as the historical-grammatical approach, which seeks to understand the original intended meaning of the text. In a wonderfully informative article by Dr. Tim Chaffey of Answers in Genesis entitled Is Genesis 1–11 Historical Narrative?, Chaffey lays out six key principles to follow when interpreting the Bible:

• Carefully observe the text
• Context is key
• Clarity of Scripture
• Compare Scripture with Scripture
• Classification of the text
• Church’s historical view

Keep these in mind as you study Genesis.

The Historicity of Genesis 

All that to say, Genesis should be taken as what it is, historical narrative. The style and context make that clear. Historical narrative is a type of writing that tells a story based on an actual historical event, and so as such, a proper reading of the book of Genesis demands us to view the creation account (Creation of the world, Adam and Eve, the Flood, the Tower of Babel, ect.) as a factual, historical account intended to be taken literally. It's time for the Church to begin recognizing and teaching this truth to a skeptical world! 

I have covered only a few of the reasons why Genesis 1–11 should be understood as literal history. Jesus and the New Testament authors considered Genesis as historical, and its internal consistency supports this view. To interpret Genesis 1-11 as Jesus did, it should be viewed as historical narrative. This leads to the understanding that God created everything in six normal-length days, around six thousand years ago. We must not compromise God's clear words, but embrace, defend, and proclaim them fearlessly!