READING GENESIS WELL

Navigating History, Poetry, Science, and Truth in Genesis 1–11

C. JOHN COLLINS

ZONDERVAN

Reading Genesis Well

Copyright © 2018 by C. John Collins

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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version with Apocrypha (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009); ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. English translations of the Septuagint also follow the English Standard Version®. Emphasis added is not original to the English Standard Version®.

Image on page 245, “An early concept of the universe,” taken from the UBS Handbook on Genesis (Reyburn & Fry, 1997), page 27. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

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For Diane, Joy, and Joseph, with all my love

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

1. Introduction

1.A The Historical Backcloth: Benjamin Jowett and Nineteenth-Century Literalism

1.B James Barr, Jowett’s Heir

1.C Why Do I Think C. S. Lewis Can Help?

1.D My Own Background and Stance

2. What Is Happening in Literary Communication?

2.A The Big Idea: How to Approach Any Work of Art

2.B Linguistics, Rhetoric, Literary Criticism, and Genre

2.B.1 Linguistics

2.B.2 Rhetoric

2.B.3 Literary Criticism

2.B.4 Genre

3. Types of Language and Biblical Interpretation

3.A Speech Act Theory and Biblical Rhetoric

3.B Lewis’s Essay, “The Language of Religion”

3.B.1 Exposition of Lewis’s Argument

3.B.2 Extension of Lewis’s Analysis

3.C Metaphor, Thought, and Truth

3.D Examples of Exegesis

3.E Is There a Role for Analytical Language?

3.F Conclusions

4. Good-Faith Communication: What Does It Mean to Speak Truly?

4.A How Does Communication Work?

4.B What Is “Good-Faith Communication”?

4.C What Is the Connection Between a World Picture and a Worldview?

4.D Sense, Reference, Rhetoric, and Truth

5. What Do We Have in Genesis 1–11? Part 1: Context

5.A Cohesion and Coherence

5.A.1 Internal Cohesion

5.A.2 Cohesion with Genesis–Deuteronomy

5.A.3 Connected but Separate

5.B Shared World Context

5.B.1 Other Nations’ Origin Stories

5.B.2 Audience Criticism and “Rhetorical Situation”...