Who Copied Whom?

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? One's answer says a lot about his view of the authority of Scripture.

Scholars have pointed out the fact that creation myths, containing events similar to those in Genesis 1 and 2, were common in Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Some theorize that the content of early Genesis was adapted from these myths. They believe that the Hebrews borrowed content from their neighbors' stories, and then wrote the name of their own God over the account. Many argue from this standpoint as if it were the only possibility.

What a startling and staggering assumption! And what a limited point of view.

Portraying the Biblical author as a plagiarizing copycat rather than an inspired and faithful writer results in a nonsensical deconstruction of the text. There is no reason not to trace the Ancient Near Eastern creation myths back to the real story of creation. The myths were probably modified accounts of what was orally passed down from Adam and Eve to their progeny. Remember, Adam and Eve were eyewitnesses of some of the events, and conversed directly with their Creator. Some cultures adapted this story to suit their own purpose and attributed creation to their own false deities. While pagan cultures modified the account, thereby rendering it truly mythical, the Holy Spirit guided the Biblical author to record the real story just as it actually happened.

The trouble with reverse logic is that it seems to make sense. But the same logic can go in both directions. Chickens come from eggs and eggs come from Chickens. How can we possibly know which came first?

Turning to the Bible - our epistemological authority - there can be no doubt at all that the chicken was made before the egg was laid.

Genesis 1:25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.