In fact, just simple honesty will confirm that. The fact is that a literal reading of the two creation tales found in Genesis would show that they are mutually exclusive. The self-proclaimed Literalists get around those contradiction by literally making up interpretations one how to literally read them. It is too funny for words.
Was Adam a real person? No. Nor was Eve. At the time that Adam was supposed to have lived, say 6000 years ago, every continent of the world was inhabited by modern man and they had been there for tens of thousands of years.
Was Noah a real person? If the flood was only local, did it kill off all of mankind? (and from a science perspective: do we have evidence that it is impossible that the whole human race hit an 8 person bottle neck just 5k years ago or so).
It's entirely possible that the flood myth revolves around some real individual, but there hasn't been a world-wide flood all the history of the earth so far. No, a local flood did not kill off all or even most of mankind. Your question about a bottle neck is also one of the most important ones to ask. Let me try to explain why.
If there had been a world-wide flood as described in the Bible, we would not see just the 5K genetic bottleneck in humans, we would see that in every single living species of animals on earth. This would not just be an indicator, it would be a big red flag on a neon sign with fireworks in the background and a brass band marching in the foreground.
The Biblical Flood would have left a marker that is far easier to see, far more obvious, than the KT boundary deposits.
There is simply no evidence of there ever being a world-wide flood.
Was Abraham a real person? If the first 11 chapters or so are entirely mythical, when does Genesis start becoming historical? Did people really live into their 800s? If not, why is this written into Genesis? Is that part of the myth, or some translation mistake?
It is very unlikely that Abraham was a real person and Genesis is not a history as we think of histories today. Rather it is a collection of the folk tales of a peoples and an era. It is valuable because it gives us insight into the way people saw themselves and their world.
No, all the evidence is that the folk from 6000 years ago lived about as long as the average person today. The idea though of attributing long life spans to folk was a pretty common one though, and if you read the Epic of Gilgamesh, you will find that the authors of the various Bible stories actually toned things down. The much earlier Epic has folk living even longer than the Bible tales.
In the earlier thread I gave you a link to the
Catechism of Creation. It may help you in your journey.
If the first 11 chapters or so are entirely mythical, when does Genesis start becoming historical?
You don't get much that we would really consider as history until, perhaps, around Judges. The Exodus never happened as described; the Conquest of Canaan never happened as described in Joshua.
Even then, the history in the Bible is not history as we understand it.
Aslan is not a
Tame Lion
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