ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the methodology used in the present study and how it leads to the surprising conclusion that the Primordial History of Genesis 1–11 drew directly on Plato's Timaeus and Critias. The two major tools this book utilizes are comparative studies and source criticism, which together allow the evaluation of cultural and literary influences on a given text. After discussing these disciplines on a theoretical level, the present chapter shows how they have been historically misapplied to biblical literature by limiting comparisons to the literature and customs of the Ancient Near East. Since the 1990s, potential Greek influences have also been profitably studied, leading to theories of an early Hellenistic Era authorship of the Pentateuch or Books of Moses drawing on Greek historical, legal and literary texts from Alexandria's Great Library. The current study argues for literary dependence of Genesis 1–3 on Plato's Timaeus, which describes the creation of the world by an eternal divine Craftsman and the later creation of mortal life by the lesser gods, his offspring.
