Is the Genesis Account Literal?

The Authority of Jesus’ View of the Old Testament

So, I would just say briefly to it that I think we're running into very serious problems of interpretation and that flood into the rest of the biblical narrative when we say that it's a poetic narrative and it's not literal creation story.

I think we should take Jesus' view of the Old Testament. I think that we should have his same view in terms of the history of the Old Testament, what he believed about the Word of God. And when you see Jesus speaking about creation, it's in terms of literal creation.

Genesis 1–2 as a Literal Creation Account

In Matthew chapter 19, when Jesus gives the distinctions between male and female that come together to become one, he's speaking about the creation account, and that's a literal account for him. If we say that the creation narrative in Genesis 1 and 2 is poetic and it's not truly literal, then is that true also for Genesis 3?

Is it true about the fall? Is it true about our first parents? And if so, if we say, well that's also up for grabs, maybe it's not a literal Adam and Eve, well then we now lost Romans 5. Romans 5, there is a representative Adam and a representative Jesus.

The Redemptive Consequences of Denying Genesis

So you see, it's absolutely true. If you destroy Genesis, you've destroyed the entire narrative of the scriptures, and therefore you've destroyed the story of redemption. And so, just a quick resource, apologyorradio .com, about four weeks ago we had Dr. Kenneth Gentry on talking about his book, As It Is Written, used to be called Half God Said.

As It Is Written, is Genesis literal or literary? He spent about two hours with us on this specific subject, and so I would point you to Dr. Gentry.