I’m relatively new into apologetics and am learning a lot through everyone’s post, but I have a question:
I was recently watching a documentary where a person referred to the story of Creation in Genesis 1 as a “myth”. I felt deeply offended by it being referred to as such. Why would a person call it a myth?
Some people don’t believe in God
Because they don’t have faith.
No reason to get offended by it though. Just pray for the narrator or whoever said it was a myth.
Because they believe it’s a myth. Why should they think otherwise?
The definition of myth is mistaken.
Myth is secondarily referring to a falsehood.
Scripture is the great Myth by nature, myth is a great story being told concerning people’s history involving social dynamics natural and supernatural events.
So when theologians are saying it is a myth it’s in a great respect not a disrespect.
Don’t be too upset by the term “myth”. It doesn’t always mean fiction. It can mean a style of writing that relates an intended message but where the story is not meant as an historical account as we might expect in our culture. The writers of these “myths” are attempting to relate truths, but doing so with a different cultural world view than the one to which we have become accustomed in our culture.
Jason Elam That is why you don’t watch those sort of things. So many of those documentaries are so far from the truth of the Bible. I never watch them. They are a trick of the devil to put doubt or questions into your mind. Stick to the BIble and what it says. Nothing in the Bible is a myth. The Bible is the inspired Word of God.
Look up “Is Genesis History”
Don’t get offended. People are wrong frequently. Its no call to be offended. Just study and know your the Biblical position, your position; in this incidence. Then passionately and compassionately defend it. Don’t insist on changing someone’s mind. Share the information as artfully and skillfully as you can, and let God give the increase.
Dr. William Lane Craig refers to what he calls “mytho-history” which he is clear to define as being true (not fiction), but biblical truth expressed in more poetic terms. He just recently finished a thorough book on what theologians call the historical Adam. Craig appears to allow for some level of common descent, but distinguishes himself from theistic evolutionists because he insists that Adam, the first man, was created as a special creation by God and is not the result of mindless random evolutionary processes.
Because they dont have faith, and for that they turn to science, but science is only man made and for that science is not perfect and cant even explain some occurences/phenomenon that are of GODs Creation.
science puts names and labels in specific findings based on “scientific investigation”and what they claim as evidences that aim to uncover fallacies yet it remains questionable. God is Absolute
A controversial author, John Walton, wrote a book that theorizes that the Genesis account closely resembles other Near Eastern myths, and that is key to understanding how the Israelites would have understood the text of Genesis. It addd culture to the interpretation. However, Walton’s theory that Genesis should be understood to be a myth seen through the lens of what he termed the Cosmic Temple appears fo stray too far from the proper exegesis of the text.
Finally, you may consider the perspective of one of my favorite authors, CS Lewis. He spoke of Genesis as being the “ine true myth.” He understood the power of myth in communication important biblical truths as the author of the Chronicles of Narnia.
it is the pride of men… that they will able(want) to know the depth of GOD.. by doing this the infinite, eternal, sovereign,almighty,OMNI’s of GOD is being leveled unto finite,mortal, creature, powerless level of thinking/mind of men… (not knowing regarding God(spirit), but only holding to the knowledge of this world)
john1:10. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not..
they will not able to know God (his depth knowledge)
Eph.3:16-19. That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17.That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18.May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
therefore, if you really want to know Him,,, pray(ask) so that he will give you Spirit so that you will able to KNOW GOD..
Mat 7:7. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Matthew 18:3 and Jesus says, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you change and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
(no evidence is needed/theory) especially if it is directly against what the scripture saying, which i believe is a WORD OF GOD. I’d rather believed and die embracing the word of God in Gen (creation, adam fall, protoevangelum) than believing on the science of man that didn’t know knowledge regarding spiritual things of GOD. Its a work of darkness, like Satan did to Eve, giving doubts on the commandments/ or Word of God. I personally don’t give a damn time to those knowledge of man that is directly against God words…
especially if it will give doubts regarding my faith on God…
ultimately,, i am certain with the God i am believing than the possibility (statistically speaking/ probability is not true) of man’s knowledge/theory/ pup up thinking, (?????)
i’d be rather uneducated,not able to read and write person but a believer of God, than be a well educated, holder of 10 degrees, masterals of… and doctorate of… scientist,evolutionist,doctors,lawyers,senators and president/kind or queens of nations,richest, name it all high class) but doubting the Word of God,terribly, no God at all !!!!!! or not believing on the existence of the Creator (true Living God, God of Abraham,isaac, jacob, moses and Israel).
God bless and protect us all… peace be upon us brother in Christ, All glory to our True Living God!!!!!
Myth has two meanings. The popular meaning is something which is widely believed but is false. The second is an ancient story which explains something about a group of people which typically involves supernatural beings or events. The latter is the sense it which it is used by sociologists and theologians.
As far as we understand it, Genesis 1 is a record of oral history passed down through the Hebrew people. It’s not “history” in the sense that an eyewitness wrote it all down – it’s a record based on a shared communal story that was passed down through generations.
For this reason it’s accurate to classify its genre as “myth”, even if all the events are exactly as presented.
