Can a literal Genesis creation story really hold up?

[james2ko]

Fair enough. I once made the same argument back when I was trying hard to reconcile Genesis with science. But one has to wonder why such things would be written from the perspective of terrestrial being regarding the heavens above. Considering that one one was around to see it when it happened.

The bible was written for mankind. Why not narrate it from the recipients perspective.

 

[james2ko]

So are you saying the third day was 24 hours and the fourth day was a long period? Or each day was 24 hours?

Each day was 24 hours.

 

[Ouroboros]

Each day was 24 hours.

So Big Bang then?

 

[InvestigateTruth]

Each day was 24 hours.

How could within 24 hrs, fruits and grasses appear?
What about evolution?

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

It is a myth...
However it still has a role in teaching morals and about the relationship early man had with nature and God.
Myths and parables are not about truth or facts they are about Ideas and concepts.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

It is a myth...
However it still has a role in teaching morals and about the relationship early man had with nature and God.
Myths and parables are not about truth or facts they are about Ideas and concepts.

A rabbi once taught me: "A Jew is one who lives in Jewish Myth and in whom Jewish Myth lives."

Abusing the text in an effort to force it's compatibility with current scientific understanding is little more than theological rape.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

A rabbi once taught me: "A Jew is one who lives in Jewish Myth and in whom Jewish Myth lives."

Abusing the text in an effort to force it's compatibility with current scientific understanding is little more than theological rape.

I would agree that science an myth are incompatible, But myth and the study of ancient civilisations and religions are not.

The Jews have always known how to interpret and understand their heritage both oral and written, and that "now" is a factor in that understanding.

Christians tend to think that every text has a single meaning and a fixed interpretation, which is rarely the case. Even "recorded" history is rarely what it seems.

 

[james2ko]

How could within 24 hrs, fruits and grasses appear? What about evolution?

Evolution?? I'm a creationist. God supernaturally made them appear..

 

[Skwim]

A rabbi once taught me: "A Jew is one who lives in Jewish Myth and in whom Jewish Myth lives."

Abusing the text in an effort to force it's compatibility with current scientific understanding is little more than theological rape.

Gotta agree on this one.

 

[CG Didymus]

It is a myth...
However it still has a role in teaching morals and about the relationship early man had with nature and God.
Myths and parables are not about truth or facts they are about Ideas and concepts.

Awesome.

 

[CG Didymus]

A rabbi once taught me: "A Jew is one who lives in Jewish Myth and in whom Jewish Myth lives."

Abusing the text in an effort to force it's compatibility with current scientific understanding is little more than theological rape.

Beyond awesome.

 

[InvestigateTruth]

Evolution?? I'm a creationist. God supernaturally made them appear..

So, neither Big bang, nor Evolution have any truth in them?
Then what about all these scientific evidence?

 

[CG Didymus]

The bible was written for mankind. Why not narrate it from the recipients perspective.

In places it really sounds like man talking about God. But then who did write Genesis? Did God dictate it to Moses? If so, didn't the Hebrews write down any of their own history? Or at least have some oral legends and traditions that they had? Or, did God have to tell them where they came from? That there was a flood and a Tower when all the languages got confused? They didn't know or remember any of this until God told them? But then why is the story so short? God only gave them the highlights? Why did it only take a few pages to cover from the very, very beginning all the way to Noah? In fact, how much time does Genesis cover? A couple thousand years? One chapter for a couple of thousand years? Are you sure God didn't forget some important parts of man's early history?

Ooh, and another problem, since Christians need the devil/satan to fall, when did that happen? I've heard some people say it was in day one. If that's so, then all these freshly made "messengers" of God rebelled in a matter of only a few hours after being created? And, then God didn't confine all of them but left some of them to raise havoc with the yet to be created humans? What's going on with that?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

A rabbi once taught me: "A Jew is one who lives in Jewish Myth and in whom Jewish Myth lives."

Abusing the text in an effort to force it's compatibility with current scientific understanding is little more than theological rape.

I would agree that science an myth are incompatible, But myth and the study of ancient civilisations and religions are not.

I find that just the opposite is true. Specifically, to believe that one can understand and appreciate a Narrative without some appreciation of the cultures that evolved and sustained it strikes me as being naive in the extreme.

 

[gnostic]

Can a literal Genesis creation story really hold up?

In short, no.

Like you've said, there some inconsistencies with the Genesis creation story.

And from my perspective, parts of Genesis 1 to 8 (from creation to end of the Flood) seemed to be written by different people, most likely in different times, and someone tried to put it together these bits and pieces, and probably didn't realize there are inconsistencies or errors.

 

[Ouroboros]

One church "father" St. Augustine considered Genesis to be allegorical, and any attempt to make it literal was "laughable."

The literalist/fundamentalist view is rather modern, only 100 years or so.

 

[gnostic]

In verse 3, God describes the creation of conditions to permit light to penetrate the earth's atmosphere.

First, sources, please?

Second. If I am reading Genesis properly and in the order of each day, there were no atmosphere or even the sky (which KJV had translated to the firmament) on the first day. The earth's atmosphere doesn't appear until the 2nd day.

6 And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. 8 God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

So what is this atmosphere are you talking about?

 

[Dinner123]

One church "father" St. Augustine considered Genesis to be allegorical, and any attempt to make it literal was "laughable."

The literalist/fundamentalist view is rather modern, only 100 years or so.

What did Jesus think? That is what should concern us. And it seems to me quite apparent He knew that Genesis was true. It is not a rather modern view. It is what Jesus believed and all the apostles.

 

[nazz]

What did Jesus think? That is what should concern us. And it seems to me quite apparent He knew that Genesis was true. It is not a rather modern view. It is what Jesus believed and all the apostles.

Just because Jesus quoted Genesis doesn't mean he accepted it as literally true

 

[Ouroboros]

What did Jesus think? That is what should concern us. And it seems to me quite apparent He knew that Genesis was true. It is not a rather modern view. It is what Jesus believed and all the apostles.

Maybe, or maybe that's a matter of interpretation.