How old were you when you realized that there were 2 creation stories and that they didn’t match up? For me, I was in the 5th grade. You may have remembered that year, it was the year that Chariots of the Gods was released. My mother took Alfred, Debbie and me to see that movie and I was fascinated. Even more so when Mother casually mentioned that there was a BOOK that the movie was based on and nothing would do until she would take me to Aardmore Books which used to be in the Whole Foods Shopping center at Hammond and Roswell Roads to get that book.
I devoured that book and was desperate to talk to someone about it. Unfortunately, the person I chose was Belle DuPont, my Sunday School teacher who was 109 years old. There is one section that describes Ezekiel’s vision of a wheel of light in the sky as an alien spaceship and I wanted to know what she thought about that. (You have to know, I was a HUGE know-it-all as a child. I now really feel sorry for the vast majorities of my teachers who had to suffer through life as my teachers.) Mrs. DuPont pointed one skinny finger at me and said I was a HERETIC and to get out and never come back. So I did. Church was the same time as Sunday School and I just stayed in church with my dad.
I started looking everywhere in the Bible for traces of alien visitation. And I found some but I also discovered the 2 creation stories. Which led me to the creation stories of other religions and ancient civilizations. Like the giant turtle of Thailand or the sky warriors of Native Americans.
And eventually, that quieted all my angst about the two stories in our Bible. It sounded like family arguing over the ‘real’ story and since that is ever present in my life, I was totally at peace with people being created on the sixth day or having just the man being created near the beginning of creation with the woman showing up way late. Everyone just wants to know where they come from
Which is really appropriate to today’s Matthew reading that lists Jesus’ genealogy. Nothing I have ever read has Jesus spouting off that he is the son of so and so other than to shut his disciples up for saying he is the Son of God. But the people in Matthew’s congregation really needed Jesus to be somebody and somebody special as in the direct descendant of David even if it came through the daddy that really wasn’t his daddy.
And as a feminist, it pains me to read the 5 women listed in the genealogy. We have Tamar, who disguised herself as a prostitute to Judah to get pregnant –finally! after 3 unsuccessful marriages to his sons. We have Rahab, who I get is an Israelite heroine but she gave up her city. And she was a prostitute. Ruth, well, she is supposed to be some sort of virtuous but I think we just don’t know what that little saying, ‘lie down at his feet’, really means. Sort of like someone reading a transcript of my teens talking about ‘doing the wild thing’ which is their code for having sex. Don’t get me started on Bathsheba and her bathing. Didn’t she know other people could see her? Like the king? And Mary, poor sweet Mary. Just give in. I hope she did not know that Jesus was going to die like he did. Hard enough having to raise the Son of God. Better not to know about the death scene.
But in truth, it really doesn’t matter who your daddy or great-great-great granddaddy was. Or, even where you come from. What matters, like today’s Proverb is that you “acquire a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair”. That is what we are attempting this year. To discipline ourselves to reading scripture in the hopes of learning what God would have us do to lead a better life.
Read it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sly for setting this up. I have been out of the word since I completed BSF and needed motivation. We are going to try to do this as a family. With the technology used here we will have no excuse but will come up with plenty. As for scripture comment there is much here that has to be taken on faith. I have faith the sun will rise though I don't understand how and believe it is marvelous. I have faith that God created the earth and all within by faith. I don't understand it all but I believe it is marvelous.
ReplyDeleteFirst, let me say a big Thanks to my sister for setting up this reading plan and blog. As you can see from my wife, Kim, post from above our whole family is trying to do this. In fact, AJ is so proud of the fact that his was ther very FIRST comment on the whole blog.
ReplyDeleteSecond, for those of you who may not be aware my sister, Sylvia, is flat out brilliant. She is simply the smartest person in the room, no matter what room she is in. This has caused her problems. See the encouter with Belle Dupont above (by the way, Belle might not have been the best the Sunday School teacher but she was a real believer and a force for good in her community!)
