1) I compared Genesis 1 & ANE mythology today in Intro Theology class. Enuma Elish starts with chaos & has the hero-god Marduk vanquish the chaos monster Tiamat thus bringing order & structure out of chaos, which enables human civ. to flourish. (Chaos-Violence-Order)
2) Gen. 1 starts with chaos too - in v. 2. But then order & structure are brought into being by the Word of God with no battle or struggle. All is peaceful - even the great sea creatures (v. 20). Instead of Chaos-Violence-Order it is Chaos-Order. Why the difference?
3) The answer is v. 1. There we see the Transcendent Creator. Gen. 1:1 is the most revolutionary sentence in the history of the world. Before Moses wrote this no religion taught that God was before creation & brought all things other than himself into existence.
4) In Genesis being is good & evil is a twisting of the good. The Transcendent Creator gives being to all that exists & therefore everything is his creature & is docile, obedient & good. The ANE myths have no Transcendent Creator.
5) I believe that the ANE myths originated with fallen spiritual entities in rebellion against YHWH. They left YHWH and his creation of the world out of their myths so as to obscure his role and exalt themselves. Their goal is to redirect worship from the Creator to themselves.
6) Historical interp. of the OT views it as spec. rev. given by YHWH as to set the record state. Theol. interpret. of the OT sees it as polemical-corrective. Gen. is anti-mythological. It corrects the mythology that shaped the world around Israel in Egypt, Canaan & Mesopotamia.
7) YHWH does battle Leviathan but it happens not in Gen. but in Psalms (not in creation but in redemption after the fall). The language of Ps. 74:12-17 recalls the Exodus & the Creation. Just as in Isa. 40 exodus & creation language are mixed to affirm the sovereignty of YHWH.
8) YHWH does battle the forces of chaos but not in creation. He does so in history as he redeems his people from the forces of evil. The Bible teaches that God's good creation is in rebellion but is being redeemed. History is anti-myth. The OT is polemical-corrective special rev.
