Author Archives: Taryn

About Taryn

Taryn is a mum of four, working through her Masters of Theology. She also has a Diploma of Biblical Studies (Biblical Studies), a Diploma of Arts (English Literature) and Bachelor of Theology and is a freelance writer and editor.

Matters of Eden: How Long Were Adam and Eve in the Garden?

Adam and Eve were living in the paradisal conditions of Eden for some time before they ate from the tree and were subsequently driven out of the garden…but how much time did they actually spend in the Garden of Eden?

We do have some biblical evidence which can help us to make estimated guesses at the timeframe of the couple’s Edenic life. While we have no way of concluding for sure exactly how long the two were there, there are several reasons to believe that they only resided within the utopian garden for a short time before the expulsion.

Creation Week

Genesis 1 describes the week where God created the world from nothing. The world is described as being brought into existence through the creation of the heavens and the earth, vegetation, animals and finally, humanity. After God’s creative work, he observed what he had made and declared it to be good, before taking the seventh day to rest from his work.

From this we can gauge two things;

Firstly, we can conclusively rule out Adam sinning on the sixth day, as God declared everything to be good. Secondly, we can also rule out the idea that Adam sinned on the seventh day, as God consecrated it as the Sabbath.

From this we can conclude that Adam could not have sinned between his creation and God’s sanctification of the Sabbath, ruling out creation week all together.

Adam’s Age and Progeny

Adam’s age can help us to gauge an upper limit on how long he and Eve might have spent in the garden.

Genesis 5:5 states that “Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.” We also know from Genesis 1:14 that the world was being measured in times, days and years by this point, so we can take this figure at its face value. From this we can conclude that no matter how long Adam and Eve were in the Garden, it could not have exceeded Adam’s lifespan of 930 years, since we know that Adam was expelled from the garden.

Further to this, we know that Adam and Eve had children outside of the garden. Genesis 4:25 says that Adam and Eve had their child, Seth, after Abel’s death. We know that this is post-Eden and we also know from Genesis 5:3 that Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born. The reference to Abel’s death also makes it clear that there was a significant time gap between the birth of Cain and Abel and the birth of Seth. Genesis 4:17 suggests that Cain was married at the time of his murder of Abel which would place him as a late teen or adult.

Since scripture makes it clear that Seth was born outside of the garden, after the events of Cain and Abel, when Cain was old enough to be married and working the land, we can conclude that Adam and Eve could not have been in the garden for more than 110-115 years, and certainly not more than 130!

Issues of Conception

Since we know that God created Adam and Eve with perfect bodies, free from health issues, some have suggested that this perfect state would have produced rather quick conceptions, free from the fertility issues that abound in the modern day. In the modern world, we know that healthy fertile women have an 85% chance of becoming pregnant within a year. A perfectly formed women, without the complications of the modern world would probably get pregnant much quicker than this, but we can at least conclude that the chances of their Edenic residence was not likely more than a year.

We also know from Genesis 1:28 that shortly after their creation they were commanded to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth”. This suggests that the pair would have begun actively trying to reproduce immediately, and thus cannot have resided in paradise for very long, as the conception and birth of a child produced from Adam and Eve is not described until after the expulsion in Genesis 4:1.

Based on this evidence, we can speculate that if the couple spent more than a year in the garden between their creation and the fall, Eve would have conceived, or even given birth to children before being deceived and expelled. We cannot say for certain that there were no children present at the fall, whether in-utero or running around beneath the tree in question, but it seems unlikely given the complete silence regarding children until the fall, and the sudden appearance of them after the expulsion. The only conceptions or births recorded are described outside of Eden, which can only lead us to believe that Adam and Eve were not in the Garden of Eden long enough to have had children or even conceived any.

The Serpent

The last piece of biblical evidence we have to support a short-stay in Eden is that of the serpent from Genesis 3.

Based on the evidence elsewhere in the bible of the way that the ‘serpent’ works, it seems unlikely that he would waste time before seizing his opportunity. In Matthew 4, Jesus was only in the wilderness ‘forty days and forty nights’ before ‘the tempter’ came to undermine God’s authority once more. Another example is Job 1 where Satan is commissioned to interfere with the life of Job, and goes immediately to take up this position.

The ‘tempter’ would know that timing is everything. The longer he waited to strike with Adam and Eve, the more devoted and obedient the pair would be to God, since his presence in the garden and his relationship to the pair was very close and tangible.

