a time to tear down | A Time to Build Up » old testament history

Gilgamesh, Atrahasis, and the Flood

Pete Enns — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:13:43 +0000

Here is this week’s BioLogos post where we look at the similarities between these Mesopotamian and the biblical flood story.

Genesis 2-9 and Atrahasis

Pete Enns — Tue, 25 May 2010 12:11:34 +0000

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.

Genesis 1 and Enuma Elish

Pete Enns — Wed, 19 May 2010 18:50:07 +0000

Here is this week’s blog post at BioLogos on a perennial topic: the relationship between Genesis 1 and the Babylonian creation myth Enuma Elish. Both stories are distinct yet they clearly breath the same ancient air when it comes to describing origins.

Israel’s Two Creation Stories (Part 3)

Pete Enns — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:02:38 +0000

Here is the third and final BioLogos post on the differences between the two creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2 (God’s names, different methods of creating, different views of humanity). The purpose of seeing these differences is not to hold the two stories apart, but to understand why they are placed where they are in the Old Testament. Blurring the differences will blur the theology.

More on Israel’s Two Creation Stories

Pete Enns — Tue, 04 May 2010 21:08:05 +0000

Part two of my summary of the differences between the two creation stories in Genesis is posted today on the BioLogos blog. This week I look at the different literary styles and different depictions of God.

New Series on Genesis 1-11

Pete Enns — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 16:49:00 +0000

I am starting a new series of posts on BioLogos on Genesis 1-11. The first two or three will be on “Israel’s Two Creations Stories” (Genesis 1 and 2), and part 1 is up now.

Creating Adam

Pete Enns — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:14:40 +0000

My latest post about Adam is up at BioLogos. My point here is that any way of looking at Adam that does not accept Paul’s view of human descent from a first pair in recent history is “creating” an Adam beyond biblical parameters, and that such creative work is inevitable. My post today fits nicely with yesterday’s post on the genetic impossibility of a first pair from which all human life descended.

Adam is Israel

Pete Enns — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:54:19 +0000

Here is my latest BioLogos post. This one is on how Adam is not the first human but “proto-Israel.” The point here follows on my previous posts on the cosmic battle motif in Exodus.

Exodus, Mt. Sinai and Creation

Pete Enns — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:26:41 +0000

Here is my next BioLogos post on Exodus and the Cosmic battle. I will have one more in the series next week, at which time I hope to start negotiating the film rights. This post is about how the tabernacle and the law are creation events. It will change your life….or at least hold your interest for a few minutes.

Exodus and the Cosmic Battle (Again)

Pete Enns — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:41:50 +0000

Here is my latest BioLogos post. I look at the plagues as the reintroduction of chaos and how several themes come together at the Red Sea incident.