Story of Origins


A literary genre of ancient literature.

Genesis 1-3 is written as a story of origins in three parts.

1 is the Creation story, displaying God's mighty act of creation. God is the only character, and the chapter is replete with elements of repetition, balance, and progression.

2 narrows the focus from the universe to human life in the Garden of Eden. It is a picture of God's intention for human life and is unified by the motif of God's provisions for human life.

3 shows the origin of evil in human experience and the world. The story combines several common narrative types: temptation, fall from innocence, crime and punishment, initiation (into evil and its consequences). It also shows the psychology of guilt.

(The Origin of the Bible: Newly Updated by F. F. Bruce, J. I. Packer, Philip W. Comfort, and Carl F. H. Henry, 2020. The Bible as Literature by Leland Ryken, Page 130)