Satan would have made no hesitation to set about undermining the relationship between Adam and Eve as early as possible, further reinforcing the theory that Adam and Eve did not live in Eden for very long before eating from the tree and being driven out.

To honour God’s creation, be sure to sign the petition to establish Creation Day as an official holiday!

Should Genesis 1-11 Be Read as History?

Creationists and literal interpreters of the Bible believe that the text of Genesis reveals the history of the earth, from the creation of the universe and humankind through to the Tower of Babel. Those who follow this belief, subscribe to the idea that the events of Genesis were revealed to someone, usually Moses, who passed it down through either written or oral form. Others choose to regard Genesis 1-11 as meaning something other than what it says – suggesting that it is poetry with theological concerns that supersede history, or that it has metaphorical meanings.

How should we interpret Genesis? Does this crucial Old Testament book provide nothing more than a poetic, allegoric story or does it describe the creation of the world and the earliest days of humanity’s life on earth?

What Kind of Literature is Genesis?

Anyone who has spent any time reading and engaging with the bible will know that it contains a wide variety of literature types in both the Old and New Testaments. These include poetry, parables, epistles, proverbs, historical narrative, prophecy and more. The key to interpreting any part of the bible correctly lies in first identifying what kind of literature it is. If we interpret a piece of text metaphorically, but the author intended for it to be read literally, then we misunderstand the meaning. When Jesus said “I am the vine, you are the branches” he did not mean that he was made from plant life, and that we are growing from him, about to sprout leaves. In the same way, if we interpret something that is clearly literal, as somehow allegorical, we will misunderstand, and misrepresent that text.

Genesis 1-11 is often singled out, apart from the rest of Genesis because it is a very specific type of literature. Its composition is extremely poetic and structured, leaving people to assume that it isn’t historical. Genesis 1-11 is often called ‘Primeval History’ as it presents a pre-history that depicts origins. It is crucial theologically and is steeped in Hebrew poetry and etiology. Because of its poetic nature, proponents of evolution that accept the bible and Genesis will often relegate the texts of Genesis 1-11 as myth or allegory so as not to align it against their belief in evolution.

We are not looking for meanings which are hidden, or hard to understand. We are looking for the straightforward meanings in Genesis 1-11. As well as being poetry it is also story, since it has characters, narration and dramatic events, and there is no reason for us to believe that this story was not based on real events. Elsewhere in the Bible are examples that provide ample support for Genesis to be interpreted as historical narrative.

Let’s take a look.

How Did Old Testament Authors of The Bible Interpret Genesis?

We know from Mosaic Law that creation week in Genesis 1 was important to God. With his own finger, God commanded the Sabbath, for the following reason;

“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

If the creation week outlined in Genesis 1 was not a true, historical depiction, then this commandment loses all meaning. If one is to argue, as some do, that each ‘day’ equates to a ‘billion years’ then one would also have to suggest that God commands us to work for six billions years and then rest for one billion years.

Old Testament writers also treat Genesis 1-11 as chapters of literal history. This is particularly evident in the careful genealogies kept, particularly the ones in First Chronicles which provide a series of genealogies that trace back to Adam. The author of Chronicles clearly took the accounts of Genesis as historically accurate. If in fact, Genesis was not a historical account then these genealogies have been fabricated. Psalms also credits God as the creator and even cites events which took place during creation week, and, Isaiah cites God’s promise to Noah, another point which would be rendered meaningless if Genesis 1-11 was simply metaphorical.

How Did New Testament Authors of The Bible Interpret Genesis?

The New Testament is very vocal in its portrayal of Genesis as historically accurate. Every single New Testament author either quotes or alludes to Genesis, and over 60 of those allusions relate to Genesis 1-11. For such a small body of literature, this is a staggering amount.

The New Testament opens with Matthew’s genealogies which show Genesis to be historically accurate. If we are to regard Genesis as ‘myth’ or allegory then we also derail Jesus’ bloodline, and conclude that it was either made up or that he descended from a myth, much like Greek mythological characters such as ‘Zeus’ or ‘Hercules’. Paul in particular built a substantial amount of his theology around doctrines that come up in Genesis 1-11. In Romans and Corinthians, he discusses Jesus as the last Adam, who undid the damaging work of the first Adam, and affirmed that it was Eve who was deceived at the fall, not Adam. For Paul, the events of Genesis were a physical reality that were corrected in Christ, not simply an allegorical story. If Adam was a mythical character whose actions only had allegory for sinfulness, then Christ was not needed to rectify the fall. Only real, tangible people can make real, tangible actions which have universal consequences.

