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Well, one argument for a literal reading of Genesis one is that there is no context anywhere in Genesis for it being treated as anything except an historical account. The language bridging the episodes, for example, is exactly the same as the language bridging the episodes of the stories of Abraham's family (Gen. 2:4, 6:9, 11:27, 25:12, 25:19, 36:1). A second argument for a literal reading of Genesis 1 (and through 11) is that it is treated that way throughout the rest of the Bible, including by Moses' (Exodus 20:11), Jesus (Matt. 19:4), Paul (Rom. 5:12ff, 1 Cor. 15:45ff, 2 Cor. 11:3, etc), Hebrews (Heb. 4:3-4, 11:3), and Peter (2 Peter 3:5-6). The idea of reading Genesis 1 as figurative rather than literal doesn't come from anything in context or anything in the rest of scripture. So, where does it come from? I just recently started this class called scientific creationism versus evolution. It has recently gotten me wondering just how much people know about the issues involved, and some of the views on it, including the idea of a literal reading of Genesis chapter 1 versus a figurative reading of Genesis chapter 1. What arguments are out there?
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