Creation According to Genesis

[Nercer -]

Obviously, Genesis is not literal, or correct. So, what is your take on what the hell it is talking about? How do you explain what each step of creation is talking about?

Try not to get too mean about criticism, of beliefs okay? Please?

[Maurepas]

Genesis was written to explain some things that were unexplainable to the Hebrews, based off of previous myths/creation myths, in order to keep them faithful to their leaders/church...

[Svenen (Ancient)]

Genesis is a rewrite of older myth.

[UnhealthyTruthseeker]

The people that wrote Genesis really thought that's what happened, because they lived in a highly superstitious age.

[Barringtonia]

I loved the skit whereby Adam, Eve and the Serpent receive their punishment.

Adam is kicked out of paradise, his offspring forever marked with sin. Eve has to go through painful childbirth and menstruation every month.

The snake, who, let's face it, instigated the entire evil concept, persuaded Eve to eat the Apple and is generally the worst of the lot...

"Thou shalt crawl on thy belly..."

Yeah, well it's a snake, hardly a punishment really - I can imagine he put his hand up to say 'err, but I don't have legs, I kind of do that anyway" but thought better of it.

"Okay God, you got me there, damn!"

[Takaram]

Back when Genesis was written, it was believed to be the true and literal story of creation for many millions of people. Any more questions?

[Lord-General Drache]

The people that wrote Genesis really thought that's what happened, because they lived in a highly superstitious age.

We still do live in a highly superstitious age.

[Dread Lady Nathicana]

Eh. *shrugs* Both science and a good many religions believe basically the same thing about creation if you get right down to it. I don't see the point in arguing over something neither one can prove without a doubt seeing as that was then, and this is now however.

Still, back to my point:

Both claim, in one way or another, that life began or appeared first in the waters, then land, then air, and it sort of goes from there. Just worded differently, explained differently, but that's fairly basic enough, no? Wherever this discussion goes, it's been done, to death. And I doubt many new things will be gleaned from it on account, but hey - knock yourself out.

[Mad hatters in jeans]

aren't they that band i've only rarely heard of?

[Maurepas]

aren't they that band i've only rarely heard of?

Hey! Genesis was awesome,

[UnhealthyTruthseeker]

We still do live in a highly superstitious age.

Goddammit! why'd you have to remind me?

[Mad hatters in jeans]

aren't they that band i've only rarely heard of?

Hey! Genesis was awesome,

they sold 150 million albums worldwide apparently, now that's creation i want a piece of.

[JuNii]

Obviously, Genesis is not literal, or correct. So, what is your take on what the hell it is talking about? How do you explain what each step of creation is talking about?

Try not to get too mean about criticism, of beliefs okay? Please?

MY theory about the Genesis story... is a retelling of God's creation through the eyes of someone who tried to grasp what he was being told.

So... imagine the writer of Genesis... is sleeping.... and God begins his 'tale' by showing him dreams.

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

imagine... if you will, a deep darkness with a formeless horizon streatching out as far as one can see. the 'ground so bleak and blank that it resembles...

2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

while not water per se... but not solid earth... gas perhaps... as it slowly condences and forms the sphere that will be known as Earth..

3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

now on the surface, of this proto world... you have the first sunrise... well, what you might call sunrise, since the sky filled with gasses from all that volcanic activity... thus to the viewer, 'Light', 'Day' and such were "created"

6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

second night of dreaming... the Earth is cooled down and vast oceans of water appears...

9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

for verse 6 - 10... the best illustration would be the Genesis wave in Star trek II being shown.

11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

watch a time lapse movie of a plant growing. kinda seems magical doesn't it... so the dreamer gets the whole gambit of alge to moss, to fungi, to plants... the Dreamer awakes...

14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

now the great plumes of volcanic ash is replaced by clouds... and thus, the sun and stars that were hidden are revealed. the first visible sunrise is witnessed. The fourth Day.

20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

like the plants, you have evolution being shown in one night. from single celled entities, to fish, to amphibians, to birds. yes, even the dinosaurs were shown.

24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

this final night, got shows the dreamer his world and all the creatures in it.

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

29 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. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

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

and thus man comes into the picture. God leaves us as the world's caretaker... (and frankly, I'm dissapointed at our job performance so far...)

so... for six nights, the poor dreamer tries to make sense of what God showed him and thus wrote what he saw. in the timeframe that he saw it. six nights... six days.

was Genesis supposed to be taken literally? no.

[Wilgrove]

Genesis is a rewrite of older myth.

So it's a reboot.

Had to be done.

[Muravyets]

Back when Genesis was written, it was believed to be the true and literal story of creation for many millions of people. Any more questions?

Yes: How do you know what people thought back when Genesis was written?

[Maurepas]

Back when Genesis was written, it was believed to be the true and literal story of creation for many millions of people. Any more questions?

Yes: How do you know what people thought back when Genesis was written?

The same way we know what Jesus thought, obviously,

[Muravyets]

Genesis is a rewrite of older myth.

This. ^^ As a non-Abrahamic-type person, I have theories about the meaning and purpose of Genesis which I am sure of no interest at all to either atheists or believers in the Bible.

[UnhealthyTruthseeker]

Yes: How do you know what people thought back when Genesis was written?

We don't know that they exactly believed Genesis, but the beliefs going around at the time were just as, if not far more ridiculous than Genesis.

[Ashmoria]

Obviously, Genesis is not literal, or correct. So, what is your take on what the hell it is talking about? How do you explain what each step of creation is talking about?

Try not to get too mean about criticism, of beliefs okay? Please?

genesis is about the origins of the earth and about why life sucks so much.

no, its not meant to be taken literally.

[Barringtonia]

Back when Genesis was written, it was believed to be the true and literal story of creation for many millions of people. Any more questions?

Yes: How do you know what people thought back when Genesis was written?

One doubts it was originated in writing, more likely it was the culmination of an amalgam of oral tales.

I know you know that, just saying.

[UnhealthyTruthseeker]

no, its not meant to be taken literally.

How do you know that? People of that time took far more bizarre crap than Genesis to be true.

[Muravyets]

Back when Genesis was written, it was believed to be the true and literal story of creation for many millions of people. Any more questions?

Yes: How do you know what people thought back when Genesis was written?

One doubts it was originated in writing, more likely it was the culmination of an amalgam of oral tales.

I know you know that, just saying.

That is very true, but it also has does not tell us how the original audiences received the story/stories -- as reportage or as art.

[Muravyets]

no, its not meant to be taken literally.

How do you know that? People of that time took far more bizarre crap than Genesis to be true.

How do you know? Unless you are immortal, you have absolutely no way to judge how people thought of such myths at the time they were current. You are just making this claim up.

[UnhealthyTruthseeker]

How do you know? Unless you are immortal, you have absolutely no way to judge how people thought of such myths at the time they were current. You are just making this claim up.

If you want to go that far, I really don't know that you actually believe in animism. You say you do, but what if you're lying?

[Maurepas]

How do you know? Unless you are immortal, you have absolutely no way to judge how people thought of such myths at the time they were current. You are just making this claim up.

If you want to go that far, I really don't know that you actually believe in animism. You say you do, but what if you're lying?

What if the Hebrews were lying about writing Genesis?