I think we need to have a serious debate about the authorship of Genesis 1.
I'm exasperated with hearing YECists say: "God told us how he created the world in Genesis 1. He made it very clear -- it took 6 days. Why won't you believe him? Why won't you trust his infallible word? Why do you believe man's fallible science instead? No man was there at creation - only God himself was there. Isn't he is a reliable witness?"
Can YECists please explain what exactly they mean by "God told us"? Have you actually thought this through?
Are you aware of the "Tablet theory"? This is the best attempt that YECist "scholars" have come up with to explain the "divine" authorship of Genesis 1. According to this theory, God wrote down Genesis 1 on a clay tablet and gave it to Adam in the garden of Eden. Adam passed this tablet on to Seth, who passed it on to Enosh.... who passed it on to Lamech, who passed it on to Noah, who took it aboard the ark for a year, then passed it on Shem, who passed it on to.... Abraham, who passed it on to Isaac, who passed it on to Jacob, who took it from Canaan to Egypt, after which it was kept somewhere for about 400 years until Moses got his hands on it. Moses then copied the tablet into the book of Genesis, which he was writing.
Here is AiG's take on it:
"In that case, such [historical] records would certainly have been preserved by being written (probably on clay tablets) and handed down from father to son via the line of Adam-Seth-Noah-Shem-Abraham-Isaac-Jacob, etc.
...
"The most likely explanation is that Adam, Noah, Shem, etc. each wrote an account of the events that occurred either right before or during his lifetime, and Moses, under the infallible inspiration of the Holy Spirit, selected, compiled, and edited these to produce Genesis in its present cohesive form."
The AiG website provides a link to a more detailed essay:
www.trueorigin.org/tablet.asp
Regarding Genesis 1, this essay says:
"In this first tablet [Genesis 1], theres no authors name in that closing verse. Who could have personal knowledge of what was written there? Only the Creator Himself. God could have written this with His own fingers (like He wrote in Exodus 31:18). I think its just as possible that He orally dictated it to Adam. At that same time He might have been using this as a teaching tool, showing Adam how to write, and maybe this served as Adams practice slate. Whatever the mode, God was the personal author of that first tablet, the actual creation account. "
Please be honest -- do you really believe this theory? If not, do you have a plausible alternative? Please tell us if you do!
Note: This thread was meant to have an accompanying poll -- but I didn't finish it on time. The poll is now in a separate thread.
I'm exasperated with hearing YECists say: "God told us how he created the world in Genesis 1. He made it very clear -- it took 6 days. Why won't you believe him? Why won't you trust his infallible word? Why do you believe man's fallible science instead? No man was there at creation - only God himself was there. Isn't he is a reliable witness?"
Can YECists please explain what exactly they mean by "God told us"? Have you actually thought this through?
Are you aware of the "Tablet theory"? This is the best attempt that YECist "scholars" have come up with to explain the "divine" authorship of Genesis 1. According to this theory, God wrote down Genesis 1 on a clay tablet and gave it to Adam in the garden of Eden. Adam passed this tablet on to Seth, who passed it on to Enosh.... who passed it on to Lamech, who passed it on to Noah, who took it aboard the ark for a year, then passed it on Shem, who passed it on to.... Abraham, who passed it on to Isaac, who passed it on to Jacob, who took it from Canaan to Egypt, after which it was kept somewhere for about 400 years until Moses got his hands on it. Moses then copied the tablet into the book of Genesis, which he was writing.
Here is AiG's take on it:
"In that case, such [historical] records would certainly have been preserved by being written (probably on clay tablets) and handed down from father to son via the line of Adam-Seth-Noah-Shem-Abraham-Isaac-Jacob, etc.
...
"The most likely explanation is that Adam, Noah, Shem, etc. each wrote an account of the events that occurred either right before or during his lifetime, and Moses, under the infallible inspiration of the Holy Spirit, selected, compiled, and edited these to produce Genesis in its present cohesive form."
The AiG website provides a link to a more detailed essay:
www.trueorigin.org/tablet.asp
Regarding Genesis 1, this essay says:
"In this first tablet [Genesis 1], theres no authors name in that closing verse. Who could have personal knowledge of what was written there? Only the Creator Himself. God could have written this with His own fingers (like He wrote in Exodus 31:18). I think its just as possible that He orally dictated it to Adam. At that same time He might have been using this as a teaching tool, showing Adam how to write, and maybe this served as Adams practice slate. Whatever the mode, God was the personal author of that first tablet, the actual creation account. "
Please be honest -- do you really believe this theory? If not, do you have a plausible alternative? Please tell us if you do!
Note: This thread was meant to have an accompanying poll -- but I didn't finish it on time. The poll is now in a separate thread.
