You wrote:
>>One certainly can't state that Genesis is divinely inspired because my
>parents/seminary/pastor/friend says it is. One must have a more substantive
reason for believing something which is that important; something more than
'Someone told me so'. And subjective feelings do not seem entirely
trustworthy.
Your basic question about needing some objective basis for the truth of
Christianity is valid. But, the best objective evidence is not in Genesis
1-11. The ultimate New Testament answer to this is the resurrection of Jesus.
(Acts 17:31: …having _furnished proof_ to all men by raising Him from the
dead.") Paul rests the validity of Christianity upon this one event (I Cor
15:14). This should be the foundation stone of your apologetic, not a pre-
school story book like Gen 1-11, albeit the Spirit can take the theology in
Gen 1-11 and apply it to the heart in a powerful way.
Secondly, although I recognize the value of evidentialist apologetics, the
best way to grow Christian faith is to exercise what you have. To him who has
will more be given. Jesus put it this way, "If any person is willing to do
His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I
speak from Myself." As a person walks with God, God walks with that person:
"take my yoke upon you." The result over time is that just as God interacted
in the lives of Abraham, David, the NT saints, etc., he interacts in lives
today. As you look back over those interactions in your own life you know
with assurance in whom you have believed. A living faith is sine qua non
When you read the lives and writings of the great saints and missionaries
(Behold Your God by Agnes Sanford, How to Live Like a King's Kid by Harold
Hill, The New Wine is Better by Charles Thom, Surprised by the Power of the
Spirit by Jack Deere, etc.) you see God breaking into history objectively in
personal lives today. You also see God telling people things they could not
otherwise know--as you requested in an earlier post. These writings can build
faith; but, better yet is to have the same kinds of experiences in your own
life.
When you have that existential foundation, the pre-school nature of Genesis
1-11 is not all that significant.
Paul Seely