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NASB | Genesis 1:27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 1:27 So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. [Col 3:9, 10; James 3:8, 9] |
Subject: Creation Account: Mythical or Not? |
Bible Note: Before we approach the book of Genesis and ask, "Are the opening chapters fact or fiction, mythical or historical?" let's define what the English word "mythical" means. Most reasonably educated people, I believe, would agree that the dictionary is a fairly good choice when one wishes to learn the standard definitions of words, so let's go to the current edition of Webster's Collegiate and look up the word "mythical." Here's what it says: "mythical or mythic 1 based on or described in a myth, esp. as contrasted with history 2 existing only in the imagination: fictitious, imaginary 3 having qualities suitable to myth: legendary. synonym: see fictitious. ..... Now let's apply the dictionary definition of "mythical" to the events described in the creation account and ask ourselves whether each event is to be interpreteted as factual or as mythical (fictional). ..... Gen. 1:1: God created the heavens and the earth. Fact or fiction? ..... Gen 1:4-31: God's creation activity spanned six days. Fact or fiction? ..... Gen 1:27: God created man in His own image. Fact or fiction? ..... Gen 2:8: The garden of Eden. Fact or fiction? .... Gen 2:9: The tree of knowledge of good and evil. Fact or fiction? ..... Gen 2:11: Havilah and its gold: Fact or fiction? ..... Gen 2:14: The Euphrates river. Fact or fiction? ..... Gen 3:1: The serpent. Fact or fiction? ..... Gen 3:6: The fruit that Eve ate: Fact or fiction? ..... Gen 3:8-19: The fall of Adam and Eve: Fact or fiction? ..... Gen 3:22-24: The expulsion from Eden: Fact or fiction? ...... Conclusion: If the events described in the opening chapters of Genesis are read as mythical, allegorical, or fictitious, we cannot be sure that God created man or anything else. We cannot know whether there was any such thing as a serpent who beguiled Eve, or that Eve even existed. We have no historical proof of Eden or the fall of Adam and Eve. Without any reliable account of the fall, therefore, the doctrine of original sin falls apart and with it the idea that we need a savior, thus making Christ's death on the cross superfluous. ..... So which is it? The account of creation is real, factual, historical, true -- or it is mythical, allegorical, fictitious. Does it make more sense to take God at His word and to believe that what He says is the way it is, or to invent ways of explaining away the things we don't understand or feel uncomfortable with or just flatly refuse to believe or accept? --Hank |