Telling Half of the Story

Unfortunately, we live in a time in the West where many of God’s people (whether unwittingly or not) have misrepresented God’s Word for a long time now . . .

Unfortunately, we live in a time in the West where many of God’s people (whether unwittingly or not) have misrepresented God’s Word for a long time now through many creative interpretations of Genesis 1–11 vs. the plain reading of the text.

The broad scope of Genesis 1–11 is that God created a very good world in six literal days approximately 6,000 years ago. Sin and death entered into the cosmos after that as a punishment for the sin of the first man, Adam. The ancient world was judged and destroyed in a worldwide flood sent by God around 1650 years later, and the distinct people groups we see around the world are the result of the dispersion at the Tower of Babel.

Why the Change?

Despite the fact that the meaning of Genesis 1–11 seemed quite clear to the vast majority of lay Christians and church leaders alike for hundreds of years, since the early 1800s many theologians have been saying that these chapters in Genesis do not present a historical narrative.

These false ideas are taught in the majority of Christian higher education institutions. And all of these interpretations are derived from man-made stories of earth history rather than from the words of Scripture.

Gap theory, day-age theory, progressive creation, theistic evolution—all of these (and more!) are now seen as legitimate “biblical” explanations as to how God created the world. In addition, these false ideas are taught in the majority of Christian higher education institutions. And all of these interpretations are derived from man-made stories of earth history rather than from the words of Scripture. This is driven home by the fact that virtually none of them appeared in the Christian theological marketplace prior to the acceptance of “millions of years” and/or evolution in the West.

Of course, all Christian doctrines (like where sin and death come from, the doctrine of marriage, why we need Jesus, how many genders there are, and so on), directly or indirectly, lie embedded in the history interwoven within Genesis 1–11. So, telling people that this history is actually unclear textually or that it’s easily open to wildly different interpretations sends a message that these doctrines are also without a firm foundation. This has left the average “foot soldier” in God’s army standing on sinking sand rather than a sure footing and unable to defend and advance the kingdom effectively in walk and witness. As 1 Corinthians 14:8 says, “[I]f the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?”

Assessing the Damage

This situation has made the church so vulnerable to criticism that some modern-day evangelicals are following what the mainstream, liberal churches did years ago in openly stating that the Old Testament (OT) is basically indefensible and “not needed” for modern Christians. Of course, the culture has caught on to the fact that the “good news” (Christ’s sacrifice for sin for those who put their faith and trust in Him) in the New Testament (NT) is predicated on the “bad news” (we are all lost in sin because of the first man, Adam’s, rebellion against God) in the Old Testament.1 So many logically (but incorrectly) think, why trust either?

God’s Word itself testifies that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). God’s Word can be trusted from the very first verse!

Cutting It Short

Even though it is only fairly recently that popular evangelicals have begun to openly state this doubt regarding the OT, the church as a whole has been signaling a similar message to the culture for a while now (primarily by simply trying to avoid the topic of origins but in other ways as well). One striking physical and visual manifestation of this is the “half-Bibles” (typically consisting of the book of Proverbs, Psalms, and the New Testament) often distributed by ministries and sold in various outlets.

Today however the vast majority of people (even many professing Christians) do not believe the reliability of the history contained in the OT and think that science has disproven it.

The reason this was adopted by some ministries in the West many years ago was simple, the vast majority of the population had an understanding of the history that explained the bad news (all people have sinned against God and will be held accountable for their sins when they die) contained in the OT. So, it was like a shortcut. Why not just give people the good news of the NT?

Today however the vast majority of people (even many professing Christians) do not believe the reliability of the history contained in the OT and think that science has disproven it. To the culture at large that are not invested in any aspect of the Christian faith and have been inundated with evolutionary storytelling, this only confirms the irrelevancy of the message of the gospel of Jesus contained in the NT.

In another form of literary analogy, this would be like handing someone the last half of a mystery novel and expecting them to understand the whole plot of the story. It would be confusing and out of context.

By adopting the authority of man’s word (secular interpretations regarding the world’s history) over God’s Word in Genesis, the entire foundation of the Christian faith has been undermined to a tragic degree in our culture. This is why Answers in Genesis has always recommended Christians share the gospel the way that God does it in the Bible, by starting in the beginning!

Let’s all do our part to disciple the next generation to stand firm on the authority of the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation.

We’ve all heard the terms: something “half-baked” refers to being unprepared; a gun that’s half-cocked isn’t ready to fire; someone performing half-heartedly just isn’t committed to what they are doing. Telling half of the story can be misrepresentative of the “big picture” being expressed, be easily misunderstood, or seen as being purposefully deceptive by some.

Let’s all do our part to disciple the next generation to stand firm on the authority of the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation. Please share AiG resources with those believers you know and share the gospel of Jesus—beginning with Genesis—with confidence as the Lord allows.