The Genesis account of creation is not mythical

Important to note that a myth doesn't always equal a falsehood. We must always be careful on how we use the term "myth" when talking about creation narratives because a myth has certain characteristics. Mythology is defined as a collection of stories to explain nature, history, and customs of a people. Personification, natural phenomenon, truthful or exaggerated accounts, explanations of rituals, customs, beliefs, and practical knowledge all make up myths (1). Comparative mythology is the comparison of many different myths around the world to identify shared elements and characteristics (2). Comparative mythologists search for the following: Linguistic similarities in names and terms Plot structure Psychological forces Historical similarities Phylogenetical When you compare Genesis with other ancient near eastern myths (We'll only focus on the near east in this debate), you find that it's not exaggerated or mythical but that it's consistent with science. The common elements are chaos, heaven and earth, firmament, creation of light, sun, stars, moon, dry land, and rest. Genesis and Enuma Elish: According to "the Babylonian Genesis", the Babylonian gods lack the power to speak things to existence whereas Elohim does it instantly. Elohim creates the universe with no conflict needed whereas a Babylonian god battles a goddess. Enuma Elish opens with the gods begetting the heavens and the earth while Elohim creates them. In Enuma Elish, the gods had a beginning while Elohim was before time, space, and matter. Marduk was created and Elohim was not. Marduk was made ruler while Elohim was always a ruler. In Enuma Elish, man was made to serve the gods so they wouldn't have to work and made by one of the dying gods. Elohim made man in his image and greatness. The Babylonian gods need rest and food while Elohim does not. Sacrifices are only made in worship (3). Kirk Spencer in his work "Ancient of Days: An Orientation in the Ancient World", he says the Babylonian gods rely on magic to create, whereas Elohim only speaks it into being. The Babylonian gods create the luminaries for astrology (4), but in Genesis, they are only creations. Enuma Elish was made in tribute to a Babylonian king to make him god (5). Genesis is told to explain how creation came to be. Genesis and Atrahasis: In the Atrahasis epic, the world was divided into sections by the gods while Elohim creates everything systematically. The gods labor and are tired, thus need to create man. Taken from "New Babylonian Genesis" (6). Comparisons between Genesis and Egyptian cosmogonies: Genesis and Memphite theology: The Egyptian god Ptah creates all things using thought-speech (7) whereas Elohim only expresses his infinite knowledge by his Word. Genesis and Heliopolis: In the Egyptian myth of Heliopolis, the Egyptian god sexually brings forth other gods (8). Genesis and Hermopolis: The gods themselves are personified in creation (9). Egyptian relics show two gods creating man, but Elohim does it all by himself (10). The Egyptian gods created man because they were lonely: "Humans, in the Pyramid text tradition, were formed from the tears of the sun-god Re who wept out of loneliness." (11) Elohim obviously doesn't need man. One expert defines mythology like this: "A myth is the attempt of a culture to overcome history, to negate the forces and ravages of time, and to make the universe amenable and subject to man. The myth reveals a hatred of history. History shows movement in terms of forces beyond man and in judgment over man; history rides heavily over man, is inescapably ethical, shows a continuing conflict between good and evil, and clearly shows man to be the actor, not the playwright and director. And this man hates. To fill a role he never wrote, to enter on stage at a time not of his choosing, this man resents. The purpose man then sets for himself in his myths is to end history, to make man the absolute governor by decreeing an end to the movement that is history." (12) "Where his myths acknowledge men's lot in history, man ascribes his sorry role, not to his depravity, but to the jealousy of the gods . . ." ". . . The goal of the myth, progressively more clearly enunciated in time, has become the destruction of history and the enthronement of man as the new governor of the universe." Myths were made to keep man bond to a physical ruler. Elohim doesn't have this mentality. Conclusion: It is therefore erroneous to conclude that Genesis itself is mythological when no such mythical concepts are found in the creation account. Genesis is clearly not mythological. Sources: 1. http://en.wikipedia.org... 2. http://en.wikipedia.org... 3. http://theologica.ning.com... 4. Alexander Heidel, The Babylonian Genesis, Chicago: Chicago U. Press, 2nd ed., 1951, p. 44; ANET, p. 67. 5. Alexander Heidel, The Babylonian Genesis, Chicago: Chicago U. Press, 2nd ed., 1951,p. 48; ANET, p. 68. 6. Tyndale Bulletin 18 (1967) pp. 3-18. 7. http://en.wikipedia.org... 8. Ian Shaw, ed., The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 480. 9. Siegfried Morenz, Egyptian Religion, trans. Ann E. Keep (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1973), 175. 10. Gordon, "Khnum and El," 204. 11. Hoffmeier, James Karl. The Archaeology of the Bible. Oxford: Lion, 2008. 34. 12. Rousas John Rushdoony, The Mythology of Science, Nutley, NJ: Craig Press (1967) p. 1.