Genesis and Ancient Mythologies
There's a prairie schooner-full of legends about creation, the global deluge, humanity's dispersal, and a heap of other things. Skeptical scholars tend to presuppose that the Biblical record of history, especially the early chapters of Genesis, is not the written Word of God. To do this, they need to make a number of assumptions and ignore important details.
Something I reckon is a big stumbling block is the dating of the manuscripts. Some tinhorns will be on the prod and say, "Those ancient documents were dated as being hundreds of years older than Moses supposedly lived". We've seen how dating methods can be inaccurate, and it also raises questions regarding which manuscripts were dated, and what dating procedures were used.
People will also look at the similarities of the documents and, based on their presumptions and biases against the biblical manuscripts, assume that Genesis was copied by the Hebrews from other peoples' myths. Something they need to consider is the differences between Genesis and the ancient tales — something we considered in "Adam was a Man, not a Myth". The Epic of Gilgamesh contained a global deluge story, but it has many significant differences from the Genesis Flood account that are neglected by many scholars. Pagan gods and people are capricious and immoral, making the claim of Hebrew copying ridiculous.
The biblical account of the Genesis Flood and other events have internal consistency and integrity. Instead of thinking that Genesis took elements from other people, it's the other way around: the biblical accounts are accurate, and the pagan myths are copies that became corrupted over time and by cultures.
Something I reckon is a big stumbling block is the dating of the manuscripts. Some tinhorns will be on the prod and say, "Those ancient documents were dated as being hundreds of years older than Moses supposedly lived". We've seen how dating methods can be inaccurate, and it also raises questions regarding which manuscripts were dated, and what dating procedures were used.
People will also look at the similarities of the documents and, based on their presumptions and biases against the biblical manuscripts, assume that Genesis was copied by the Hebrews from other peoples' myths. Something they need to consider is the differences between Genesis and the ancient tales — something we considered in "Adam was a Man, not a Myth". The Epic of Gilgamesh contained a global deluge story, but it has many significant differences from the Genesis Flood account that are neglected by many scholars. Pagan gods and people are capricious and immoral, making the claim of Hebrew copying ridiculous.
The biblical account of the Genesis Flood and other events have internal consistency and integrity. Instead of thinking that Genesis took elements from other people, it's the other way around: the biblical accounts are accurate, and the pagan myths are copies that became corrupted over time and by cultures.
When faced with the question as to whether the Bible accurately records ancient history in Genesis 1–11 or was derived from some other “ancient” document, we first need to apply a solemn reminder. God’s Word has made the ultimate and justifiable claim for itself that none of these other ancient texts has made. The Bible repeatedly asserts to be the perfect Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21; Psalm 19:7; 119:160). If the Bible borrowed from ancient mythologies, this claim would be called into question.To read the rest of this very interesting article, click on "Is Genesis 1–11 a Derivation from Ancient Myths?" For some additional material, I recommend two other articles, "Are Biblical accounts copied from pagan religions? Part 1. The God of Creation" and "Are Biblical accounts copied from pagan religions? Part 2. The Resurrection".