Once, not that long ago, I posted an entry on why we need to take the book of Genesis seriously, and that particular entry specifically dealt with why the first two chapters of the first book of the Bible were dealing with literal days in the creation account and meant just that. I found the following on Answers in Genesis’ website. It was part of a response to feedback (click here for original letter, as well as the response). I thought the following portion was very insightful and worth considering. Enjoy.
Steve
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Do you know why these symptoms are occurring in today’s culture? It is because the culture no longer trusts the Word of God, but is instead standing on the foundation of man’s ideas—like “millions of years” of history. But even worse, many of these symptoms are occurring among Christians; abortion, sexual immorality, etc., these are problems within the church, too, because many in the church have rejected the Bible as the absolute authority.
Genesis is foundational to every major doctrine of theology, directly or indirectly.
Why do we work? Genesis 2:15, 3:17–19.
Why a seven-day week? Genesis 1:1–2:3.
Why do we wear clothes? Genesis 3:21.
Why is there sin? Genesis 3.
Why is marriage one man and one woman for life? Genesis 2:20–25.
Why is there a basis for laws? Genesis 2, for example, records God (Creator and, by rights, Lawgiver) giving a command not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (see also the command against murder given in Genesis 9).
Why do we die? Genesis 3.
Why do we need a savior from sin? Genesis 3:15.
Why did Jesus need to come the first time? Genesis 3.
Why will Jesus return a second time? This goes back to Jesus’ first coming, which goes back to Genesis.
And the list continues (see Henry Morris’ The Genesis Record for a more complete list).
Genesis, though, is touted as myth today because of evolutionary beliefs such as millions of years. If the plain reading of Genesis is reinterpreted, then what basis do we have for these doctrines which are based on a plain reading? None.
When the church (not to say all churches do this, but as a whole) began giving up the authority of the Bible and accepting man’s ideas as truth, they gave up the foundation of the Word and instead stood on the castle of man’s ideas about the past (though sometimes inconsistently accepting some parts of the Genesis account and not others).
People aren’t ignorant—if the Bible tells lies in its first chapter, why trust it anywhere else? If the Genesis account of creation needs to be reinterpreted according to so-called “science,” why not also the gospel accounts of the Resurrection? You and I are both seeing the consequences of this. When the church says that Genesis needs to be reinterpreted, people ask “why not reinterpret the rest of the Bible—the portions about homosexual behavior, racism, abortion, murder, laws, etc.” The collapse begins. We need to stand firm on Genesis as the foundational book of the rest of the Bible.
What we need to do is stand firm on the authority of the Bible and let it teach us. Then we, as the church, can pull the plank out of our own eye and then go after the speck of sawdust in the culture’s eye.
