Is Genesis a copy of older pagan myths? (part 2)
In part 1, we saw that despite the similarities between Genesis 1-11 and other ancient Near East creation accounts the differences are so dramatic as to rule out the theory that Genesis is somehow a “copy” or composite retelling of the Babylonian, Sumerian or Egyptian creation stories–a conclusion that is held even by many liberal critical scholars.
However, we also noted that Genesis 1-11 does portray a number of similar events, motifs and literary stylistic aspects found throughout the ANE creation accounts. This has disturbed many readers who approach Genesis from a more conservative/fundamentalist framework because they see any comparison of Genesis with pagan myths as a denigration or flat-out denial of the Inspiration and Authority of the Biblical text. But is this necessarily the case? Hardly.
[Babylonian Creation Tablet depicting Marduk slaying the chaos dragon, Tiamat]
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