0139 The stories of Adam and Eve and Noah survive through a living tradition. They are passed on by voice for generations. They are written down thousands of years after they were first formulated.
0140 In contrast, archaeologists made some incredible discoveries in the past three centuries. They found royal libraries of ancient cities. These royal cities had fallen so completely that no one knew that the resulting pile of dirt was formerly a city. Clay tablets were preserved in these tells, or “hills”, in southwestern Asia.
0141 What we now call “ancient Near East literature” was not handed down through generations in a living tradition. Instead, it sat as indentations on clay tablets buried in the remains of ancient cities, disguised as hills by their total ruin.
0142 Before archaeologists started unearthing cuneiform tablets, no one knew of the existence of this so-called “literature”. Neither the Jews, nor the Muslims, nor the Christians had any idea. Augustine wrote fourteen centuries before archaeologists started working in the Near East.
0143 What did archaeologists find written on these excavated clay tablets?
They found stories similar to Genesis. They found literary styles similar to Genesis.
0144 Now, for those interested in the living Word of God, scientific discoveries have shifted the focus of inquiry to long dead civilizations.
Today, we declare, “Many Genesis stories share dramatic features with ancient Near East literature. Even more, Genesis stories share the same literary styles as ancient Near East literature.”
Welcome to the new – modern – normal context for Biblical writing3a.
0145 McKnight offers four principles that should inform the Christian reader of the Biblical origin narratives (with the [excavated] ancient Near East literature in mind).
0146 Clearly, all these principles apply to the two-level interscope of reading the text.
0147 Hmmm. On top of that, they allow me to fill in the perspective level for reading Genesis.
