Attacks on Genesis

The first three chapters of Genesis are perhaps the most important chapters in the Bible in having a proper worldview. Conversely, denying the content of these chapters is seriously detrimental to human flourishing. It is therefore no surprise that these chapters have been under more or less constant attack, both now and in the past. So let’s look at what the chapters say, and what the attacks are.

A purposeful creation

It is sometimes said that Genesis is merely a variation on other creation myths that were floating around in ancient times. Nothing could be further from the truth. The myths of ancient times generally saw mankind and the world as a byproduct of wars between gods, and as being created for the benefit of the gods. The modern myth is that the whole universe, and mankind in particular, is a result of blind pitiless random chance, with no purpose nor reason. Genesis, on the other hand, paints a picture of an orderly, purposeful creation, with mankind as the pinnacle of God’s creation. Moreover, we created with a purpose, to look after the earth, and God blessed us.

In short, the Bible says we were created on purpose, for a purpose, out of love.

Male and Female

Genesis says that we were created in the image of God, and created as male and female. Today this is most obviously under attack by the ludicrous and destructive trans-ideology. Under God’s creation there is a harmony between our physical bodies and our gender, and things are simple. Just consider how complex things get with trans-ideology. However, the attack on the binary male-female approach has been going on for much longer. For we were created equal (not identical), but in many societies and many epochs in history men have exploited women. This is just as much an attack on God’s creation design as anything that comes out of transgenderism.

Sex for Marriage

Genesis 2 is very clear that sex was created for marriage between one man and one woman, a view that was strongly endorsed by Jesus (Mark 10:1-12). The loudest area of debate on this in current times has been over “gay marriage”, but the attack on marriage goes far wider than this. The breakdown in family life has had devastating effects on the lives of people, especially children, as well as the enormous economic cost. Any deviation from God’s plan has serious and deleterious effects, both on individuals and society as a whole.

A Fallen Race

Genesis chapter 3, along with the rest of the Bible, presents humanity as a fallen race, a race that is fatally flawed and under judgement from God. The common human view is that we are basically good, and given the right conditions we will be alright. This leads to serious errors in policy. Communism is perhaps the most obvious example of this, but most politics fails to face up to the reality that Genesis 3 presents.

Then there is the root of the fall, Adam and Eve eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What this means in practical terms is that man thinks he can determine his own moral standards and does not need God, and this does indeed lead to death, with numerous examples around us to demonstrate the truth of this.

The early chapters of Genesis describe God’s intention for the world. The rest of the Bible describes God’s plan of redemption to rescue us from the mess that we got ourselves into. But even without that, a society that is more or less based on the truths in Genesis, that uses the Ten Commandments as its basis will be a far more stable and prosperous society than one that openly rejects God’s ways.