Creation and the fall are also deeply woven into the theology of Romans. Paul teaches that the bondage that affected the world at the fall affected the entire cosmos, and tells us that the entire creation is groaning for redemption.

Other New Testament books also utilise Genesis, reiterating the texts in order to form theologies that address certain issues. Peter based some of his teaching on Genesis 1-11, affirming the global flood that affected Noah and his family, as well as Hebrews which cites Abel, Enoch and Noah as heroes of the faith.

Finally, the bible ends with a depiction of the new creation, which once again draws on the original creation as a historical reality which is to come to fruition again. The Book of Revelation and the New Jerusalem are filled with imagery of Eden including the tree of life and the very real presence of God.

How Did Jesus Interpret Genesis?

The historical authenticity of Genesis mattered deeply to Jesus. He used Genesis language when teaching on marriage, when he discusses Abel as the first prophet, Noah and the flood and more. Nowhere in the New Testament do we find examples of Jesus allegorizing this material, but rather the opposite: Jesus always regard these events as straightforward history. He also predicted that the end of time would come quickly like the days of Noah indicating that he believed that the events of Noah’s history were a reality that would be repeated.

Jesus also expended much time and effort into defending scripture and emphasising the importance of taking scripture seriously. In John he asserted that scripture cannot be broken, and in Luke he reprimanded his disciples for not believing scripture.

We cannot get anything from Jesus other than a strong sense that all of Genesis reveals a historical narrative which should be taken seriously, and at face value.

So….Should Genesis 1-11 be Read as History?

We have to regard the texts of Genesis as historically accurate accounts, because that is how the Old Testament authors, the New Testament authors, and Jesus, regarded them. Though the texts employ beautiful literary motifs, are highly structured and address very specific theological concerns, we have no biblical basis whatsoever for taking them as anything but literal.

Choosing to regard Genesis 1-11 as myth or allegory undermines the text in question and the bible as a whole, as well as the biblical authors and Jesus who regarded them as history. It also robs the rest of the bible of its proper foundation.

If we believe that Jesus came to redeem a real, physical problem that existed in real space and time, then we have to believe that that the problem started in a real garden, with two real people. Believing in these real, historical events also allows us to look forward to the very real renewal which will take place on earth when Christ returns. Any other interpretation undermines this message and God’s redemptive purposes for the world.

The Bible is clear. We must believe Genesis 1-11 is real, literal history because Jesus, Old Testament authors and every New Testament author did. We must also believe because these opening chapters of our bible are foundational to our understanding of the bible as a whole. The gospel is grounded in the literal, historical authenticity of Genesis 1-11.

To honour God’s creation, be sure to sign the petition to establish Creation Day as an official holiday!

Babel: Was it Real?

What is Babel?

The familiar and slightly mystical story of the Tower of Babel can be found in Genesis 11 and tells the story of the origin of language.

According to the account, humanity was living united in a post-flood world, speaking a single language and building an empire. Scripture tells us that the people had migrated from the East to a place called Shinar, and had begun development there on their city. Amongst their building efforts, was a tower which was being built to reach the heavens and to ‘make a name’ for the new civilisation. Babel was designed not only as a mark of achievement but as a means of preventing diaspora, a plan which backfired.

When God sees the project, he sees that the people are becoming unrestrained in their achievements, and becoming limitless in their abilities. In an attempt to reign them back in, God confounds their speech, and disperses them throughout the world. The plan to prevent dispersion has resulted in exactly that. Because of humanity’s attempts, they are divided linguistically and geographically.

This biblical story is believed by many to describe a genuine, historical event that took place after the great flood, but what is the purpose and significance of the story, and did it REALLY happen?

What Kind of Story is it?

Babel has continued to both captivate and confuse audiences to this day. Historical linguistics has spent much time debating the idea of a single original language and anthropology has long sought to identify if living descendants remain from one race such as the descendants of Noah in this story. Much artwork has also been created in the name of Babel, including Pieter Brueghel’s famous painting, Anton Rubenstein’s opera and the novel Babel Tower. The story of the tower has been used in many different contexts, but the kind of story that it is at its core remains the same: it is an etiology.

Etiologies are stories that serve to explain the origin of something. Every etiology or origin myth functions as a description of how some new reality came into being.

