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The picture then came into focus. The entire Old Testament is almost entirely bereft of any reference to the ten chapters of Genesis 2-11. These are the "mythological" chapters that tell of the garden of Eden, a woman made from a rib, a talking snake, magical trees, the flood of Noah, the rainbow covenant, and the tower of Babel. Their character is very different from the rest of Genesis, including its first chapter, and almost none of the authors of the Old Testament show any awareness of that material at all.
So then we wondered why, if the mythological chapters were missing from the Old Testament, they would be so prominent in the New. So we looked at the Apocrypha, the literature written between the closing of the Old Testament and the writing of the New. And we found many references to the content of the mythological chapters. Indeed, we found a whole retelling of the missing material in 4 Esdras:
4 Esdras 3:5 And gavest a body unto Adam without soul, which was the workmanship of thine hands, and didst breathe into him the breath of life, and he was made living before thee. 6 And thou leadest him into paradise, which thy right hand had planted, before ever the earth came forward. 7 And unto him thou gavest commandment to love thy way: which he transgressed, and immediately thou appointedst death in him and in his generations, of whom came nations, tribes, people, and kindreds, out of number. 8 And every people walked after their own will, and did wonderful things before thee, and despised thy commandments. 9 And again in process of time thou broughtest the flood upon those that dwelt in the world, and destroyedst them. 10 And it came to pass in every of them, that as death was to Adam, so was the flood to these. 11 Nevertheless one of them thou leftest, namely, Noah with his household, of whom came all righteous men.
And similar material in Wisdom of Sirach:Sirach 44:16 Enoch pleased the Lord, and was translated, being an example of repentance to all generations. 17 Noah was found perfect and righteous; in the time of wrath he was taken in exchange [for the world;] therefore was he left as a remnant unto the earth, when the flood came. 18 An everlasting covenant was made with him, that all flesh should perish no more by the flood
So now the conclusion seemed obvious. The material from the mythological chapters of Genesis is missing in the Old Testament because it was not widely read, if it existed at all, at the time those books were written. It is found in abundance in the Apocrypha because it had become popular by that time. Therefore, it seems likely that the material was probably inserted into Genesis after the rest of the Old Testament had already been written and before the composition of the Apocrypha. This is an amazing discovery. I have studied the Bible for over two decades and never noticed the missing mythological chapters of Genesis. I have no idea how I could have overlooked something so obvious. I would be very interested to know what others think about this.
Impact on the Study of the New Testament:
This impacts the study of the New Testament because unlike the Old Testament, it relies strongly on the mythological chapters of Genesis. Paul based his gospel on Christ's rectification of Adam's sin:
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man [Adam] sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned -- 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned [Adam]. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.
Likewise, Paul specifically spoke of Eve and the Serpent - something that is mentioned nowhere in the Old Testament other than Genesis 3:2 Corinthians 11:2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
And the Gospels record Christ speaking of the flood of Noah which is mentioned tangentially but twice in the Old Testament:Matthew 24:37 "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 "and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
And the author of Hebrews mentions it:Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
And in Peter's letters:2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;
Peter's reference to the "angels that sinned" brings us to yet another mystery - the source of the demonology that is taken for granted throughout the New Testament as if it were common knowledge. Jude also made reference to the obscure mythology of Genesis 6 which was understood as fallen angels having sex with women to produce "giants" -Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;
Jude was, of course, drawing from the apocryphal book of Enoch which contains an elaborate demonological explanation of Genesis 6. Things like this have always bothered me because the Bible gives no indication where this "knowledge" came from and it is clearly drawn from extra-biblical sources. The Old Testament says almost nothing about any "Satan" and "fallen angels" but it is frequent in the New ... and in the Apocrypha which is a primary source of the teachings of the New Testament. Impact on the question of the Biblical Canon:
This then impacts the question of the canon. Protestants struggle mightily to find a foundation for their doctrine of "Sola Scriptura" (Scripture alone) because the doctrine cannot be established "from the Bible alone." It is therefore self-contradictory. The Bible does not list which books it should contain, so they must rely upon tradition rather than Scripture. They try evade this problem by asserting that the books of the Old Testament must pass certain tests. Even when I was a Christian this made little sense to me because I could see they were only making post-hoc arguments designed to imply their assumed conclusion. And besides, their "tests" could never establish the exact canon they accepted, since some books, like Esther, are not referenced in the NT at all.
My project now is to review the Apocrypha to see how strongly the NT depends upon it. I would very much appreciate any references to research already done in this area. I would be particularly interested in any research that discusses the fact that the missing references to the mythological chapters of Genesis.
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