IndigoChild5559
Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
I thought this thread specificially, explicitely asked for only Jewish answers. Did I misunderstand?
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Left coast, you will get differnt answers depending on the Jew you talk to. Some will say that Genesis 1 is history, and others will say it si myth.
I'm in the group that believes Gen 1, and Gen 2-3 are creation myths. When I say myth, I don't mean they are lies. A myth is a very powerful genre of literature -- it uses a creation fiction to delve into pretty deep understandings of morality, God, and mankind. I always, always refer people to read Tolkiens "On Fairy Stories" -- you cna find the essay online. It will change your whole appreciation of myth.
Let's look at Gen 3, teh story of Adam and Eve and the serpent. Basically, I think that this is a kind of race memory.
At one point in our evolutionary history (most of it in fact) we were mere animals taht did not self reflect, and had no concept of morality. Does a cat think about that it is being immoral when it toys with its prey? No. And humanity for a long time was in that same frame of mind. We did not have a conscience yet. As unreflective animals, we lived in a kind of bliss of ingornance. We were part of nature. This is symbolized by Adam and Eve being in this primordial garden. We were in harmony with nature, with ourselves, with others, and with God.
But it was perhaps inevitable that a conseicne would evolve. The day came when our empathy and sense of justice conflicted with what our instincts wanted to do, creating an inner conflict. You can say that day is represented by Eve tasting the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. That first time a human said, "I shouldn't" was a watershed moment. After that, human conscience was in conflict with instinct much of the time. The harmony had disappeared. Now we were fighting against nature, others, God, and ourselves most of all. That garden of blissful ignrance? Lost.
Anyhow, that is my personal take on it. I don't think I have ever met anyone else who puts it quite the same way.
I thought this thread specificially, explicitely asked for only Jewish answers. Did I misunderstand?
Yes. I think scholars attribute the legend to a local flood that happened. And actually the sumerians have an earlier version of the story.Thanks for this. I'm wondering if you feel a similar way about Genesis 6-8? Is the flood story also myth rather than literal history, in your view?
I've noticed that the vast majority of creationists I've seen and heard and interacted with are Christians, and occasionally Muslims. Even more traditional, Orthodox Jews don't generally defend ideas of a young Earth or attack evolution and so on.
So I'm curious to learn from our Jewish members here how they interpret the first chapters of Genesis. How literally do you take them?
Were Adam and Eve literally the first two human beings, spontaneously created by God?
Was the universe and life on Earth created in 6 days?
Was there a literally global flood that covered the entire planet?
To be clear, I'm interested in hearing from people who practice Judaism, not Christians who happen to be Jews.
As a Comparative Mythologist, I really am naturally "multy religious" because I analyse and compare all cultural religions.Sorry, are you Jewish? Not ethnically, I mean religiously.
Science has recently proven, with DNA, that Neanderthals and Denisovans have mated with humans...
...Time slows at high speeds and in strong gravitational fields. ..
...There is also the idea that time in the bible is misinterpreted. My friend recently told me that the so-called days might have been epochs or eras, which may have been billions of years long.
This is the "psychological interpretation" of the ancient myths. "Giants" represents in general "larger celestial scenarios" as for instants larger star constellations or the large figure of the Earth encircling Milky Way band as illustrated in my Mytho-cosmological website here at - Keys to unlock the doors of Milky Way MythologyAnd the word "giant" probably referred not to physical giants but to intellectual giants whose genes and DNA gave a boost to the human race.
We could speculate that today's truthseekers and thinkers can trace their bloodline back to those ancient giants of old and are not afraid to stand tall..
Not everyone who uses Genesis takes it literally, or even symbolically. There are those of us who understand Gen 1-3 as being creation myths. And a myth is a perfectly suitable genre of literature for a religious text. So its not as though you have to say, "well, each day was an age." You can understand that each day was simply one verse in a song with seven verses.All that above, was in Moses' mind at that time?
And he captured all that from a message from his new `God`, amazing ! He could look back a trillion years ! Astounding !
And then came Genesis, making `days` into `trillions`,
it's all about interpretation of the scriptures, isn't it ?
Especially in light of the earlier and much more widespread Babylonian creation narratives.There are those of us who understand Gen 1-3 as being creation myths.
And yet people assume we "reject" Genesis. They don't understand that we see value in myth.Especially in light of the earlier and much more widespread Babylonian creation narratives.
Are you familiar with Joseph Campbell's and Bill Moyer's "The Power of Myth"? My favorite line from Campbell that I periodically use here at RF is "...and the myth became the reality."And yet people assume we "reject" Genesis. They don't understand that we see value in myth.
A big part of the Jewish belief is to adopt science.I've noticed that the vast majority of creationists I've seen and heard and interacted with are Christians, and occasionally Muslims. Even more traditional, Orthodox Jews don't generally defend ideas of a young Earth or attack evolution and so on.
I Study them literally and "suggestively". This is a very hard and complex task.So I'm curious to learn from our Jewish members here how they interpret the first chapters of Genesis. How literally do you take them?
No.Were Adam and Eve literally the first two human beings, spontaneously created by God?
No. The word Yom doesn't mean 24 hours rather era. Later it is written that the word "Yom" was also "borrowed" to describe the time of day.Was the universe and life on Earth created in 6 days?
Sort of. It speaks of an event that eliminated the vast majority of life on earth. It included a kind of flood, rain, boiling water and stuff like that.as there a literally global flood that covered the entire planet?
I don't practice Judaism, but I study it quite a lot. It is a very complex religion to learn.To be clear, I'm interested in hearing from people who practice Judaism, not Christians who happen to be Jews.
I vote no. Adam and Eve are the beginning of the lineage of the Jewish people.
No. The word Yom doesn't mean 24 hours rather era.
And to go along with this, "yom" must refer to actual days as on the 7th day it says that God rested, thus is the introduction of Shabbat even though it wasn't mandated until Moshe's time.But, the night time and daytime describes a 24 hour day and that's how genesis gives the days of creation. So the meaning of the word Yowm, though it can depict an era of course, is described and clarified in the verse itself with day and night.