Why do some Christians think that the Bible could make sense without a literal interpretation of Genesis?

Question

Every major Biblical doctrine is based on a literal fall and a literal Adam, and the absence of death before Adam. God said that the Earth was good when he created it. Why did death enter the world? Because of man's sin. If you think about it, every important Biblical doctrine comes from Genesis. Jesus makes no sense without Genesis. This is why Paul said the Gospel was a "stumbling block" for the Jews but "foolishness" to the Greeks. The pagan Greeks needed a solid Biblical foundation.


Why did Jesus die on a cross? Genesis 1-11 (Adam's original sin).
Why was Jesus called the last Adam? Genesis. Why do we wear clothes? Genesis. Why are things made after different kinds? Genesis. Why is there suffering in this world? Genesis. Why are there so many different languages? Genesis (Tower of Babel).

Christians who believe in evolution are basically calling Jesus a liar. Jesus referred to ADAM and EVE when he made their arguments. He referenced Genesis more than any other OT book. Genesis MATTERS.
Update : If you can't trust Genesis, you might as well throw the whole Bible out.

Too many Christians COMPROMISE on the FOUNDATION of the word of God. Genesis is not extraneous information. It is the BASIS upon which the Gospel is built.

Answer 1

Religious idiots professing to be Christians but who are really only religious may think that. Why? Because either poor scholarship or no scholarship. You can just dismiss them, they are worse off than most atheists.

Answer 2

If the Bible or Jesus makes no sense without Genesis, you don't have the Gospel. JESUS and the CROSS are the key to the Scriptures, not vice versa.



Now let's look at Genesis a moment. Chapter One, God makes everything, including humans, male and female he created them. Chapter Two, God finishes creating, but there is no man on the Earth, so then he makes a man out of the dust, hey wait, last chapter God did make male and female humans, well never mind. Anyway, this man was named Adam, okay, but he was lonely, but didn't God already make the woman in chapter one, we'll just ignore that, so God formed ever beast and bird, WAIT! Chapter One says God made the animals first, this is confusing, so Adam then names them. Adam is still alone, so God then made a woman, AH there she is! She's named Eve, alright, pretty name. Chapter Two ends, all is well and dandy, nothing bad has happened yet. Chapter Three, humanity falls to sin, death comes, Chapter Four Cain kills Abel, Cain has descendents, Adam and Eve then have Seth, okay, story much more straight now.



Chapter Five, "This book is of the generations of Adam. When God created man, He created them male and female; and blessed them," alright a quick synopsis, "and called their name Adam, in the day when..." HOLD ON HERE! "and called THEIR name ADAM"?

Yeah, that's right. Modern translations will indicate "Man" or "Humankind" or something like that, but the Hebrew texts, prior the Masoretic texts, reads אדמ (ADM), or Adam.



So first God made animals then humans male and female, then God first created male man named Adam then animals then female woman named, now we're back to God made humans male and female, calling THEIR name ADAM?! What kind of a text are we dealing with here? Is that the point? God made animals than humans then began with man then animals then woman, then...NO! The point is Man was perfect from the beginning, however that took place doesn't matter, then something happened, we sinned, now we die and are in need of a Savior.



Not taking Genesis 100% literally in every verse does not diminish the message which applies to us today. Man was perfect, Man sinned, We die, We need Christ, If you don't get that then we are on different levels of thought here. And I think you're kind of exaggerating, it can't be that every important doctrine comes from Genesis, many great ones, sure, but if every then we don't really need the rest of the Bible, do we?



It's not that you can't understand Jesus without the literal interpretation of Genesis, it's that you can't understand the Bible without Jesus and the Cross, not the other way around, that's pretty putting the cart before the horse.



The Big Bang Theory, Evolution, etc. do not conflict with the Bible, especially when

you realize that the Bible is not a scientific treatise, but rather the Word of God.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVsbVAVSssc

Answer 3

I concur with you about almost everything but your insistence on a literal interpretation. The literal interpretation is pure distraction from the meaning.



Yes, Jesus died--and lived, according to John 3:16--because of original sin. Not Adam's original sin--OUR original sin. It's a characteristic of the human race as a whole, and hereditary. The Garden of Eden story is a myth, and the subject of that myth is the fact that we are, as a species, screwed up. That's original sin.



Yes, Jesus referred to Adam and Eve. Why should he not refer to a common myth, with extensive explanatory power? That it's not meant to be taken literally is precisely why it's useful. Genesis, particularly the Eden story, does matter; it lays out the problem with humanity, which all the rest of the Bible attempts to address. But taking it literally doesn't help at all--it just distracts.



It's the ability NOT to take it literally that gets us away from the notion--which most atheists seem to firmly believe we hold--that God is a petty tyrant who blames all of us for a fruit eaten by our distant ancestors.









“Your God person puts an apple tree in the middle of a garden and says, do what you like guys, oh, but don’t eat the apple. Surprise surprise, they eat it and he leaps out from behind a bush shouting ‘Gotcha.’ It wouldn’t have made any difference if they hadn’t eaten it.”



“Why not?”



“Because if you’re dealing with somebody who has the sort of mentality which likes leaving hats on the pavement with bricks under them you know perfectly well they won’t give up. They’ll get you in the end.”



-- Douglas Adams, "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe"

Answer 4

Because that's how the Bible was written.



And that's how it was understood by Jews and Christians alike up until the 1800s. (Any Biblical scholar, archaeologist, or even first year religious studies major can confirm that.)



