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Why Genesis Matters
The book of Genesis is not simply a collection of moral stories or fables about our origins. It's a book that sets the foundation for the whole of Scripture and upon which all the other books of the Bible rest. Genesis is essential to understanding God our Creator, Judge, and Savior. Every vital Christian doctrine finds its roots in the Genesis record.
In Why Genesis Matters, Dr. Jason Lisle points us to the very first book of the Bible to understand the foundation of Christian doctrines. Which doctrines are first introduced in Genesis? How do we really know if we're interpreting Genesis correctly? What about the debate over the age of the earth? And how does Genesis help us when we share the gospel with others?
These and other questions are answered in this practical book about Genesis, Christian doctrine, and the gospel.
In Why Genesis Matters, Dr. Jason Lisle points us to the very first book of the Bible to understand the foundation of Christian doctrines. Which doctrines are first introduced in Genesis? How do we really know if we're interpreting Genesis correctly? What about the debate over the age of the earth? And how does Genesis help us when we share the gospel with others?
These and other questions are answered in this practical book about Genesis, Christian doctrine, and the gospel.
- GenresReligion
63 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
22 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
About the author
Jason Lisle
36 books118 followersDr. Jason Lisle is an astrophysicist who formerly worked for the creationist organization Answers in Genesis as both a speaker and researcher, but is now Director of Research at the Institute for Creation Research.
Dr. Lisle is a creationist who has a PhD in Astrophysics, which he obtained through the University of Colorado in Boulder. His postgraduate research concentrated on solar dynamics, utilizing NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) to monitor the surface of the sun. His PhD dissertation "Probing the Dynamics of Solar Supergranulation and its Interaction with Magnetism." is available from the University of Colorado and he has also published numerous papers in scientific literature concerning convection cells in the sun.
Although some creationists claim, as in the film Expelled, that holding to creationist beliefs while pursing a degree at an accredited University will get you kicked out, Dr. Jason Lisle recieved his undergraduate degree from Ohio Wesleyan University summa cum laude with a double-major in physics and astronomy and a minor in mathematics. For his thesis and dissertation, (Master's and Ph.D accordingly,) though members of his Peer-Review Panel might have been aware of his young Earth beliefs - their evaluation of his work was based on his actual research and not his personal beliefs.
Dr. Lisle is a creationist who has a PhD in Astrophysics, which he obtained through the University of Colorado in Boulder. His postgraduate research concentrated on solar dynamics, utilizing NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) to monitor the surface of the sun. His PhD dissertation "Probing the Dynamics of Solar Supergranulation and its Interaction with Magnetism." is available from the University of Colorado and he has also published numerous papers in scientific literature concerning convection cells in the sun.
Although some creationists claim, as in the film Expelled, that holding to creationist beliefs while pursing a degree at an accredited University will get you kicked out, Dr. Jason Lisle recieved his undergraduate degree from Ohio Wesleyan University summa cum laude with a double-major in physics and astronomy and a minor in mathematics. For his thesis and dissertation, (Master's and Ph.D accordingly,) though members of his Peer-Review Panel might have been aware of his young Earth beliefs - their evaluation of his work was based on his actual research and not his personal beliefs.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 27, 2020
Excellent defense of the book of Genesis. If you're a Christian read this book. If you're not a Christian definitely read this book.
March 1, 2025
A BRIEF BIBLICAL AND CULTURAL DEFENSE OF ‘YOUNG-EARTH’ CREATION
Jason Lisle is the Director of Research and a featured speaker and writer for the Institute for Creation Research. (He was formerly with Answers in Genesis.)
He wrote in the Introduction to this 2012 book, “Our world faces enormous problems… We’re seeing attacks on the sanctity of human life and attempts to redefine marriage… it’s perhaps most disappointing that the United States---a nation founded on Christian principles---is losing its Christian base at an alarming rate. How can these things be? Our country is saturated with Christian bookstores, radio stations, television programs, and schools. And yet… the United States is rapidly becoming a pagan nation. It’s tempting to think that we should be fighting social issues and not wasting time on ‘academic’ topics like origins.
