Here is this week’s post at BioLogos, this one on the well-known similarities between Israel’s second creation story and the Atrahasis Epic. As we saw with last week’s post on Genesis 1 and Enuma Elish, Genesis 2-9 and Atrahasis breathe the same air. They share ancient Mesopotamian ways of talking about origins. This is a clear indication that the second creation story does not speak to contemporary science. Hence, (1) it cannot and should not be harmonized with contemporary science, (2) it should not control what can be concluded from scientific investigation.

Genesis 2-9 is an ancient story asking addressing ancient issues. Understanding that ancient context will keep us from asking this story to deliver more than it is prepared to. And it will also help us mine the theological depths of what this story said to ancient Israelites nearly three millennia ago.

Tags: biblical criticism, biblical studies, biblical theology, biologos, nature of scripture, old testament history // Comments Off