Should have known better...

Dana (and group):

You should have known better to include me on this. You know I always have more than one thing to say. So here are a few of my ideas.

One, I read that we need to keep in mind what the purpose of Genesis is.
Genesis is not a scientific record of the creation of the universe and any attempt to make it that to me is foolish. Genesis 1 ( the six day creation
story) is what, about 350 words? I have a recipe for potato salad that is about that long. To me it is a simplistic story as to how things came about, not a literal account. The author I read made the point that the purpose of Genesis is to let us know who we are, who God is, and what are relationship is.

Two, Genesis actually contains two creation accounts. In the NRSV Bible I am looking at, around Genesis 2:4 this heading appears in bold: Another Account of Creation. And if you compare this account to the six day version that precedes it, there are differences. A big one being that man and woman were created simultaneously in the six day version (Genesis 1:27). In Genesis
2:22 the whole rib thing happens, which to me is less likely. Why would God create woman so much later, after everything else including plants and animals, when she is imperative to procreation? I mean God must have created male and female animals in order for reproduction. Did God think Adam could get along without Eve or what? If God is all-knowing certainly he knew woman was essential to the plan from the get go.

Three, I have read that the ancient Babylonian creation account is very similar to Genesis and is older than the Genesis scripture. The Babylonian writings also have a great flood and other similarities to Hebrew scripture.
Just food for thought.

Four, the other consideration is the role of time in Genesis, meaning great spans of time may have occurred between events. Again, if you believe Genesis is a Cliff notes version of creation (a summary), then details are going to be left out. So how long was it between when Adam and Eve were created and when the serpent came along? A day, a year, a decade? It sounds as if Adam and Eve were in Eden about 10 minutes before they got booted out.
But if you read carefully no time frame is presented. They could have been in Eden 300 years before the serpent came along. (Remember Noah lived to be 900 years old or something.) But again this is all if you see this story as literal. To me it is a story used to explain how things went down. Jesus himself used parable after parable to explain ideas and teach us. Isn't it likely that the whole Garden of Eden (Genesis) is just a story that was meant to educate us? Story telling was about the only way ancient civilizations had to preserve their history. They passed down stories from one generation to the next until finally a written language was developed and utilized. But by that time, how many generations had this story been passed down before someone was able to record it through writing? So is it any wonder why so many details seem to be missing? But that is more from an anthropological point of view. If you believe God dictated Genesis to someone like Moses (who I believe is the alleged author of Genesis) then I cannot imagine how long the Bible would be if you left in all the details and had a completely accurate and literal story. It seems like it would be so unapproachable. People already find the Bible overwhelming, imagine if it contained every detail. I think we get hung up on trying to have Genesis make literal sense when that is not the purpose. I think we need to look at what the morale of the story is, because to me it is just that, a story or parable.

Five, according to Joni Mitchell (and more recently the Counting Crows) the Garden of Eden is now a parking lot. Damn developers!

God's love to all,
Rob McNair