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Biblical theologian/scholar:
Okay, I want to share with you some Good News of great joy!
Person: Sure.
Well, there’s this God/man, Jesus Christ...
You’ve lost me. Start at the beginning.
Okay. Genesis. In the beginning creation was perfect. The first man, Adam and his wife, the first woman, Eve were tight with God. A perfect creation; a perfect relationship. Then a serpent, controlled in some form by Satan (the head angel in God’s army who was kicked out of God’s presence) tricked Adam and Eve into disobeying God. Their perfect relationship was torn apart. God kicked both Satan and the couple out of the Garden of Eden, after telling them of a coming Saviour who would restore creation to its former glory and humanity to God. All of creation fell under the curse of sin. From then on, mankind wanted to be their own god. Adam and Eve had two children, Cain and Abel (and others). Cain killed Abel. Adam and Eve had a son Seth. Many, many years passed. There was a godly man called Noah and his wife and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives. God told Noah to build an ark, because He was going to flood the world and start over with a small remnant. God told Noah to climb aboard the ark with his family and two of every kind of animal, bird, reptile and seven of every clean creature. Noah obeyed, they survived the Flood, thanked God for His mercy and were fruitful and multiplied. Some generations later, their descendants built a great tower to reach the heavens and God broke their one language into many. In their confusion, the different family groups spread all over the world. Over many generations, the Sumerian culture was established, and the Ancient Egyptian and the Ancient Greek. But of course, none of what I just told you ever really happened.
Sorry?
We’re much more enlightened now. We recognise early Genesis as myth, but believe it still holds God’s truth. Okay, then God made this covenant/binding contract with a man called Abram, who later became Abraham. God promised Abram that He would bless him with many descendants. There were other important men of God too, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.
Yes, I’ve heard of some of those men.
Fact is, they didn’t exist either.
Excuse me?
Nor do Moses or Joshua or King David.
Right. So, we’re talking about a truthful myth again?
Yes. And because Moses didn’t exist, we have to make up something to dupe people into disbelieving God’s Word.
Pardon?
Oops. Did I say that last bit out-loud? We have the JEDP system – four sources: a Yahwist source, a Elohist source, a Deuteronimist and a Priestly source, for which we have no evidence, but are confident that they exist.
*facepalm* You did it again. You’re a moron.
Sorry?
Nothing. Please continue.
These sources were written by unknown scribes over several hundred years. From the time of the prophets Isaiah, to the 6th century when the Jewish people were living in exile in Babylon.
Sorry, prophets Isaiah?
Yes, there were three or possibly four scribes who wrote Isaiah.
*headdesk*
Actually, the whole Old Testament was written during this period of several hundred years, with much of the Pentateuch being written to encourage the Jewish captives. There was a period of silence from God for 400 years. Then the silence was broken when Jesus Christ arrived on the scene. He came to earth as a God/man, to suffer, to die and to rise to new life and to offer this same new life to us. That’s the Good News!
Good News? You don’t believe your God from the first word in the Bible, from the very first chapter. So, why should I? I’m not interested in your God. Go away.
Okay, I want to share with you some Good News of great joy!
Person: Sure.
Well, there’s this God/man, Jesus Christ...
You’ve lost me. Start at the beginning.
Okay. Genesis. In the beginning creation was perfect. The first man, Adam and his wife, the first woman, Eve were tight with God. A perfect creation; a perfect relationship. Then a serpent, controlled in some form by Satan (the head angel in God’s army who was kicked out of God’s presence) tricked Adam and Eve into disobeying God. Their perfect relationship was torn apart. God kicked both Satan and the couple out of the Garden of Eden, after telling them of a coming Saviour who would restore creation to its former glory and humanity to God. All of creation fell under the curse of sin. From then on, mankind wanted to be their own god. Adam and Eve had two children, Cain and Abel (and others). Cain killed Abel. Adam and Eve had a son Seth. Many, many years passed. There was a godly man called Noah and his wife and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives. God told Noah to build an ark, because He was going to flood the world and start over with a small remnant. God told Noah to climb aboard the ark with his family and two of every kind of animal, bird, reptile and seven of every clean creature. Noah obeyed, they survived the Flood, thanked God for His mercy and were fruitful and multiplied. Some generations later, their descendants built a great tower to reach the heavens and God broke their one language into many. In their confusion, the different family groups spread all over the world. Over many generations, the Sumerian culture was established, and the Ancient Egyptian and the Ancient Greek. But of course, none of what I just told you ever really happened.
Sorry?
We’re much more enlightened now. We recognise early Genesis as myth, but believe it still holds God’s truth. Okay, then God made this covenant/binding contract with a man called Abram, who later became Abraham. God promised Abram that He would bless him with many descendants. There were other important men of God too, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.
Yes, I’ve heard of some of those men.
Fact is, they didn’t exist either.
Excuse me?
Nor do Moses or Joshua or King David.
Right. So, we’re talking about a truthful myth again?
Yes. And because Moses didn’t exist, we have to make up something to dupe people into disbelieving God’s Word.
Pardon?
Oops. Did I say that last bit out-loud? We have the JEDP system – four sources: a Yahwist source, a Elohist source, a Deuteronimist and a Priestly source, for which we have no evidence, but are confident that they exist.
*facepalm* You did it again. You’re a moron.
Sorry?
Nothing. Please continue.
These sources were written by unknown scribes over several hundred years. From the time of the prophets Isaiah, to the 6th century when the Jewish people were living in exile in Babylon.
Sorry, prophets Isaiah?
Yes, there were three or possibly four scribes who wrote Isaiah.
*headdesk*
Actually, the whole Old Testament was written during this period of several hundred years, with much of the Pentateuch being written to encourage the Jewish captives. There was a period of silence from God for 400 years. Then the silence was broken when Jesus Christ arrived on the scene. He came to earth as a God/man, to suffer, to die and to rise to new life and to offer this same new life to us. That’s the Good News!
Good News? You don’t believe your God from the first word in the Bible, from the very first chapter. So, why should I? I’m not interested in your God. Go away.