Much simpler than that.
It is the case that in the beginning God created the heaven and earth …or it is not the case.
Every single departure from the founding of our nation based on judeo-christian principles is Based primarily on the denial that God exists.. starting in 1925 when they deemed the finding of a pig’s tooth to be proof in court that in pre man history there were half man and half apes .. thus the beginning of the evolutionary theory
Some people, even some this present Pope, thinks Genesis is symbolic, not literal. But that is being inaccurate. The Genesis was written like a literature that follows a genre of the ancient writing style. But that does not mean the whole Genesis account is a myth. All these Genesis narrative has been proven as historical by archaelogy, and many more evidence will be found to prove the historicity of Genesis.
Documentaries can be very deceiving
Genesis was given to us by God and compiled by moses, the genre throughout is clearly historical narrative, a large portion of the first 10 chapters are genealogies, are we to suppose that they are mythical, or poetic as some on here suggest?
Jesus quotes genesis several times as being literal history
Usually responses like this “it’s a myth” are programmed responses from people who are only regurgitating what they’ve read or heard from others without exercising due diligence of their own. Many times it’s more convenient and easier to simply follow the crowd or repeat what you’ve been taught. Very few people even take the time to download free commentaries available online that break things down that are not included in the text of the bible (i.e. traditions are not always clear). Many people call it a myth because they sincerely believe they’re passing on a “truth” that came from a previously biased source. You can find this out for yourself if you take the time to listen/watch scholarly Christian/atheist debate on Youtube. Many atheists actually get passionate and end up arguing that they don’t agree with the decisions of the very God they initially said didn’t exist.
It’s hard to believe it’s real. Yet, it is verifiable (mostly) if you look diligently. & try not to doubt as you run into issues. It can be confusing in many ways. Blessings!
Because they reject God.
If Genesis is True, which it is, they are in deep trouble. There are 2 Adams, the first one sold humanity out for a Fruit, the Second Adam Died for mistakes of the first and our Sins. No 1st Adam, No Sin!
I wouldn’t worry too much about it. You have to look at what they mean by “myth”. While yes, some use the word to refer to a unhistorical narrative, others use it as a literary genre classification meaning ancient stories that seek to explain where the world came from, the relationship between humans and the divine, and other fundamental questions of existence. In that sense, calling something a “myth” doesn’t address the question of historicity at all.
Some theologians and biblical scholars have called genesis 1-11 “mytho-history”. I like that label because it validates both the explanatory nature of genesis (why we live in a fallen world, for example) and the fact that many of the events described actually happened (such as the existence of an original human couple).
They are trained to say that just like all atheists. They are not ethical but biased. They say that Genesis is a copy of several other similar Genesis stories like the Sumerians, Egyptians, etc. They are wrong.
Watch the documentary
PATTERNS OF EVIDENCE…
Well, when Genesis says there was a solid-domed firmament over a flat earth, one has to ask if myth might not be an apt categorization.
That offense that you felt; hold onto it. It will keep you focused on the truth of God.
“Willful ignorance” 2 Peter 3:5.
Depends on who’s saying it. “Myth” also has a technical term in high, formal writing which has nothing to do with whether something’s false or true.
It can be jargon.
The word “cult” does the same thing. Cult can simply mean religious practices in high, formal papers and doesn’t have that negative meaning.
Jesus said they (unbelievers) hate Me and they the world will hate you. Do not think it strange at the fiery ordeal that comes upon you.
Myth can mean one of 2 things: origin story or false. If they mean an origin story, then I would use a different word but then that’s technically okay. If they mean it is false, then there are many reasons. Maybe logically, they are not informed of the truth. Maybe emotionally, they were hurt and are trying to make sense of some pain by rejecting the truth. Maybe volitionally, they don’t want the truth regardless.
Two types of people call Genesis a myth. Unbelievers, who of course don’t believe the Bible anyway, call it a myth. Charles Lyell, the guy who made up the uniformitarian philosophy that has people claiming the earth is millions of years old, said he did so because he wanted to “free the science from Moses”. Genesis is the foundation of many important doctrines, up to and including original sin, so atheists know if you can prove that’s a myth, Christianity dies.
Sadly, many compromised Christians also buy into the hype. Some are relatively tame, allowing the old earth and nothing more. Others gonthe full 10 miles and not only profess Evolution, but also accept most of the implications, causing them to be extremely liberal in their theology. Their motives are not universal. Some just need to sit down and study their Bibles (I was once among them). Others are scared, because atheists are notoriously intolerant. Some are just Christian in name only, being motivated by sin, as Judas.
Whatever people’s motives, you’re unfortunately going to have to get used to people saying some VERY silly things about Genesis.
The main reason is the claim of the 6 days of creation that is supposedly debunked by science. Young earth creationists have trouble defending Gen1, but Old Earth Creationists don’t.
Lots on this forum also believe its a myth. But it is real history and Jesus settled that debate. I encourage you to visit Creation.com for in depth apologetic on creation.
It was most likely a metaphor, but that does not mean it doesn’t have value.
Creationism is untenable, accept through group think and confirmation bias.
Comments