In this case, the story explains the origin of language, and the multiplicity of human language that exists today. Genesis 1 and 2 function in the same sense, with several themes within them. For example, Genesis 1 and 2 serves to explain the origins of human life on earth, as well as the heterosexual relationship, humanity’s relationship to animals, pain in childbirth and more. The story of Babel explains the origin of human language and its variants as well as issues such as the competition between God and humanity. This theme first appeared in the story of Adam and Eve when they unlawfully ate from the tree of knowledge, and is repeated in the story of Babel. First century historian Josephus described Babel as a prideful, arrogant defiance against God and thus mirroring the fall in the Garden of Eden. The story also serves to explain cultural and geographical differences amongst humans and places Babel as the cradle of civilisation.

The Story’s Creation

Traditionally, the first five books of the bible have been attributed to Moses, but more recently a proposal has been made for the documentary hypothesis. This hypothesis suggests that the Yahwist source was responsible for the composition of Babel, particularly considering the Yahwist’s use of etiology in other parts of scripture. Use of wordplay including ‘Babel’ and ‘babble’ is also a signature tactic employed by the Yahwist.

The Ziggurat at Babylon is often cited when discussing matters regarding Babel. The Etemenaku was the name of a 200 feet high temple, or ziggurat, famously rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar. Tradition states that the story of the Tower of Babel was likely influenced by the construction of this mammoth Ziggurat which was constructed during the Babylonian captivity of the Hebrews.

The account in Genesis appears in other sources, some of which give more detailed accounts about the Tower than the Biblical account. Other sources for the story include the Book of Jubilees, Josephus, The Book of Mormon and the Midrash. Parallels to the story also exist in Sumerian myth, Irish folklore and Central American legend.

Was it Real?

There is a long tradition of material surrounding the Tower of Babel, both biblical and non-biblical. We would expect a wide range of sources from an event that took place in history, as we see in this circumstance. Though the story was composed and presented by sources that had their own theological concerns, there is no reason to doubt that the biblical description of the event did not take place historically as well as theologically, and the existence of material within other ancient civilisations only serves to further confirm the Bible’s authenticity on the matter. Language changes and variations in existence today, ziggurats and tower legends are all more than substantial confirmations of the events that took place at Babel.

To honour God’s creation, be sure to sign the petition to establish Creation Day as an official holiday!

8 Common Creationist Beliefs: Part Two

In our last article, we discussed four of the eight most common beliefs held by those who subscribe to Creation. (You can read the article here).

In this second and final instalment, we take a look at the remaining four beliefs held by Creationists.

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5. That a Global Flood Took Place

The record preserved in Genesis 6 is clear: a catastrophic event took place, which covered the entire surface of the earth, causing extinction for every land-living thing that was not on the ark. An event such as this one is the only way to explain the peculiar location of sea fossils at heights hundreds of metres above sea level such as The Grand Canyon and The Himalayas.

Though geologists argue that rock layers were formed over millions of years, we have no witnesses that can attest to this theory. It is becoming more common now for scientists to acknowledge that sediment layers are mostly formed through a rapid deposit under circumstances such as a catastrophic flood.

6. That Dinosaurs and Humans Co-Existed

Genesis is clear that every kind of animal created was created on the same day as Adam.

Though science tells us that dinosaurs are millions of years old and can now be seen in the evolved form of birds, God claims that he created them at the same time as he created other animals, and human life. This means that dinosaurs could not have been long extinct before humans came into being, but rather co-existed with them before becoming extinct through environmental circumstances. The presence of dragon legends all over the world recorded by humans reinforces the theory that dinosaurs were not predecessors to humans, but rather were co-inhabitants.

7. That Every Race Originates From One Common Race

The Biblical account in both the Old and New Testament is very clear: all of humanity originated from one man and one woman. We are all members of the one race – the human race – which descended from Adam and Eve.

In popular culture we tend to think of skin as either ‘black’ or ‘white’ but in reality this is incorrect. In order for anybody’s skin to have a dark appearance, Adam and Eve must have had DNA that contained brown pigment. This means that every skin shade is derived from one shade: we are all some amount of ‘brown’.

At the scattering of Babel, different groups of people were isolated from one another and probably went onto have offspring within their own groups. This would allow for certain gene characteristics to remain within their group and concentrate into dominant genes. This explains the way in which we still see certain groups displaying distinctive characteristics in their physical appearance.

8. That Death Was Brought About Through the Fall

A common argument made by those who do not accept God is that a kind, good God would not have, or continue to, inflict death or suffering upon the world. However, creationists believe that the solution to this argument is given in Genesis where we see God create a world that is inherently good, but fractured through the rebellion and disobedience of humanity.