Biblical literalism is a new phenomenon.



You don't think that Israelites literally believed that the world was a domed bubble trapped in water, do you? (That's what Genesis says.)



They might have been illiterate goat herders, but they weren't morons.

Answer 5

The unfortunate answer for most of them is: because they're cowards. They want to embrace secular science and yet they want to continue to embrace their faith so rather than doing the necessary research and having the necessary faith to defend a young earth and a literal interpretation of Genesis they pretend, or even fully convince themselves, that somehow evolution and billions of years are wired into the Bible, which they aren't. If Genesis isn't literally true then the whole book falls apart, so Christians better get strong in their faith (of which Genesis is an integral part) or they will be swept away by either the New Age movement or the Secular Humanist movement.



www.creation.com has all the necessary resources for any Christian to become confident in Genesis as literal truth and not simply an allegory or metaphor.



BTW to Christians who might consider fundamentalists and/or young earth creationists as a "disease" you should realize that young earth creationists get MORE respect from non-Christians than Christian evolutionists do. Christian evolutionists are viewed by secular individuals as fools who want to have their cake and eat it too; as compromisers who haven't yet realized that if Genesis isn't literally true then the rest of the faith falls apart, and that if you dismiss the "magic" of Genesis then you ought to dismiss the "magic" of parting the red sea, walking on water, resurrection after 3 days of death etc etc. As a young earth creationist I encounter many people who disagree with me, but they respect my devotion to my position that the Bible is correct and are often interested to hear the alternate views to the mainstream secular science they are familiar with. If any group is a cancer within the faith, it is those who distort and dilute the word of God to fit their own scientific beliefs.

Answer 6

The Bible makes no sense at all with a literal interpretation.



Even Jews didn't take it literally, and that's where Christians got the scripture.



Basically, if Jesus depends on Genesis being literally true, then he was a liar.

Answer 7

Because it does. You don't need to believe in a literal six day creation, a literal Adam and Eve and literal original sin to believe that mankind falls short and requires redemption and a way back to God.



Every doctrine important to fundamentalism comes from a literal interpretation of Genesis. That doesn't mean every important doctrine of Christianity does.

Answer 8

Rigid fundamentalism is a disease of Christianity. All or none thinking does not belong in a religious debate. We are not talking about auto-mechanics where "parts is parts." Religion is the finite trying to grasp the infinite. Language is a crude instrument to discuss subjects that are beyond the physical universe and more complex than the human brain can fathom. It would be great for atheists if all Christians were young earth creationists, because it would be easy to point out how dimwitted we all were. Fortunately, we don't allow people incapable of abstract thought to run our business. The Bible is full of metaphor and allegory, just like Jesus taught in parables. It does not mean the story was not true, but it was not meant to be taken literally. Adam means man, therefore Adam = humanity. By looking only at the literal meaning you are missing out on the magnitude of depth and wisdom that the Bible has to offer, not just to explain why things are, but to help us understand our place in creation and our relationship to God and each other.



The belief in evolution does not take any credit away from God. It actually adds to his magnificence to think God used evolution as a tool to shape human beings over a period of billions of years. It's amazing, but God is that big and he is that patient, and he is that awesome. God took the dust of the ground and created a man. God breathed life into his nostrils and the man became a living soul.

Answer 9

You see what happens, when you take a book literally?

The genesis isn't history.

The genesis is written as a fable, not a historical record.



You have quite the few fallacies there.

Such as, why does sin exist, assuming it "exists"?

So that Jesus could die on the cross?!

No, sin "exists" so that man is set to fear.

If you just stopped and thought for a moment.

Why would this god make Satan and sin and hold us accountable for his own doing?!

Answer 10

Because it's impossible to literally interpret Genesis without ignoring the past hundred years of scientific advancement. Therefore, just be like "well... errr... I don't know but Jesus!"

Answer 11

It would do you good to realize not everyone is influenced in the same way you were. We haven't lived your life. And i can see it makes a lot of sense to you to say it in that way, that Genesis is essential to understanding Christ. For you that is a true statement, I'm convinced, but not for everybody. Otherwise Jesus would have said salvation was based on what you think of Genesis.



You have to be able to see this now. Or are you just that dogmatic? Come on, give it a chance.

Answer 12

It is easier to make up a god, if you take one commonly known and then recreate him into your own image. Personally, I think most christians aren't Christians, just wearing the title as a life preserver. On judgement day, they'll know why that didn't work.

Answer 13

I look at it as an early attempt to explain evolution and energy without energy theory and evolution theory God said to Mosses have you heard about string theory and evolution he said No then God said ok I will give you the kids version and when you are ready work it out for yourself .



More info type in Marc Lambert ans God

Answer 14

For the same reason many think it is literally true.... despite mountains of evidence that it most certainly is not. Despite CLEARLY FALSE assertions in the bible.



It is called "suspension of critical thought."

Answer 15

Because they are capable of understanding metaphor.



"Christians who believe in evolution are basically calling Jesus a liar."

No. They are saying that Jesus was capable of understanding metaphor, too.

Answer 16

Because many people who claim to be a Christian are not True Christians. The World is full of false Christians. People who love to play at being a Christian but yet refuse to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Catholics are a good example of false Christians.



Matthew 7:21-23 (ESV)

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

22 On that day MANY will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’

23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Answer 17

Jesus is never mentioned in the Old Testament.

Answer 18

some christians dont want to look bad to their Atheist friends