The book of
Genesis is interesting and unique’. It has a different tone then the rest of the
Bible in that there are more “mythological” elements. This is, in part, because
it was composed (humanly speaking) to contrast ancient Jewish beliefs about “beginnings”
with their ancient neighbors’ stories. The competitive explanations of reality
and the competitive cults of worship were all contemporary to those people.
That is the context for reading and understanding the writings. Genesis serves
as a partial account for “where things come from.” The stories are often
self-contained vignettes without explanation for the elements that do not fit
in. This is why in the story of Cain, for example, which is about sibling rivalry,
sin and punishment the sudden appearance of a wife begs the question: where did
Cain get a wife? Who are the people Cain fears will kill him? And how does Cain
build a city when the world consists of his mom and pop and a baby brother
(Seth) and his wife. [The Bible does not say.] Probably the best answer to such questions is
that the story is “about” something else. It is not about explaining other
things which interest us.
A more
openly ‘mythological’ story is Genesis 6:1-4 which seems to come out of
nowhere. Suddenly sons of god and human women are procreating Nephilim (who are
mighty men, maybe giants). Sounds so much like Hercules that one feels an
impulse to say there might be a common link. In other ancient cultures stories
of divine beings interacting with human females exist. The pre-Abrahamic roots
of Israel means those stories were part of the literature with which Israel had
to engage.
Most of us
are most familiar with American Indian tales of ‘beginnings’ and the Greek
myths. The Bible is human language, which means, although DIVINELY INSPIRED, it
is also human and shares characteristics of other human writings.
In the beginning of the Lord of the Rings the
narrator recounts the “history” of the inhabitants of Middle Earth with a focus
on the Ring of Power. The author, Tolkien, was a devout Catholic and energetic
and intellectual Christian. His grand opus was intended to communicate Truth
(and his Christian faith shaped what he wrote). “Middle Earth” the fictional setting
of this fictional story is literary what Mediterranean
means. Europe is somehow encountered in the story of hobbits, elves, and
talking trees. Tolkien’s experiences as a soldier in WWI and a citizen of
England in WWII also impacted his writing, and those experiences are veiled
within his creation. All this to say that Truth in any narrative is always in
dialogue with myth as well as analytical, positivist history. This description of the process is most
helpful: And some things that should not have been forgotten
were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth. And for two and a half
thousand years, the ring passed out of all knowledge. We have only a whisper
here and there of the ancient roots of all things.
The Genesis stories
are composed of very ancient narratives (written and oral), but they are
written in a new context with its own set of threats to faith. In our own time
we need to ask, “What is God saying here?” Knowing what it meant and
understanding literary types is a great tool for understanding. Such a question
is different from trying to defend the text as modern history. I know why
people feel compelled to do it, I have such a desire within me, but at times
letting God be God means letting go of my preconceived notions about history
and realizing that modern history did not exist in ancient times…
So I read
the story and understand its meaning; in the midst of all things a divine
purpose is being realized.
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