When the scriptures say God made us in his own image, do they literally mean God has a belly button, wisdom teeth, etc. or was this intended to be understood as a symbol of God putting true consciousness or a spirit like his in an animal that evolved over millions of years?
Was there really a talking snake or could this have been a metaphor for evil tempting early man with his newfound ability to know right from wrong?
Genesis was written by Moses who would have been educated and had access to the Pharos' library. Might he have been recording thousands of years of the oral history of the Jewish people as inspired to by God, while using symbolism for things people wouldn't have readily understood until his entire plan was revealed through future scriptures?
2007-03-15 04:17:24 · 11 answers · asked by ed d 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
GLSigma3,
C. S. Lewis tackles the problem of how sin might have originated in _Mere_Christianity and _The_Problem_of_Pain_. I hate to butcher Lewis' argument that he puts so elegantly, but I think the basic idea is that if bad things couldn't happen to good people, then there could not be a world where we have free will. If every time some one picked up a baseball bat to play baseball it worked fine, but when you lifted it to hit someone it disappears, then you wouldn't be free to make your own decisions. What if every time you opened your mouth to say an insult, the air that carry’s sound disappears, leaving your insult unheard? If bad people couldn't choose to be bad because the universe wouldn't allow it, we'd just be puppets doing the only thing we could do, be good. If bad things only happened to bad people and good things only happen to good people, then every one would be forced to be good at gunpoint. God wanted a world where we may be free to choose our own destiny.
2007-03-15 04:46:34 · update #1
Everyone that has pointed out that we don't really know who wrote the book of Genesis is correct. Many scholars do believe it could have been Moses. I'm sorry I didn't clarify that in my question.
2007-03-15 04:48:51 · update #2
Genesis like all old testament records is not literal. It is like a parable of sorts. The snake or satan or the devil was also considered to be bejewelled in all sorts of stones and wore a red coat.
Genesis says "Let us make man in our image". Apparently God was referring to his higher or archangels, among them Lucifer. Lucifer was jealous of man because like angels, God gave man free will and placed man among his favorites, as he placed Lucifer among his favorite angels. Unlike Lucifer, God gave man souls.
In Genesis, Lucifer tempts Eve and then Adam with the fruit of the forbidden tree. Up to that point there was no sin. Lucifer had not sinned against God and he was not cast into the pit with 1/3rd of all of the angels who associated with him.
Though Genesis does not completely explain this, Isaiah and Ezekial address Lucifer or satan or whatever and the fall of the angels who are cast as demons.
The point of all of this is, that Lucifer tempts Eve by exploiting her naivete' and tempts Adam by exploiting his trust in Eve.
The moral of the story is that if you question the wisdom of God, your life will be hard and agonizing.
According to many of the stories, later in Genesis, when Cain slays Abel, it was Lucifer that told him how to kill Abel. No one had ever known death or knew how to kill. And then Lucifer tells Eve what happened and explains death to her.
That's another parable. The fragility of life. If you kill someone then you and everyone else will experience loss.
2007-03-15 05:06:34 · answer #1 · answered by krollohare2 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most of Genesis needs to be viewed as a metaphor and some parts as a historical record. As you have noted the metaphors used in Genesis are powerful and important for their instructional value similar to the parables taught by Jesus. I have often felt that we need a "user's guide" to accompany these scriptures so that we do not become fundamentalists capable of misguided violence. As a further point just as John 1:1 corrected Genesis 1 we need to always consider the lesson in our own current terms consistent with our modern understandings which in no way undermines the powerful validity of the message.
2007-03-15 11:34:07 · answer #2 · answered by b_steeley 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think it was meant to be taken literally, if you look at the things that are happening that God said will happen in the book are happening right now,actually they happened even long ago for example he said Eve will suffer when she gives birth, women are actual doing a lot of things that end up causing their husbands or man mistakes.and just take a look around and just see how wonderfully the world has been created. i also think the devil was responsible for that temting snake and i do believe all that moses wrote about was the real thing,the real message of god even if the information in the books from Pharoah 's library were in symbols i think he was given power to interpret all the symbols by god of course.all you have to do is to have some faith and believe in God and his word for he is the truth,the way and the life.
2007-03-15 12:24:34 · answer #3 · answered by lebinah 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on what you mean by "was." When Genesis was first read was it to be taken literally? Probably. The notion of history that we have now, notions of science, medicine, culture, and the like were not known then...for better or worse. Now the question is, are we constrained to take Genesis in the same light and with the same faith as did those who first heard it? Ahh, that's the question, isn't it.
HTH
Charles
2007-03-15 11:58:29 · answer #4 · answered by Charles 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well not to be too simplistic but man kid have fashioned millions of pictures and paintings of Jesus who is God and the Holy spirit as a man meaning two eyes a nose ears etc. so yes I believe it was to be taken literally.
2007-03-15 11:26:24 · answer #5 · answered by kissaled 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
this is for you to no and others to find out .the answer to your question is the bible is a account of the years past as god involved himself .the book is spiritual not literally .but the fact that i believe there to be a god all powerful it can be anything you need it to be and it wont change a thing. it is the word of god and if you or anybody thinks they can fully understand god then he fools himself
2007-03-15 11:26:46 · answer #6 · answered by henryredwons 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Certainly not. Adam and Eve were the first human beings existed on Earth. ok fair enough. How then did the subsequent generations of human beings come about if the offsprings of Adam and Eve did not commit incest?
2007-03-15 11:26:17 · answer #7 · answered by ekolution 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am going to answer your question with a question. Do you think that God is so powerful and intelligent that maybe he wrote in terms we could understand because we can never fathom what he knows?
2007-03-15 11:30:37 · answer #8 · answered by redwinegirl 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
everything in the old testament bible was not to be taken literally its all parables, the only bible passages we must take literally must be the passages where jesus himself speaking in the bible
2007-03-15 12:25:44 · answer #9 · answered by tutero_k 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i believe bible is a guide book , not to be take literally .
2007-03-15 11:27:21 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