Can a literal Genesis creation story really hold up?

[Triumphant_Loser]

So many things don't add up in Genesis. Like the Sun and stars, not only were they created after the Earth, but created after plants? But then, I was wondering; Adam gets kicked out of Eden and has to till the soil? This is based on Gen 4:23 and 4:2 where Adam is sent out to "cultivate" the ground and his son Cain was a "tiller" of the ground. What did they till it with? Did God make them a plow and a hoe or something? And then Abel, why was he keeping flocks? Weren't they vegetarians? Was it for wool? Did God make Eve a loom and Abel some shears?

I see Genesis as religious poetry, but some Christians, and I guess some Jews, see it as literal. Ken Ham on his TV show Answers in Genesis, insists that it must be taken literal, that it is foundational, without it the whole of the Bible falls. What do you think.

Not to mention that a deity supposedly created two humans without the ability to differentiate between right and wrong, but then gets angry at them when they disobey him.

 

[outhouse]

As I study history carefully, Joseph, Moses, and the invasion under Joshua fit history, especially the invasion described in the Amarna tablets.

No they do not.

Moses does not exist historically.

There was factually no invasion.

Israelites factually evolved from Canaanites [Israel Finklestein] and to date no one can refute this.

After 1200 BC to 1000 BC all the Israelite pottery and houses were identical to Canaanites. They even used Canaanite deities.


That's why you do not posit your poor hypothesis, because you know we would rip it to shreds with facts and real evidence

 

[Ouroboros]

Not to mention that a deity supposedly created two humans without the ability to differentiate between right and wrong, but then gets angry at them when they disobey him.

It's strange, isn't it?

It could be read a different way though. I know what you mean, but I suggest another interpretation, just for fun. The fruit was really about knowledge, like scientific knowledge, or knowledge in general. Knowledge of things (building bridges, tools, etc) can be used for good and for evil. The fruit was really intelligence. When the first australopithecus started to make sticks to fight wars or to pick ants from the trees... that's the fruit of knowledge.

 

[Thief]

Not to mention that a deity supposedly created two humans without the ability to differentiate between right and wrong, but then gets angry at them when they disobey him.

That's how most people read it.
I don't.

The garden event was made to alter the spirit and body of Man.
The 'forbidden fruit' and consequence was made to make sure the alteration took hold.

We are indeed that creature that will seek knowledge....in spite of pending death.

 

[rusra02]

Not to mention that a deity supposedly created two humans without the ability to differentiate between right and wrong, but then gets angry at them when they disobey him.

Adam and Eve could differentiate between right and wrong. Eve knew that eating from the forbidden tree was wrong, and also knew the consequences for disobedience to God. When Satan slyly questioned Eve, she replied: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. *But God has said about the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden: ‘You must not eat from it, no, you must not touch it; otherwise you will die.’” (Genesis 3:2-4) I believe God created the first couple with the same conscience we have. Misled by Satan, Eve willfully disobeyed God. Adam did likewise. Many of the objections raised to the Genesis account stem, IMO, from either a previous bias or a too casual reading of the account. For example, the erroneous view that the Sun, moon and stars were not created until the fourth creative "day". Genesis 1:1 clearly states that God created the heavens and the earth long before he began preparing the earth for mankind.

 

[Triumphant_Loser]

Adam and Eve could differentiate between right and wrong. Eve knew that eating from the forbidden tree was wrong, and also knew the consequences for disobedience to God. When Satan slyly questioned Eve, she replied: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. *But God has said about the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden: ‘You must not eat from it, no, you must not touch it; otherwise you will die.’” (Genesis 3:2-4) I believe God created the first couple with the same conscience we have. Misled by Satan, Eve willfully disobeyed God. Adam did likewise. Many of the objections raised to the Genesis account stem, IMO, from either a previous bias or a too casual reading of the account. For example, the erroneous view that the Sun, moon and stars were not created until the fourth creative "day". Genesis 1:1 clearly states that God created the heavens and the earth long before he began preparing the earth for mankind.

So, they knew good from evil... before eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? That doesn't make any sense.

 

[RabbiO]

So, they knew good from evil... before eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? That doesn't make any sense.

It's a merism.

Peter

 

[rusra02]

So, they knew good from evil... before eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? That doesn't make any sense.

The tree God called "the tree of the knowledge of good and bad" did not imply that Adam and Eve did not know right from wrong, good from bad. Rather, the tree represented God's right as Sovereign to decide what is good and bad. Man did not and does not have that right. God thus caused the eating from that tree to symbolize the one eating comes to a knowledge that allows him or her to make decisions themselves as to what us good or bad. Disobeying God has thus proved an unmitigated disaster for us, IMO.