“But what if there is a connection between origins and all these social issues? I suggest that there is… a very strong connection. The social issues many Christians find distressing .. are symptoms of an underlying root cause---the loss of biblical authority stemming from attacks on the book of Genesis. Christian values… only make sense in light of the history recorded in Genesis. So, as society increasingly rejects Genesis in favor of evolution or an old-earth creation view, it is a natural consequence that we will experience the decline of Christian America.
“Where do Christian doctrines such as ‘marriage’ originate? This doctrine goes back to Genesis… But if the history in Genesis were not true, then why would marriage have to be so defined?... Without the foundational history in Genesis, marriage is simply reduced to a cultural trend… Likewise, the sanctity of human life, human freedom, laws and justice.. [all] have their foundation in the literal, historical understanding of Genesis… Individuals may believe in evolution and still behave in a Christian fashion, but their belief and behavior remain logically inconsistent… If we are ever going to see America turn back to God, we must faithfully teach and defend the Bible---starting with the creation account in Genesis.”
He asserts, “The idea of evolution requires the concept of ‘survival of the fittest.’… Evolution is all about the strong overcoming the weak; so why do we have any laws to protect the weak from the strong?... Laws run counter to the notion of survival of the fittest. Most evolutionists believe in laws, but such beliefs don’t make sense if evolution were really true.” (Pg. 16)
He contends, “some Christians might say… ‘The Bible is a morality book, not a history book. It’s a bit like the tortoise and the hare… You get the point of the story, even though no one believes that it really happened.’ But this is a false analogy. Genesis is written as history. It gives the historical basis for holding to Christian doctrines. That’s quite different from a fable… Truth cannot be based in fiction! The moral principles established in Genesis can only be true if the history in Genesis is literally true.” (Pg. 20)
He argues, “Can Genesis be interpreted as poetic? Does it bear the marks of … parallelism? Not at all… Occasionally, someone suggests that the phrase ‘and the evening and the morning' represents poetry. While this phrase is repeated at the close of each day… it is NOT … parallelism… [which] involves stating basically the same thing using DIFFERENT words. But the wording here is identical… Moses did not intend it to be taken as poetry…” (Pg. 23)
He acknowledges, “It is certainly true that ‘yom’ can mean a period of time longer than 24 hours in certain contexts, but does it mean ‘age’ in Genesis? Day-Age advocates often attempt to provide support for their position by citing a portion of 2 Peter 3:8, ‘with the Lord a day is as a thousand years.’ … Is this passage really addressing the days of creation and telling us that they are actually thousands of years each? Not at all. The context is actually dealing with the apparent delay in God’s promise to come again; it is not referring to the days of creation at all!” (Pg.30-31)
He continues, “with the Hebrew word for ‘day’---the context makes the meaning clear. For example, in Hebrew, when ‘day’ is used with a number as part of an ordered list (‘the first day, the second day, the third day’), it is always translated as ‘day’ … and always clearly means an ordinary day…” (Pg. 32)
But he also clarifies, "The Bible is clear---belief in six days of creation is not a prerequisite for salvation. Yes, of course, you can be saved without committing to the biblical timescale… The Bible makes it abundantly clear that we are not saved by having absolute, perfect theology. We all err at times in our understanding and application of the Scriptures. But that (by itself) does not prevent the Lord from saving us.” (Pg. 40)
He states, “The Bible teaches that death was the result of Adam’s sin. Sin entered the world through Adam, and death entered through that sin (Rom 5:12; 1 Cor 15:21)… But if the world already had death in it, then how can death be the wages of sin? Would it make sense to say ‘by man came death’ … if death were already in the world millions of years before man?.. The Bible teaches that death came about as the result of Adam’s sin. It follows therefore the fossils are not millions of years old, they formed after Adam sinned. The worldwide flood described in Genesis 6-8 would naturally account for the fossils we find on earth.” (Pg. 42-43)
He continues, “Critics might say, ‘What about overpopulation? And some animals only eat meat. So there must have been death before Adam sinned.’ But such reasoning is an irrational extrapolation based on today’s cursed world. Today some animals eat meat, but originally they were all vegetarian (Gen 1:30). Overpopulation of animals in some regions is a problem, but before the Curse, God would have maintained the world in perfect balance. It seems reasonable that God would have caused animals to slow or stop their rate of reproduction as they approached filling their environmental niche.” (Pg. 44)
He concludes, “Pastors are abdicating the Christian message by embracing liberal scholars who declare that Adam and Eve were not real people, that the Fall was simply symbolic, and that the Flood of Noah’s day was nothing more than a local splash of water in ancient Mesopotamia. Now is the time for God’s people to do the hard work of biblical apologetics, embracing the full message of the Bible, beginning in Genesis, in order to rightly defend and Scriptures and compassionately persuade men, that some might be saved.” (Pg. 54)
This book will appeal to some ‘young earth’-type Christians.
