Updating the Genesis Creation Story

[sealchan]

Oh dear, pernicious hypermetaphoriasis.
We see this most often in English students.


We suggest some herbal tea, and that you
read only assembly instructions or operating
manuals. Samsung driers, that sort of thing.
Two weeks of that and you will have forgotten
all about metaphors.

What do you think I do for a living. This is my relief!

Here is some reading and viewing for you as well...

Embodied cognition - Wikipedia

 

[JoshuaTree]

The blackboard is the truth. The chalk is human reason. Its like the Goddess and the God trying to relate...a mobius strip of meaning for us flat-earthers to endlessly puzzle over.

...but the fingernails get all the attention lol.

 

[JoshuaTree]

@sealchan Dude, I am anxiously awaiting the rock-opera version of your book!

 

[sealchan]

@sealchan Dude, I am anxiously awaiting the rock-opera version of your book!

Thanks!

I'll need a book first though...

 

[JoshuaTree]

Thanks!

I'll need a book first though...

I'm pretty sure that you can fill up some of the Dead Space with Valkyries if you have to.

 

[JoshuaTree]

Ok, kids at urban air bounce house for an hour and half and I'm bored so...

Have you considered that perhaps the author of genesis was writing a philosophical account of creation rather than literal? I'm guessing one of the oldest philosophical questions is which came first the chicken or the egg. In genesis 1 the author describes a chicken first creation where man "poofs" into existence. In genesis 2 the author describes an egg first creation where God "raises" man from the dust of the earth. Like many of the parables jesus gave genesis 1 and 2 are nonsensical together (like selling all you have to purchase a treasure you have found)... suggesting in my opinion ...that the point of the thing was obviously not literal begging the audience to ponder what was the point the author was making. Perhaps that style of narrative back in the day was popular entertainment? On the surface simple enough that a child could understand it but cloaking a deeper more profound meaning? What I take away from genesis account of creation is that the author hasn't a clue which came first the chicken or the egg but however creation did come about God was responsible.

Then came the fall of man... after the 6th day God proclaimed all creation to be good yet there stood in the garden the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? God somehow loses control of creation?? Satan sneaks one by??? I think the account if the fall of man too is a parable begging the person to seek for a deeper meaning.

On to the flood... the God who a few chapters ago proclaimed all creation good suddenly recanted and regrets? Another parable narrative in my opinion.

Food for thought perhaps, I'm happy to discuss if you like.

 

[JoshuaTree]

And if I were the author of Genesis I would have put a lot more Valkyries into the mix lol.

 

[whirlingmerc]

I thought I would share a draft of an updated Genesis Creation story I have created...it needs more work...indeed it could be an endless work.

I share it here to further illuminate my own views of understanding the optimal way to understand Biblical scripture and the responsibility we now have as scientists, believers and artists to grow the Christian faith into what it should be today and not leave it dying of the floor of yesterday.

Any sincere thoughts or comments are welcome...

Before the Beginning

Before the beginning there was the Nothing-Yet of Infinite Potential. It was "nothing yet" because
nothing-yet had been created. It was potential because it could become something. And It was infinite
because there was nothing yet to stop it.

The first thing that the Nothing-Yet felt like doing was to prove to itself that it was there. The Nothing-
Yet thought, "If I create something then I will know that I am what I think I am."

So the Nothing-Yet created something; it does not matter what it was. It was happy at first. But after
contemplating its creation it thought, "What if this is a hallucination?" There was nothing other than the
Nothing-Yet and its creation that could tell the Nothing-Yet whether its creation was real or not. For a
long, long time the Nothing-Yet thought about how it could prove to itself that it existed.

One day the Nothing-Yet of Infinite Potential had given up trying to solve its dilemna and decided to play
around with creating some more things. First, It created a basketball. Then it created a mouse. The
Nothing-Yet soon discovered that some of the things it created would destroy what it had already created,
but some would exist along with what was created. It decided It would try and see how many different
things It could create and coexist. The Universe began to take shape.

The Nothing-Yet of Infinite Potential then realized, "I am. I do exist. I can't prove it to myself but I
know now that what I am creating is not an illusion. Since I am all there is, I can decide what is real and
what is an illusion." Having said this, no one told the Nothing-Yet that it was wrong.

