Seven Reasons Why Genesis is Counter Cultural 

Several years ago, I wrote an article expressing my opinion that America was moving toward making the content of the bible illegal. Charisma magazine published this article, which may be accessed here.

Without a moral turn in our nation, the Scriptures may soon be targeted for banning or listed as “forbidden reading” because of their so-called “hateful content.” We don’t have to delve too far into the pages of the sacred writ to see that the Word of God directly contradicts prevailing groupthink in contemporary culture. For example, the first three chapters in Genesis (the book of beginnings) outline truth that conflicts with popular, secular thought. 

1. Genesis introduces God as the Creator of the universe.

The first words of the Bible present God as Creator: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” This statement is counter-cultural because it flies in the face of the modern-day scientific view of the material origins of the universe. According to this view, all things came into existence by random chance through “matter in motion,” a naturalistic evolution process. 

Without elaborating on the mathematical impossibility that the complex cosmos, along with its acute symmetry, was formed by mere chance (demonstrated in natural laws such as gravity), this scientific theory is nothing more than a convenient excuse for rebellious humanity to embrace an autonomous life, void of accountability to the true and living God. The absurd notion of a non-existent God warrants only this response from Yahweh: “The fool has said in his heart there is no God” (Psalm 14).

2. Genesis reveals that time and space are in God, not vice versa.

The fact that God created the material, spatial universe also includes the time-space continuum as a by-product (Hebrews 11:3). Genesis details how God created luminaries in the heavens to govern time and the seasons (Genesis 1:17-18). This is why Scripture calls Yahweh “the alpha and the omega- the beginning and the end” (Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 46:10, Rev. 1:8; Rev. 22:13). This profound truth demolishes the concept of evolutionary pantheistic theologies or what is known as Process theology, which proposes that God and creation are one, and as such, God is continually growing and learning as the universe expands. This view attempts to justify the interpretation of Scripture via the lens of culture instead of the reverse.

The truth of God as the meticulous Creator also destroys so-called “Open or Neo Theism” (the notion that God doesn’t know all the future since some future events are unknowable, making God a responder to the free choice actions of humanity). One verse alone demolishes open theism. Revelation 13:8 says: “All who dwell on the earth will worship it, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” It reveals to us that the Lamb of God was slain BEFORE the foundation of the world! (This means that God did not just respond to the sin of Adam; He anticipated it and, with foresight, determined that God the Son (the Logos) would die on the cross to redeem believers even before the events of Genesis 1:1!) 

3. Genesis asserts that humanity started with two fully formed humans.

Genesis 1-2 gives us an abundantly clear description of the creation of Adam and Eve as fully-formed human beings. (Adam had no earthly mother and father and no umbilical cord. He was a son of God (Luke 3:38).) This account disrupts and destroys the erroneous theory that humans evolved from a subhuman lower species as modern science purports. 

4. Genesis presents marriage as one man and woman’s union.

Genesis 2:24 illustrates that the first act and exemplar of holy matrimony were between one man and one woman. Jesus cites this again in His detailed teaching on marriage and refers to Genesis (Matthew 19:1-6). The Scriptures present a counter-cultural view of marriage, opposed to popular culture’s promulgation of alternative forms of marriage outside of this “one man-one woman” construct. 

5. Genesis teaches only binary gender.

Genesis 1:27 describes that God created both male and female in His image and likeness. The Scripture here teaches binary gender and opposes any notion of non-binary gender fluidity.

6. Genesis unveils the forces of evil.

Genesis 2:9 depicts the existence of the knowledge of good and evil. The word “evil” is not merely something less than perfect, but instead, it means profoundly immoral and wicked, especially when provoked by an insidious supernatural force.  

Genesis 3:1-7 introduces a subtle, evil supernatural being known as the serpent, later identified in Scripture as Satan, the devil (Rev. 12:9). 

Atheistic secular humanists believe in a materialistic universe that denies the existence of a supernatural evil being (for the same reason, they deny the existence of a supernatural creator God). Scripture shows that good and evil (invisible) forces function as archetypes and work through willing humans in the visible material world (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Ephesians 6:10-13; 1 John 5:19).

7. Genesis details how humankind became morally corrupt. 

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, cosmic consequences were initiated, resulting in death being passed onto all humanity (Genesis 3:1-19; Romans 5:12). Church tradition and history call this either “original or ancestral sin.” 

The scriptures indicate that every person is born with an inherent proclivity towards sin and evil (Jeremiah 17:9). This biblical view counters the secular, progressive, and humanistic ideology of all people’s “inherent goodness.” This humanistic ideology is antithetical to the Gospel of Christ since it implies that humankind does not need a savior to save them from their sins. 

As the ground and pillar of truth, the Church must arise and pray that this nation returns to the Scriptures as the foundation and bedrock for all truth (1 Timothy 3:15).

Please check out the latest book from Joseph Mattera here!