Jason Lisle is the Director of Research and a featured speaker and writer for the Institute for Creation Research. (He was formerly with Answers in Genesis.)
He wrote in the Introduction to this 2012 book, “Our world faces enormous problems… We’re seeing attacks on the sanctity of human life and attempts to redefine marriage… it’s perhaps most disappointing that the United States---a nation founded on Christian principles---is losing its Christian base at an alarming rate. How can these things be? Our country is saturated with Christian bookstores, radio stations, television programs, and schools. And yet… the United States is rapidly becoming a pagan nation. It’s tempting to think that we should be fighting social issues and not wasting time on ‘academic’ topics like origins.
“But what if there is a connection between origins and all these social issues? I suggest that there is… a very strong connection. The social issues many Christians find distressing .. are symptoms of an underlying root cause---the loss of biblical authority stemming from attacks on the book of Genesis. Christian values… only make sense in light of the history recorded in Genesis. So, as society increasingly rejects Genesis in favor of evolution or an old-earth creation view, it is a natural consequence that we will experience the decline of Christian America.
“Where do Christian doctrines such as ‘marriage’ originate? This doctrine goes back to Genesis… But if the history in Genesis were not true, then why would marriage have to be so defined?... Without the foundational history in Genesis, marriage is simply reduced to a cultural trend… Likewise, the sanctity of human life, human freedom, laws and justice.. [all] have their foundation in the literal, historical understanding of Genesis… Individuals may believe in evolution and still behave in a Christian fashion, but their belief and behavior remain logically inconsistent… If we are ever going to see America turn back to God, we must faithfully teach and defend the Bible---starting with the creation account in Genesis.”
