quote:
Well, you might not need that much, but some evidence other than your bare assertion is required.
Of course you don't doubt that we believe it is literally true these days but I will start with a recent example anyway, because it makes it clear just why Genesis must be taken as factual:
The Fundamentals on Genesis This is the official answer to the "liberal" interpreters of the 19th Century.
"The Doctrinal Value of the First Chapters of Genesis"
By Dyson Hague, M. A., Vicar Of The Church Of The Epiphany; Professor Of Liturgics, Wycliffe College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
"The Book of Genesis is in many respects the most important book in the Bible. It is of the first importance because it answers, not exhaustively, but sufficiently, the fundamental questions of the human mind. It contains the first authoritative information given to the race concerning these questions of everlasting interest: the Being of God; the origin of the universe; the creation of man; the origin of the soul; the fact of revelation; the introduction of sin; the promise of salvation; the primitive division of the human race; the purpose of the elected people; the preliminary part in the program of Christianity. In one word, in this inspired volume of beginnings, we have the satisfactory explanation of all the sin and misery and contradiction now in this world, and the reason of the scheme of redemption.
"Or, to put it in another way. The Book of Genesis is the seed in which the plant of God's Word is enfolded. It is the starting point of God's gradually unfolded plan of the ages. Genesis is the plinth of the pillar of the Divine revelation. It is the root of the tree of the inspired Scriptures...
"We assume from the start the historicity of Genesis and its Mosaic authorship. It was evidently accepted by Christ the Infallible, our Lord and God, as historical, as one single composition, and as the work of Moses. It was accepted by Paul the inspired. It was accepted universally by the divinely inspired leaders of God's chosen people. (See Green's "Higher Criticism of the Pentateuch.") It has validated itself to the universal Church throughout the ages by its realism and consistency, and by what has been finely termed its subjective truthfulness. We postulate especially the historicity of the first chapters. These are not only valuable, they are vital. They are the essence of Genesis. The Book of Genesis is neither the work of a theorist or a tribal annalist. It is still less the product of some anonymous compiler or compilers in some unknowable era, of a series of myths, historic in form but unhistoric in fact. Its opening is an apocalypse, a direct revelation from the God of all truth...
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Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) on Genesis
"So there will surely come a more dreadful deluge of divine wrath on this wicked
world. We are often forewarned of it in the Scriptures, and the world, as then, doth not believe any such thing. Yet the threatening will as certainly be accomplished, as the threatening denounced against the old world. A day of wrath is coming; it will come at its appointed season; it will not tarry, it shall not be delayed one moment beyond its appointed time.
"2. All such as do not seasonably undertake and go through the great work mentioned will surely be swallowed up in this deluge. When the floods of wrath shall come, they will universally overwhelm the wicked world: all such as shall not have taken care to prepare an ark, will surely be swallowed up in it; they will find no other way of escape. In vain shall salvation be expected from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains; for the flood shall be above the tops of all the mountains. Or if they shall hide themselves in the caves and dens of the mountains, there the waters of the flood will find them out, and there shall they miserably perish. As those of the old world who were not in the ark perished, Gen. 7:21, 23, so all who shall not have secured to themselves a place in the spiritual ark of the gospel, shall perish much more miserably than the old world. Doubtless the inhabitants of the old world had many contrivances to save themselves. Some, we may suppose, ascended to the tops of their houses, being driven out of one story to another, till at last they perished. Others climbed to the tops of high towers; who yet were washed thence by the boisterous waves of the rising flood. Some climbed to the tops of trees; others to the tops of mountains, and especially of the highest mountains. But all was in vain; the flood sooner or later swallowed them all up; only Noah and his family, who had taken care to prepare an ark, remained alive. So it will doubtless be at the end of the world, when Christ shall dome to judge the world in righteousness. Some, when they shall look up and see him coming in the clouds of heaven, shall hide themselves in closets, and secret places in their houses. Others flying to the caves and dens of the earth, shall attempt to hide themselves there. Others shall call upon the rocks and mountains to fall on them, and cover them from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.-So it will be after the sentence is pronounced, and wicked men see that terrible fire coming, which is to burn this world forever, and which will be a deluge of fire, and will burn the earth even to the bottoms of the mountains, and to its very centre. Deut. 32:22, "For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn to the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains." I say, when the wicked shall, after the sentence, see this great fire beginning to kindle, and to take hold of this earth; there will be many contrivances devised by them to escape, some flying to caves and holes in the earth, some hiding themselves in one place, and some in another. But let them hide themselves where they will, or let them do what they will, it will be utterly in vain. Every cave shall burn as an oven, the rocks and mountains shall melt with fervent heat, and if they could creep down to the very centre of the earth, still the heat would follow them, and rage with as much vehemence there, as on the very surface.
