The Genesis Account: A theological, historical, and scientific commentary on Genesis 1-11 by Dr. Jonathan Sarfati is a new landmark book; the most up-to-date and in-depth commentary on early Genesis ever published. This book is phenomenal, possibly one of the best books I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot!
As the title suggests, the book's focus lies in the first eleven chapters of the Bible (a 24-hour 7 day Creation to Abraham), where you'll find the foundations for the most important Christian doctrines.
The Genesis Account is a brilliant read, thought-provoking and just shy of 800 pages. It's written at a high school reading level. The author, Dr. Sarfati, is a PhD scientist and a learned Messianic Jew, so he knows what he's talking about when it comes to studying the God's Word. While a little of the mathematics/science content flew over my head, most of it was written to engage the average reader. There were a few conclusions in the book that I didn't agree with, but nothing major. I found a few proof-reading errors, but I’m really reaching to find something not to like.
Now I'd like to share about myself:
I was raised in a Christian household with a biblical creation worldview. As such, I've been reading Creation magazine since the very early 1990s (this book is associated with their ministry). Since then I've read thousands upon thousands of such articles, many books and of course, CMI's quarterly magazine. I’ve watched numerous documentaries, online talks and have attended many lectures. So you could say I'm familiar with the topic of biblical creation versus evolution. Despite that, I found much new material in
The Genesis Account, which was surprising but awesome.
Outside the home I was constantly exposed to evolutionary storytelling, but from an early age I thought little of evolution and even less as I grew older. The science stories just seemed nonsensical in comparison to the biblical creation understanding. Because of this, I found most dinosaur books and science documentaries an exercise in frustration. But at least I was informed and a critical thinker. I read both sides of the argument to better understand evolution.
Years later, after much reading, study, thought, consideration, discussion of both sides of the argument, and of course prayer, I arrived at the conclusion that biblical creation provided the only logical, reasonable and consistent explanation for the world around us and for what happened in the ancient past. I learned that a grammatical-historical perspective was needed to make sense of the Bible, especially early Genesis. This refers to a ‘plain reading’ of the Bible allowing for the figurative language found throughout. After all, the Bible is not a book of secret knowledge for the learned few to make sense of.
I believe
The Genesis Account is an important book that should be read by every pastor, theologian, Bible scholar, student – everyone really. It’s that good! I highly recommend it.
We can trust God's Word completely. Genesis is truthful history from the very first word. Hallelujah!
9.5/10