Historical Genesis

The beginning chapters of Genesis come alive with characters, places, and events almost totally unknown outside of the Bible itself except when illuminated by the fascinating history of the ancient Near East. Did a man we call Adam actually exist? Was someone known to us as Noah warned of a cataclysmic flood and instructed to build an ark? Could the Tower of Babel incident actually have happened? The reader will gain a new appreciation for the historical integrity of Genesis 2-11, and marvel at the evidence that the persons, places, and events depicted, though long misunderstood, could be real.

Hailed as "the most radical repackaging of the Bible since Gutenberg", these Pocket Canons give an up-close look at each book of the Bible.

Through a close examination of the scriptural text this book is a defence of the integrity of Genesis 1-2. While the book is set specifically against evolutionary creationist treatments of these chapters as dis-harmonised and non-historical, it nevertheless serves to explain why any liberal biblical critical handling of the early chapters of Genesis is faulty.

The nature of the Genesis narrative has sparked much debate among Christians. This book introduces three predominant interpretive genres and their implications for biblical understanding. Each contributor identifies their position on the genre or genres of Genesis, chapters 1-11, addresses why their interpretation is respectful of and appropriate to the text, and contributes examples of its application to a variety of passages. The positions include: Theological History(Genesis can be taken seriously as both history and theology) – defended by James K. Hoffmeier. Proto-History (the early Genesis narratives consist of a variety of literary genres; which, nonetheless, do not obscure the book's theological teaching) – defended by Gordon J. Wenham. Ancient Historiography (an understanding of Genesis that seeks to reconcile the limitations of its human authors with the nature of it being the Word of God) defended by Kenton L. Sparks. General editor and Old Testament scholar Charles Halton explains the importance of genre and provides historical insight in the introduction and helpful summaries of each position in the conclusion. In the reader-friendly Counterpoints format, this book helps readers to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of each view and draw informed conclusions in this much-debated topic.

Dr. Del Tackett treks the globe to meet with top scientists and scholars and asks the questions surrounding the most controversial book of the Bible that everyone is curious about: Was everything created in six days? Did we evolve from apes? Were Adam and Eve real? Was there a global flood? What happened to the dinosaurs? Was there a tower of Babel? This first-of-its-kind documentary also features a special panel discussion on the importance of Genesis to our faith today.

The Days of Creation examines the history of Christian interpretation of the seven-day framework of Genesis 1:1–2:3 in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament from the post-apostolic era to the debates surrounding Essays and Reviews (1860). Included in the survey are patristic, medieval, Renaissance/Reformation, eighteenth-century Enlightenment and finally early to mid-nineteenth-century interpretations of the days of creation. This study enables an insight into the mighty career of a biblical text of seminal importance, and fills a significant niche in reception-historical research.

What does it mean to be a good reader of Genesis 1-11? What does it mean to take these ancient stories seriously and how does that relate to taking them literally? Can we even take any of this material seriously? Reading Genesis Well answers these questions and more, promoting a responsible conversation about how science and biblical faith relate by developing a rigorous approach to interpreting the Bible, especially those texts that come into play in science and faith discussions. This unique approach connects the ancient writings of Genesis 1-11 with modern science in an honest and informed way. Old Testament scholar C. John Collins appropriates literary and linguistic insights from C. S. Lewis and builds on them using ideas from modern linguistics, such as lexical semantics, discourse analysis, and sociolinguistics. This study helps readers to evaluate to what extent it is proper to say that the Bible writers held a "primitive" picture of the world, and what function their portrayal of the world and its contents had in shaping the community.

During its 2,500-year life, the book of Genesis has been the keystone to important claims about God and humanity in Judaism and Christianity, and it plays a central role in contemporary debates about science, politics, and human rights. The authors provide a panoramic history of this iconic book, exploring its impact on Western religion, philosophy, literature, art, and more.