 

[Triumphant_Loser]

God thus caused the eating from that tree to symbolize the one eating comes to a knowledge that allows him or her to make decisions themselves as to what us good or bad.

So God caused them to eat from it, then got angry at them for eating from it? Shouldn't he be angry at himself then, considering he is the one that caused it?

 

[metis]

So does God sleep when God rest?

Maybe it's cited to set an example.

My point was to correct what you had written, so the above really doesn't relate.

 

[outhouse]

The garden event was made to alter the spirit and body of Man.
The 'forbidden fruit' and consequence was made to make sure the alteration took hold.

.

Which is not how it reads, nor how natural science took place when Israelites wrote this, not even knowing their own true origin.

 

[outhouse]

Adam and Eve could differentiate between right and wrong. Eve knew that eating from the forbidden tree was wrong, and also knew the consequences for disobedience to God. When Satan slyly questioned Eve, she replied: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. *But God has said about the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden: ‘You must not eat from it, no, you must not touch it; otherwise you will die.’” (Genesis 3:2-4) I believe God created the first couple with the same conscience we have. Misled by Satan, Eve willfully disobeyed God. Adam did likewise. Many of the objections raised to the Genesis account stem, IMO, from either a previous bias or a too casual reading of the account. For example, the erroneous view that the Sun, moon and stars were not created until the fourth creative "day". Genesis 1:1 clearly states that God created the heavens and the earth long before he began preparing the earth for mankind.

Unsubstantiated nonsense.


Its not a satan figure in the tree, it does not even state it is.


No two people were created and you only ruin the beauty of the text by a literal interpretation which you obviously feel free to pervert it too read how ever you wish.

 

[outhouse]

Man did not and does not have that right..

Utter nonsense

People for hundreds of thousands of years before Israelites even existed knew good from bad.

Your personal theological construct did not even exist, until 800 years after Israelites first formed after 1200 BC.

Genesis took over 600 years to evolve into what you know from when legends were first collected starting around a 1000 BC.

 

[Benoni]

Maybe it's cited to set an example.

My point was to correct what you had written, so the above really doesn't relate.

To you. It makes total sense. Are you saying God sleeps and does nothing when He sleeps??

 

[Thief]

Which is not how it reads, nor how natural science took place when Israelites wrote this, not even knowing their own true origin.

Chapter Two....
A selection is made....a specimen chosen.
Ideal living conditions are provided.
Anesthesia, surgery, cloning, and gentice manipulation applied.

Adam is a chosen son of God.
Eve would be a clone and twin sister, having no navel.

Regardless of who wrote it......

 

[Triumphant_Loser]

Chapter Two....
A selection is made....a specimen chosen.
Ideal living conditions are provided.
Anesthesia, surgery, cloning, and gentice manipulation applied.

Adam is a chosen son of God.
Eve would be a clone and twin sister, having no navel.

Regardless of who wrote it......

Talking snakes...magic fruit... women regenerating from ribs... oh wait.:sarcastic

 

[Thief]

Talking snakes...magic fruit... women regenerating from ribs... oh wait.:sarcastic

Ah yes....the meatphors are mixed with the literal.

If you expand the metaphor to the literal.....the telling of the story would be huge.
Some things are best said in metaphor.

If I would call you a snake....it speaks of your character more so than your form.

And you don't believe in cloning?

 

[rusra02]

So God caused them to eat from it, then got angry at them for eating from it? Shouldn't he be angry at himself then, considering he is the one that caused it?

You misunderstood my post or I worded it poorly. God did not cause Adam and Eve to eat from the forbidden tree. Rather, he caused the tree to represent the right to decide for oneself what is good and what is bad. By violating God's law to refrain from eating, both Eve and Adam rebelled against God's rulership. Satan instigated the rebellion. I believe the tree was a symbol of God's exclusive right to set standards of conduct for mankind.

 

[rusra02]

Unsubstantiated nonsense.


Its not a satan figure in the tree, it does not even state it is.


No two people were created and you only ruin the beauty of the text by a literal interpretation which you obviously feel free to pervert it too read how ever you wish.

Jesus Christ believes the account was historical, and he is an eyewitness. (Colossians 1:15,16) And the Bible does expose the Devil as the one who used the serpent in Eden to appear to speak. (Revelation 12:9) You are much mistaken.

 

[rusra02]

Utter nonsense

People for hundreds of thousands of years before Israelites even existed knew good from bad.

Your personal theological construct did not even exist, until 800 years after Israelites first formed after 1200 BC.

Genesis took over 600 years to evolve into what you know from when legends were first collected starting around a 1000 BC.

So you reject entirely the historical accuracy of the Bible, is that correct? Even the many parts previously scoffed at by Bible critics that now have been confirmed as historical by archeological discoveries?