He asserts, “The idea of evolution requires the concept of ‘survival of the fittest.’… Evolution is all about the strong overcoming the weak; so why do we have any laws to protect the weak from the strong?... Laws run counter to the notion of survival of the fittest. Most evolutionists believe in laws, but such beliefs don’t make sense if evolution were really true.” (Pg. 16)
He contends, “some Christians might say… ‘The Bible is a morality book, not a history book. It’s a bit like the tortoise and the hare… You get the point of the story, even though no one believes that it really happened.’ But this is a false analogy. Genesis is written as history. It gives the historical basis for holding to Christian doctrines. That’s quite different from a fable… Truth cannot be based in fiction! The moral principles established in Genesis can only be true if the history in Genesis is literally true.” (Pg. 20)
He argues, “Can Genesis be interpreted as poetic? Does it bear the marks of … parallelism? Not at all… Occasionally, someone suggests that the phrase ‘and the evening and the morning' represents poetry. While this phrase is repeated at the close of each day… it is NOT … parallelism… [which] involves stating basically the same thing using DIFFERENT words. But the wording here is identical… Moses did not intend it to be taken as poetry…” (Pg. 23)
He acknowledges, “It is certainly true that ‘yom’ can mean a period of time longer than 24 hours in certain contexts, but does it mean ‘age’ in Genesis? Day-Age advocates often attempt to provide support for their position by citing a portion of 2 Peter 3:8, ‘with the Lord a day is as a thousand years.’ … Is this passage really addressing the days of creation and telling us that they are actually thousands of years each? Not at all. The context is actually dealing with the apparent delay in God’s promise to come again; it is not referring to the days of creation at all!” (Pg.30-31)
He continues, “with the Hebrew word for ‘day’---the context makes the meaning clear. For example, in Hebrew, when ‘day’ is used with a number as part of an ordered list (‘the first day, the second day, the third day’), it is always translated as ‘day’ … and always clearly means an ordinary day…” (Pg. 32)
But he also clarifies, "The Bible is clear---belief in six days of creation is not a prerequisite for salvation. Yes, of course, you can be saved without committing to the biblical timescale… The Bible makes it abundantly clear that we are not saved by having absolute, perfect theology. We all err at times in our understanding and application of the Scriptures. But that (by itself) does not prevent the Lord from saving us.” (Pg. 40)
He states, “The Bible teaches that death was the result of Adam’s sin. Sin entered the world through Adam, and death entered through that sin (Rom 5:12; 1 Cor 15:21)… But if the world already had death in it, then how can death be the wages of sin? Would it make sense to say ‘by man came death’ … if death were already in the world millions of years before man?.. The Bible teaches that death came about as the result of Adam’s sin. It follows therefore the fossils are not millions of years old, they formed after Adam sinned. The worldwide flood described in Genesis 6-8 would naturally account for the fossils we find on earth.” (Pg. 42-43)
He continues, “Critics might say, ‘What about overpopulation? And some animals only eat meat. So there must have been death before Adam sinned.’ But such reasoning is an irrational extrapolation based on today’s cursed world. Today some animals eat meat, but originally they were all vegetarian (Gen 1:30). Overpopulation of animals in some regions is a problem, but before the Curse, God would have maintained the world in perfect balance. It seems reasonable that God would have caused animals to slow or stop their rate of reproduction as they approached filling their environmental niche.” (Pg. 44)
He concludes, “Pastors are abdicating the Christian message by embracing liberal scholars who declare that Adam and Eve were not real people, that the Fall was simply symbolic, and that the Flood of Noah’s day was nothing more than a local splash of water in ancient Mesopotamia. Now is the time for God’s people to do the hard work of biblical apologetics, embracing the full message of the Bible, beginning in Genesis, in order to rightly defend and Scriptures and compassionately persuade men, that some might be saved.” (Pg. 54)
This book will appeal to some ‘young earth’-type Christians.
July 1, 2022
logical easy to understand complex issues
This is a logical easy to understand complex issues relating to science and creation. Dr. Lyle touches on geology, astronomy and other sciences and shows how the creation story is to be taken literally and dovetails seamlessly with scientific study. Neil
This is a logical easy to understand complex issues relating to science and creation. Dr. Lyle touches on geology, astronomy and other sciences and shows how the creation story is to be taken literally and dovetails seamlessly with scientific study. Neil
March 14, 2024
Great Read
I thought the book was good. I was not highly academic and easy enough to understand. I think the author is a very good foundation for why Genesis doesn’t matter and that it can have an effect on the gospel message.
I thought the book was good. I was not highly academic and easy enough to understand. I think the author is a very good foundation for why Genesis doesn’t matter and that it can have an effect on the gospel message.
June 11, 2018
Very good Book
If you like, or, love the book of Genesis, especially the first chapter, then this book is a must read.....
If you like, or, love the book of Genesis, especially the first chapter, then this book is a must read.....
October 2, 2015
Excelente livreto! Bíblico, lógico e direto ao ponto!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews