In a discussion about the Bible as the foundation of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, there is no better place to start than Genesis.
Genesis is not only the first book of the Bible, it contains some of the core elements which provide the foundation on which other Biblical stories and tenants are based--a Biblical cornerstone if you will. The concept of God’s being the creator of all things gives God the credibility to be a law giver as well as judge, jury, and executioner. Or, as the old parental threat goes: I brought you into this world--I can take you out.
As a divinely inspired statement of fact, Genesis, especially the first two chapters, fails miserably on two substantial fronts: it doesn’t match scientific observation, and it contradicts itself.
As for science, we all know the problems: chemistry, physics, cosmology, biology, geology, paleontology, archeology, and numerous other ‘ologies’ have shown that events in the Genesis could not have happened the way they are portrayed.
Some of the older Christian sects, such as Catholicism, have come to terms with this and teach Genesis as a series of fables or morality plays. The problem with this is the obvious question of who decides what is reality and what is fable: if Adam and Eve weren’t real people, then how can we accept that Moses, Abraham, Judas, or even Jesus were real since the only primary source of material about these people is the same source of material that says Adam and Eve were real?
While the division of the Bible into fable and fact poses a set of problems concerning circular logic, it is the belief in the Bible as an infallible statement of fact that poses the greatest problem. The basic premise of this belief is simply that if it says it happened in the Bible then it happened. If the Bible says the Sun moves around the Earth (which it does) then the Sun moves around the Earth, and to say otherwise is wrong despite any evidence to the contrary e.g. If the Bible doesn’t say it, then it can’t be true.
So, if we are to accept the Bible as infallible fact then there can be no contradictions in the stories given. If a man in a bar tells a woman that he is an astronaut then later in the evening says that he is an architect she will then begin to wonder if anything else he told her about himself can be trusted. The same idea applies to the Bible.
As Genesis contains so may errors of conflict and contradiction, I will divide my discussion of it into several posts beginning with Genesis Part One: The Genesis Creation Stories. From there I will cover other issues such the fall of man, and man's move from a vegan to the current diet in subsequent posts.
Genesis is not only the first book of the Bible, it contains some of the core elements which provide the foundation on which other Biblical stories and tenants are based--a Biblical cornerstone if you will. The concept of God’s being the creator of all things gives God the credibility to be a law giver as well as judge, jury, and executioner. Or, as the old parental threat goes: I brought you into this world--I can take you out.
As a divinely inspired statement of fact, Genesis, especially the first two chapters, fails miserably on two substantial fronts: it doesn’t match scientific observation, and it contradicts itself.
As for science, we all know the problems: chemistry, physics, cosmology, biology, geology, paleontology, archeology, and numerous other ‘ologies’ have shown that events in the Genesis could not have happened the way they are portrayed.
Some of the older Christian sects, such as Catholicism, have come to terms with this and teach Genesis as a series of fables or morality plays. The problem with this is the obvious question of who decides what is reality and what is fable: if Adam and Eve weren’t real people, then how can we accept that Moses, Abraham, Judas, or even Jesus were real since the only primary source of material about these people is the same source of material that says Adam and Eve were real?
While the division of the Bible into fable and fact poses a set of problems concerning circular logic, it is the belief in the Bible as an infallible statement of fact that poses the greatest problem. The basic premise of this belief is simply that if it says it happened in the Bible then it happened. If the Bible says the Sun moves around the Earth (which it does) then the Sun moves around the Earth, and to say otherwise is wrong despite any evidence to the contrary e.g. If the Bible doesn’t say it, then it can’t be true.
So, if we are to accept the Bible as infallible fact then there can be no contradictions in the stories given. If a man in a bar tells a woman that he is an astronaut then later in the evening says that he is an architect she will then begin to wonder if anything else he told her about himself can be trusted. The same idea applies to the Bible.
As Genesis contains so may errors of conflict and contradiction, I will divide my discussion of it into several posts beginning with Genesis Part One: The Genesis Creation Stories. From there I will cover other issues such the fall of man, and man's move from a vegan to the current diet in subsequent posts.
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