An Old Testament Survey Post

Sharing my most recent post from my online class where I get to learn more about my God’s awesome Word, enjoy: 

In response to the question of how to categorize the literary genre of the Genesis account, in light of some similarities with Mesopotamian accounts, our text offers a blazing insight. In essence, it rightly asserts that the biblical text is apologetic; could it be anything other?! The arguments weighed by the skeptics, always directly aimed at the foundations of God’s Word, like to point out that the Genesis accounts sometimes find similarities with other Ancient Near East literature. I like how our text reminds the reader that these similarities are far and few between, only detectable by trained eyes (which most skeptics oftentimes probably do not have); and that these similarities are literary only and by no means are they theological. The ANE accounts have no correlation with the monotheistic, extremely unique claims of the Biblical Creator and His said purpose for mankind.

I think it is very helpful to think of the author of Genesis as one who would engage the ANE in a language they would understand, for the purpose of evangelizing and sharing the truth with his common ancestors and people of his time. Such is the path for all inspired biblical literature; it’s purpose is to spread and instruct, to teach and rebuke, to remind and remember, to reform and remake sinners into saints…it always has been and always will be good news from start to finish. I’ll quote from the portion of the text that inspired this post: “One may suppose that the author, inspired by God’s revelation, employed current literary traditions to teach the true theological import of humanity’s primeval history” (Lasor, 22).