As to her post, Sylvia starts off with this question, "How old were you when you realized that there were 2 creation stoires and that they didn't match up?" The rest of her post answers this question. My challenge isn't that her post doesn't answer that question but to the question itself. There is an underlying premise that the 2 creation stories in Genesis 1 and 2 don't match up. I personally don't recognize that assertion as a fact. The crux of the argument that they don't match up concerns the idea that in the first story plants were created first and man was created several days later. In the second story, it appears that man was created first and plants sometime later. There are many articles published on the internet and even entire books about this seeming contradiction. Bible scholars and talmudic scholars (remember these verses predate Jesus)have been looking at this for centuries. A quick explanation is this. The plants described in the second story as "shrubs" and "grains" were not created until after the "Fall" in Genesis 3 when God casts Adam and Eve out of the garden. We will read about the creation of these plants tomorrow. Other plants were created on the third day of the "first" creation before the creation of man. If you accept this explanation, there are not 2 differing creation stories but one story with more detail in the second chapter on the creation of human beings.
Wow, I can't believe that I started off the year with a contradicting post but Sylvia did say she wanted to be challenged! :)
Today's readings..finished! Two things that struck me. In Genesis 1:26-27, God refers to Him/Herself in the plural in verse 26 and then switches back to the singular in verse 27. Wondering about the significance of that.
ReplyDeleteAlso in Matthew 2:3, it wasn't just Herod who was worried about the newly born King of the Jews, but all of Jerusalem with him. How did all of Jerusalem find out? Who told them? By all of Jerusalem, did the writer mean the entire populace or some elite ruling sect?
And as a teaching moment, it always has amazed me how Joseph responded so faithfully. Of course an angel from God carries some fairly weighty persuasive power, but the Bible is filled with people who have run in the opposite direction when confronted with a specific direction from God.
Not sure why it is listing me as unknown at 5:44pm
ReplyDeleteIt's Lisa here.
I did fill out a display name when I registered!
OK-- I'm usually a "slow starter" on these types of things, but I have to ask- did anyone else think it was strange [or even notice] in Genesis 1:29 that God specifically created seeds and fruit for our food [and also gave the rest of the animals plants to eat] ? An early plug for vegetarianism, perhaps? : - )
ReplyDeleteLisa, go back to your Google account and edit your name. It will ask you for your nickname and fill that in with whatever you want to be listed with.
ReplyDeleteL. -Regarding the seed vs. the rest of the plants for animals, my guess is that people want to know why some ruminant animals like cows and yaks can eat grasses but we cannot. We can only eat the seed pods of the grasses i.e. the grain that is threshed out. No vegans in Genesis. Tomorrow's reading makes it plain animals are top of the heap in the Cain v Abel story.
And Alfred, thanks for your kind words. Having been in many Bible studies with you as well as countless dinner table conversations, I am well aware of your debating skills. I look forward to future challenges.
Lisa, I found a website that may answer your question about the singular vs. plural. http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/Elohim/elohim.html
ReplyDeleteI also tried to find out something about the 'all of Jerusalem'. Here is what one website said about Herod and Jerusalem: "Herod's position was still insecure. He continued his building policy to win the hearts of his subjects. (A severe earthquake in 31 BCE had destroyed many houses, killing thousands of people.) In Jerusalem, the king built a new market, an amphitheater, a theater, a new building where the Sanhedrin could convene, a new royal palace, and last but not least, in 20 BCE he started to rebuild the Temple."
http://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodians/herod_the_great02.html I would extrapolate from that statement that the bigwigs in Jerusalem did not want any more problems since they were experiencing somewhat of a boom due to Herod's building programs and goodwill from the Romans. A new King would undoubtedly bring civil war (to get rid of Herod) and then issues with the Romans (more war)and quite possibly destruction (which will happen -- with the Romans crushing the insurrection in 70 CE). Matthew was written after the destruction. Very interesting point about the upper echelon not really being interested in a Messiah. Bad for business.
Starting over in 2020. This was 8 years ago that Sylvia did this. Feels like it is time to do it again!
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