By the account of God’s own word, we know that these disobedient actions ushered in the existence of death and suffering. We know from Genesis 1 that after the six day creative week, God looked at his creation and acknowledged its inherent goodness.

It is true that our world is marred by death and is fundamentally broken, but we must understand that this is not through the fault of God but rather through the fault of man who broke God’s perfect creation. Creationists also acknowledge that everyone, including each person who blames God for the fractured state of the world is imperfect. Through Adam’s rebellion humanity was marred with sin. Not one of us is perfect.

Creationists believe that God created everything, knows everything and should be trusted in all matters. The alternative to trusting God is to trust imperfect, fallible humans who are just making guesswork of these important matters. We must stand confidently on the word of God as revealed through scripture.

To honour God’s creation, be sure to sign the petition to establish Creation Day as an official holiday!

8 Common Creationist Beliefs: Part One

Though there is some diversity in what is believed among creationists, there are a few matters which are common to creationist beliefs. Here are four of the eight most common beliefs held by those who subscribe to Creation…

That The Earth Was Created in Six Literal Days

Genesis 1 describes God’s creation of the world in six literal, 24-hour days. Each day is framed by the indication of the ‘evening’ and ‘morning’ as well as a day number such as ‘fourth day.

A belief in six literal days counters popular scientific claims that the earth was created over millions of years. The original authors of Genesis were not scientists, but rather were writers who wanted to convey an understandable message to their audience. Their language needed to be clear to the common Hebrew person, including their children, so as to get their theological message across. For this reason creationists also reject the idea that the days described in Genesis are to be taken as metaphorical days, or that each day actually represents a longer period of time (such as several million years).

Genesis 1 makes it clear that each day had an evening, a morning and a number – just like the days that we experience. Each day was also given time indicators such as the creation of the sun and moon – this way humanity had a way of measuring days, weeks, months and years. Further to these indicators, is the command given in Exodus 20:8-11 to work six days and rest on the seventh. This commandment was modelled off God’s creative activity over a week. We have no reason to doubt that the account of creation over six literal days is the literal truth, therefore, we must take the word at its face value.

That Radiometric Dating is Unreliable

Radiometric dating is believed by scientists to prove that rocks are millions of years old, but in order to believe this, one has to make strong assumptions about the content of the original rocks and the rate at which that content decays. Because there are no scientists that have been around for millions of years to watch and record the rate of radioactive decay, science assumes that the rate has always been the same as it is now, and base their findings based on this assumption.

The Bible makes it clear through accurately recorded genealogies that the age of the earth is only a few thousand years, thus promoting the theory of a young earth and universe.

God’s omnipotence transcends our human understanding of time so we must trust his word about how old the universe really is.

That a Variety of Kinds Were Created

Genesis 1 tells us that God created separately according to various kinds. We can still see this variety in the world around us.

The account in Genesis tells us that God created every living thing on days three, five and six of the Creation Week. Ten times throughout Genesis 1 we are told that God created according to its ‘kind’. This word is again used in relation to Noah’s Ark.

What does this all mean? It means that despite theories of animals evolving from single-cell organisms, animals are actually all varieties of their own kind. For example, there is a large amount of variety within the existence of dogs in the world. Different breeds of dogs are able to breed and thus create hybrid offspring, but they are still dogs. Dogs and cats are not able to interbreed simply because, God instated several kinds.

For example, donkeys and horses are all from the Equidae family. They can interbreed to produce mules, but they cannot breed with birds – they can only procreate according to their own kind. God placed the potential for variety within the created order, but it was, and continues to be done within the framework of the created kinds. Though God has allowed for variety, every species still belongs, inherently, to its own kind. Dogs are still dogs.

That Man Was a Unique Creation

Genesis 1 tells us that God created humanity in his own image. Men and women do not descend from apes, dolphins or any other mammal. Though we may share some anatomical similarities, we know from scripture that human beings are distinct, and created in the image of God. Claiming the theory of evolution means placing humanity as a consequence of evolution rather than the goal – an idea which stands in sharp contrast to the picture we get in Genesis.

Apart from obvious evidence that humans and apes are distinctly distinguishable, Bible-believing Christians also recognise the other distinctions that the human world has from the animal world – including our ability to be in relationship with our God, to pray, to read his word and to engage in his presence in a very real way.

Be sure to look out for part two of this article, where we look at the last four beliefs that are commonly held among creationists!

To honour God’s creation, be sure to sign the petition to establish Creation Day as an official holiday!