The Beginning

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness
was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he
separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day", and the darkness he called "night." And
there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

And God said, "Let there be a space that separates heaven and earth, water from water." So God made the
stars to shed light and the planets to receive the light from the stars, and a great space in which to place
the stars and the planets. The stars formed great lakes of their own while the planets were formed in
families around many of the stars. And some planets had families called moons formed around them.
And the planets and the moons were hot with a great fire and they were bombarded with mountains of ice
so that steam and fire covered the face of the planets.



And God said, "Let the water on the planets be gathered to one place, and let the dry ground appear."
And it was so. God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw
that it was good.

Then God said, "Let there be life. Let it cover the planets and be fruitful and multiply." And it was so.
On some planets God looked with favor and on these new life forms were born. These forms multiplied
and diversified and filled the seas and the air and the land. There were plants to receive the light of the
sun and there were animals to eat the plants and receive their share of the light. And God saw that it was
good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

Then God said, "Let there be great creatures to rule over the earth." And it was so. God made creatures,
great beasts that ruled the ocean and the air and the land. There were leviathans in the ocean, dragons in
the air and behemoths on the earth. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there
was morning—the fourth day.

Then God said, "Let us make way for a new creature" And it was so. God sent one more great mountain
of ice and it struck the earth causing all the great beasts of old to die and be buried. And God saw that it
was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish
in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures
that move along the ground now that the great destroyers and eaters are gone."

So God created humankind in His own image,
in the image of God He created them;
male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule
over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has
fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the
sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give
every green plant for food." And it was so.

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—
the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from
all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, becase on it He rested from all the
work of creating that He had done.

When God was resting He heard a voice that came not from anything that He had created. "I am, I am
here."

Yahweh spoke and said, "Who are you?"

Elat spoke and said,

I am your chaos
and your depths
When you divided the waters
you divided me
But when you made time to allow all things,
you gave me back my strength

My body grows from the stock
of which all things are made
Like a tree I am reaching out to you
from across the way

Come find me my love
forget me no more
And then may we stop our two sons
from fighting their war

I prefer to think of it as the world was made Ex Deo not Ex Nihilo

Also God made the universe using His word... not seeing that in this account

The regrets expressed might be a hint that God might have different desires where one is more decisive than some others and achieves a higher good overall.... but there can be in some other sense regrets... people are like that, a judge might wish he could set everyone free and find them innocent but he also have to be just and examine the case

 

[sealchan]

I prefer to think of it as the world was made Ex Deo not Ex Nihilo

Also God made the universe using His word... not seeing that in this account

The regrets expressed might be a hint that God might have different desires where one is more decisive than some others and achieves a higher good overall.... but there can be in some other sense regrets... people are like that, a judge might wish he could set everyone free and find them innocent but he also have to be just and examine the case

Thanks for the thoughts.

I was going for both from God AND from nothing. For me the Nothing Yet of Infinite Potential is another name for God.

My problem here is that I have grafted on a foreign story to the original one. In the prequel I have not incorporated, as you point out, the motif of God speaking out the creation. That is certainly worth my considering further. On the other hand Genesis 1 and 2 aren't exactly a perfect match or a smooth transition.

I'm not sure I fully understand your last thought. In thinking about how God might have cause to change course are you saying that God might find one aim to take precedence over another given how things are developing?

 

[InChrist]

Why would Genesis or any part of God's Word need updating?


The entirety of Your word is truth,
And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever. Psalm 119:160

Every word of God is pure;
He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
Do not add to His words,
Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar. Proverbs 30:5-6

 

[Subduction Zone]

Why would Genesis or any part of God's Word need updating?


The entirety of Your word is truth,
And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever. Psalm 119:160

Every word of God is pure;
He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
Do not add to His words,
Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar. Proverbs 30:5-6

Because parts of it have been shown to be wrong if one reads it literally. In fact it is rather ironic that you chose such a verse because Bible literalists are calling God a liar, even though they do not realize it.

 

[InChrist]

Because parts of it have been shown to be wrong if one reads it literally. In fact it is rather ironic that you chose such a verse because Bible literalists are calling God a liar, even though they do not realize it.

No, you are calling God a liar, not only in reference to Genesis , but the entire Bible which, as an atheist, you reject as being His revealed truth.