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Matthew Henry (1662-1714) on Genesis
"Chapter 1The foundation of all religion being laid in our relation to God as our Creator, it was fit that the book of divine revelations which was intended to be the guide, support, and rule, of religion in the world, should begin, as it does, with a plain and full account of the creation of the worldin answer to that first enquiry of a good conscience, "Where is God my Maker?’’ (Job 35:10). Concerning this the pagan philosophers wretchedly blundered, and became vain in their imaginations, some asserting the world’s eternity and self-existence, others ascribing it to a fortuitous concourse of atoms: thus "the world by wisdom knew not God,’’ but took a great deal of pains to lose him. The holy scripture therefore, designing by revealed religion to maintain and improve natural religion, to repair the decays of it and supply the defects of it, since the fall, for the reviving of the precepts of the law of nature, lays down, at first, this principle of the unclouded light of nature, That this world was, in the beginning of time, created by a Being of infinite wisdom and power, who was himself before all time and all worlds. The entrance into God’s word gives this light, Ps. 119:130. The first verse of the Bible gives us a surer and better, a more satisfying and useful, knowledge of the origin of the universe, than all the volumes of the philosophers. The lively faith of humble Christians understands this matter better than the elevated fancy of the greatest wits, Heb. 11:3. "
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Refs on belief in Genesis on Creationist site
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Calvin on Genesis
"Now, whether all nations which formerly existed, purposely drew a veil
over themselves, or whether their own indolence was the sole obstacle to
their knowledge, the [First] Book of Moses deserves to be regarded as an
incomparable treasure, since it at least gives an indisputable assurance
respecting The Creation of the World, without which we should be unworthy
of a place on earth. I omit, for the present, The History of the Deluge,
which contains a representation of the Divine vengeance in the
destruction of mankind, as tremendous, as that which it supplies of
Divine mercy in their restoration is admirable..."
Calvin on Genesis 2
"... 'The first day'. Here the error of those is manifestly refuted, who
maintain that the world was made in a moment. For it is too violent a
cavil to contend that Moses distributes the work which God perfected at
once into six days, for the mere purpose of conveying instruction. Let us
rather conclude that God himself took the space of six days, for the
purpose of accommodating his works to the capacity of men."
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Augustine on Genesis
" In the case of a narrative of events, the question arises as to whether everything must be taken according to the figurative sense only, or whether it must be expounded and defended also as a faithful record of what happened. No Christian will dare say that the narrative must not be taken in a figurative sense. For St. Paul says: Now all these things that happened to them were symbolic.
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{my comment: Apparently some believe that Augustine didn't regard all the scriptures as inspired by God or to be taken literally, and the above paragraph would seem to be an example of this. However, it appears to me that Augustine is not quite happy with the idea that Genesis is to be interpreted figuratively but seems to be deferring to authoritative opinion when he puts it in such equivocal terms: not saying "of course it is to be read as figurative" but "nobody would say that it must not be." I gather from his way of putting it that the Church's official understanding was a misunderstanding of the term "symbolic" in ! Corinthians 10:11 (probably a problem with the meaning of the word in Latin translation?) which he defers to, taking it to mean that the events are symbols in the sense of ONLY symbols, meaning they didn't really occur. But he goes on to give much reason to believe that he believed they did occur nevertheless, in the paragraph below where he goes on about the creatures. In any case, we now have a better translation of the word he reads as "symbolic" --
examples or
types , that is, symbols in a sense, but real events to be taken by us as examples for our admonition.
The Greek word is
= tupos
now understood in the following sense:
1) of ruinous events which serve as admonitions or warnings to othersc) an example to be imitated1) of men worthy of imitationd) in a doctrinal sense1) of a type i.e. a person or thing prefiguring a future (Messianic) person or thing
The above from:
the Greek
1Cr 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
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Augustine continues (here he is writing of "creatures" showing that he does take Genesis 1 to be referring to the literal creation:
"God’s love for creatures gives them existence and makes them abide. 14. Moreover, when the works thus begun had been formed and perfected, God saw that it was good. For He found His works pleasing, in keeping with the benevolence by which He was pleased to create them. There are, it should be noted, two purposes in God’s love of His creation: first, that it may exist, and secondly, that it may abide. Hence, that there might exist an object to abide, the Spirit of God was stirring above the waters. That it might abide, God saw that it was good. And what is said of the light is said of all the works. For some32 abide in the most exalted holiness next to God, transcending all the changes of time; but others abide according to the determinations of their time, while the beauty of the ages is unfolded by the coming and passing of things."
{Edited to fix Jonathan Edwards url}
Edited 6/17 to add title
This message has been edited by Faith, 06-18-2005 02:35 AM
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