Is Genesis account just a myth?

by AK - Jeff 54 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Eyes Open

  Comparison of the Torah with what science has shown becomes ludicrous when you know a little about genre. I recommend How to Read the Bible: History, Prophecy, Literature--Why Modern Readers Need to Know the Difference, and What It Means for Faith Today.
• 

  hamsterbait

  On the coast of the Arabian peninsula, at certain times of year, where the desert air hits the sea air, it is often the case that mist will form and be blown inland, where it forms dew. I think it is a memory of this referred to when the account says a mist watered the land.

  When you think that much of the land around Babylon was desert before men began to till and irrigate, it is easy to see why the writers though there was no vegetation before man.

  I think this is a classic case of folk memories being amalgamated, then retold in a version the compiler thought made more sense.

  As for the genealogies: The WT claims they must be true because you cannot establish where the real one stops and joins onto the mythical one. (Fallacy of the excluded middle?)

  HB
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  drew sagan

  That is why I believe that a study of the earth's hydrology, will without fail, to create a metaphoric pun, dry up the Genesis account more quickly than all other argumentation. The water cycle has gone on unabated for eons of time - the evidence is compelling. Look at the Grand Canyon as example.

  Still trying to look at this from the perspective of modern man eh ;)
  
  I would again stress that they way the ancients read into stories such as the Genesis account is very different than we as modern people do today. We look at the story and want to know if it is either "true or false" in a historical and scientific sense. Over and over again modern bible based fundamentalists (such as the Watchtower, which most of us are familiar with) tell us that contained within the pages of Genesis is an ancient account of the historical and scientific process by which our world came into creation. They state that the accuracy of Genesis proves that God authored the Bible because the ancients could never have understood such scientific realities, yet they are present within the text, so the story goes.
  
  With so many claiming that absolute scientific truth is contained within the pages of Genesis the automatic response by many is to go word by word and compare it to modern science. They then quickly see that most of Genesis does not meet up with modern scientific understand and thus label the Genesis account accordingly. By focusing so hard on these aspects of the text I think a greater understanding is lost though.
  
  I think this quote from the volume I previously mentioned says is all

  "...the reader of the Bible should not, however, be misled into dismissing either myth or legend as "irrelevant" and accepting only history as "relevant". What usually passes for history is not an accurate scientific recording of events but an interpretation of such events-assuming even that one knows what the event "really" was. The best of modern historians is an interpreter, selective summarizer, commentator, and often philosopher who brings a point of view to the material. This is precisely what the Book of Genesis does. While it's material included myths and legends, those in time became incorporated into the consciousness of the people. For what people believe their past to mean assumes a dynamism of it's own; the experience itself becomes creative".
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  changeling

  Here's my take on Genesis:

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  changeling	Worship Me
  Post 5131 of 5311 since 03-Jun-07	I was bored. After a countless eternity alone, I was bored. So, I made a mini-me,called him "son", and taught him a few tricks. We spent a few eons alone together so he could get to know me well. I did not need to get to know him because I had made him (DUH!). Anyway, that grew old too, so together we made some inferior creatures we named "angels". We gave them tasks to keep them busy and we delighted in watching them scurry around. We had sooo much space! It seemed a waste not no try to fill it up. So, the son and I made what has come to be called: "The Universe". Most of it is a bunch of rocks and gases floating around or orbiting big shinny things called "suns". It's fun to watch some of those thing collide. Oh, and we made "black holes", just because we could. We fixed our attention on one particular rock. We decided to bring it to life. We spent millions of years playing with this rock trying to get it just right. We heated it up. We froze it out. Several times. We made giant, lumbering creatures and then killed them off. In time we thought, "Why don't we make another mini-me to live on the rock?" So we did. We called this mini-me, Adam. We made a section of the rock really, really pretty. We plated all sorts of plants that bore fruit that he could just pick off and eat to sustain his life. Just so that he knew who was boss, I told him of one particular tree that was off limits. If he ate from that tree, he would die. So it was that we let little Adam wander about his pretty section of the rock. He became acquainted with his surroundings and gave silly names to all the other, lesser creatures. These creatures we created just for Adam's enjoyment and for Adam to have a sense of what it was like to rule and dominate over another, since both the son and I had found pleasure in having underlings. In time, Adam grew restless. We had made him with sexual organs, but had not made him a counterpart to fulfill his needs. He saw all the other creatures copulating and wondered why he did not have someone to do this with. So, as we had run out of original creating materials, we put Adam to sleep, took one of his ribs, and from it we made: Eve. We made sure Adam knew to tell her he was the boss and that she had to do whatever he said. We also reminded him of that little detail about the forbidden fruit, so that he would be sure to tell Eve not to eat it, or else. Well, Eve turned out to be a very curious creature. And to make matters worse, one of the angels decided to think for himself and dare Eve to do the same and eat from the fruit. Of course, I am omniscient, so I knew how the story would play out. But in my "allpowerfulness", I chose not to know. I do love a surprise, don't you? Anyway, Eve could not keep her hands off the forbidden fruit, and then, the cunning little minx got Adam to eat from it too. They suddenly realized they had been naughty and got it into their heads to place fig leaves on their private parts. Honestly, even in my omniscience I have yet to figure out what brought that on. So, what to do, what to do? I had told Adam that if he ate from the fruit he would die, and I certainly have the power to zap him, right then and there. Now that the deed was done though, I realized I was entertained by little Adam and Eve and I wanted to see what else would develope. So, I flipped the "grow old and die" switch in their bodies, I threw them out of the pretty section of the rock, and I had some angels called "seraphs" guard the entrance so they could not get back in. Now the rest of the rock was a fallow wasteland. Adam would have to cultivate the land to produce his food. No more picking friut off already planted trees and frolicking with the animals. And Eve, she would have to pay the price as well. I tweaked her reproductive organs so as to give her painful menstrual periods and agonizing childbirth. That should teach her! Soon Adam and Eve began to bring children into the new world. Thier first children were two little boys they named, Abel and Cain. I realized that I had to keep some sort of hold on the growing population. What fun would it be to just let them forget all about me? So I instilled in their hearts the need to "worship". To fulfill this need, Cain and Abel decided to offer me a burnt offering. Cain went and fetched some of the vegetables and grain he had learned to grow, but Abel set his sights on a little lamb. This whole thing turned out to be a competion of who could please the big Daddy in the sky best. They scurried about, each builidng an altar for their offering, trying to see who's was the strongest and tallest.When the altars were ready, Cain carefully arranged his produce on his and Abel tied the bleating lamb to his own. They set fire to their offerings and fanned the flames up towards the heavens. It took awhile to reach my nostrils, but all at once, there it was, the smell of burnt cabbage. Yuck! I had to turn my gray head and retch. Ahhh, but what is that mouth watering smell? Roast lamb! Bingo, we have a winner! In that supernatural way I have, I let Abel and Cain know that I was pleased only with Abel's offering. Never mind the time and effort it took Cain to cultivate the vegetables and grain he offered me, it stunk to high heaven! Well, that did not go over well...Cain was so angry that all his work was in vain and Abel was so smug about his victory that Cain grabbed one of the fire logs left over from the offering and hit Abel over the head, killing him instantly. So started the ever ending need to worship, and sibling rivalry. Down through the ages countless people have sought to please me and win my approval. Ishmael vs. Isaac, Jacob vs. Essau... People have created entire civilazations and cultures based on thier own particular brand of worship. Wars have been fought. Blood has been spilled. All in an effort to please me better than the next guy. I sit on my throne and watch it all. I have to let it happen. How else could I prove my superiority, my right to have the final say? How else could I say to the fallen angel: "See what you did, see the mess you made?" So, I have a plan, one day soon I will destroy everyone who does not worship me just right. And those who play by the rules will once again live in the pretty section of the rock, and frolick with the animals, and eat from the trees... But not yet, I'm having too much fun.
  IP: XTuhWqDtN0imqI5P	14-Jun-08 09:47 by changeling: Correct formatting
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  AK - Jeff

  Changling - you make some pretty good points there.

  Drew - thanx for the quotes. I shall have to see if I can conjure up the time to read that book sometime. Problem is, summer is here and I am busy with so many projects it seems. Plus there is golf of course . LOL.

  Still - it looks like and interesting read for the snowy months perhaps.

  Jeff
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  AK - Jeff

  This has been a most interesting discussion I think. Though I am having to sneak a peak now and again between replacing a dry rotted window sill in the kitchen [damned priorities and all.]

  Jeff
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  garybuss

  Here's the deal: Where we came from isn't important unless I'm trying to sell a connected myth about where we're going.
  
  Some "true believers" I know are upset that a da Vinci art painting might contain fact, but they fail to appreciate that literature is also as much art as a painting.
  
  My advise: Don't bet the farm, your education, or your life on the art of literature being communication from space aliens.
  
  
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  Narkissos

  Where we came from isn't important unless I'm trying to sell a connected myth about where we're going.

  Very true. But in that particular case I believe that the "myths" both Genesis creation stories were trying to "sell" were about a certain vision, or understanding, of human and more specifically Jewish "reality" -- not a hope of salvation from suchreality. let alone for "us". Perhaps that's one reason why Christians and post-Christians are much more likely to miss the point of such texts than Judaism.

  literature is also as much art as a painting.
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  AK - Jeff

  Good point, Nark.

  But did they know [the Jewish history weavers I mean] that it was legend, and not fact?

  Jeff
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  • And additionally, since the oceans are salty due to movement of sedimentary mineral through the rivers to the oceans, were the waters of the earth all freshwater according to the Bible at the time of Adam?

  The seas have clearly supported saltwater life for a longer time than any of the faithful would
  like to hear. The great plains of North America were a shallow saltwater sea long ago.
  I suppose a believer could say this was all before MAN came on the scene, but it really doesn't
  add up the Genesis way.

  Did He anticipate that man would sin, and he would need to correct it with a flood, and a rainbow to show that he would not correct it in such a manner again?

  Why did the earth not revert to it's previous 'mist-cycle' following the flood?

  I don't think the authors thought that all through. They just tried to make a story on how it is
  the way it is.