 

[Subduction Zone]

No, you are calling God a liar, not only in reference to Genesis , but the entire Bible which, as an atheist, you reject as being His revealed truth.

No, you are. You are denying the supposed creation of your God. But then you do not have any science education at all. You really should try to learn from some of the science threads. I would be glad to help you. Here is a short synopsis. If your version of God created the Earth and then flooded it he is a liar since he covered up all evidence of his creation and replaced it with other evidence that tells us those stories are wrong. You are in effect saying that your version of God lied by covering up his crimes.

 

[InChrist]

No, you are. You are denying the supposed creation of your God. But then you do not have any science education at all. You really should try to learn from some of the science threads. I would be glad to help you. Here is a short synopsis. If your version of God created the Earth and then flooded it he is a liar since he covered up all evidence of his creation and replaced it with other evidence that tells us those stories are wrong. You are in effect saying that your version of God lied by covering up his crimes.

Have you always been an atheist?

 

[Subduction Zone]

Have you always been an atheist?

No, I was a Christian for many years. But I don't think that I ever took the myths of Genesis literally. Most Christians do not seem to do so either. One does not have to believe the Genesis myths to be a Christian. Many stories in the Bible are allegory, fable, parables, etc..

 

[`mud]

Ahhh...from the dream of Moses to Christianity,
the dream persists in the bible mythology still !
From the utterly incredible spirit of the Cosmos,
comes the Stuff of Life, and there it will go again.

 

[whirlingmerc]

Thanks for the thoughts.

I was going for both from God AND from nothing. For me the Nothing Yet of Infinite Potential is another name for God.

My problem here is that I have grafted on a foreign story to the original one. In the prequel I have not incorporated, as you point out, the motif of God speaking out the creation. That is certainly worth my considering further. On the other hand Genesis 1 and 2 aren't exactly a perfect match or a smooth transition.

I'm not sure I fully understand your last thought. In thinking about how God might have cause to change course are you saying that God might find one aim to take precedence over another given how things are developing?

The creation account has many interesting points that come out later

God does not fight the sea monsters to make the world like Baal type godz, he creates the sea monsters

God not only makes the world Ex Deo / Ex Nihilo out of nothing but makes a posterity for Abraham children from a childless old man - something out of nothing. And a salve people to a nation out of a dessert - something out of nothing.

The names are interesting - Cain means acquired and his mom thought he was the one to crush the serpent's head but tragically he crushed his brother's head, Abel. No fanfare over naming Abel... Abel is the same word as vapor or meaninglessness or vanity... and his death must have felt meaningless

 

[sealchan]

Why would Genesis or any part of God's Word need updating?


The entirety of Your word is truth,
And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever. Psalm 119:160

Every word of God is pure;
He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
Do not add to His words,
Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar. Proverbs 30:5-6

It needs updating for the following reasons...

Scientific advances
Cultural advances (abolishment of slavery, etc)
Advances in attitudes towards sexual orientation
Increased knowledge regarding historical facts

And I'm sure there are other reasons. I might make this it's own thread.

The Bible contains spiritual knowledge that should not be lost in this but it could be augmented. I also think that character representation for the Goddess should be restored. Yahweh had a wife at one point and it very much shows in the Biblical text how the woman's perspective was severely diminished.

 

[sealchan]

The creation account has many interesting points that come out later

God does not fight the sea monsters to make the world like Baal type godz, he creates the sea monsters

God not only makes the world Ex Deo / Ex Nihilo out of nothing but makes a posterity for Abraham children from a childless old man - something out of nothing. And a salve people to a nation out of a dessert - something out of nothing.

The names are interesting - Cain means acquired and his mom thought he was the one to crush the serpent's head but tragically he crushed his brother's head, Abel. No fanfare over naming Abel... Abel is the same word as vapor or meaninglessness or vanity... and his death must have felt meaningless

Thank you for these observations. They were new to me. I hope to get to studying the Canaanite myth soon.

The more I have studied Genesis the more I have seen how scripture is pregnant with meaning and new questions. This is what makes it spiritually valuable.

 

[`mud]

Sealchan said:
" Yahweh had a wife at one point..." ? I didn't know that !
Who created `Her` ?