Sunday, September 23, 2018

Beware: possibly heretical post

Last week I said to someone in Zac's, 'I don't actually believe in Adam and Eve.'
'Nah, of course not,' he replied.

It was such a huge relief. Not just to have 'come out' but to know I wasn't alone and/or being utterly heretical. (Well, I might be but if I am, we both are. And he's well-respected.)

I've never admitted it out loud before. (No, actually I did to one person who was slightly shocked.) It seems to me that a lot of the old testament, certainly the very early stuff, is a story. Not entirely made up but passed down from father to son. Oral history that inevitably gets modified or exaggerated along the way. A way of explaining the mysteries of life and how we got - or at least how the Jewish people got - to where they were in time.

So to take it literally that sin entered the world because a woman ate an apple ... I don't think so. To blame woman at all is down to the patriarchal society in existence at the time of writing down the stories. But that's another post.

I do believe God created the world and gave man free will to make choices, right or wrong. And we've been messing it up ever since.

Thank God for Jesus.

10 comments:

Mike Tea said...

You may be further encouraged by the writing of John Walton; Theost World of Genesis and The Lost World of Adam and Eve. By the way, the first time an apple is mentioned in the Bible is in Prov. 25:11.

Unknown said...

A person being well respected doesn't mean a thing, when it comes to what is the truth.

Anonymous said...

We atheists don't normally proselytize or some of us might engage, here. Good luck with your reasoning along your path.
Cop Car

Anonymous said...

"And we've been messing it up ever since." AMEN.
when my stepdaughter was about 5 she was telling my mother-in-law about Sunday School.
she very seriously told about Adam and Eve and how Eve got Adam to take a bite of the apple.
"then lots of trouble started" she said.
my mother in law said "what did you learn from that Robin?"
Robin didn't miss a beat... "not to eat apples."
yup.
pretty hard to swallow most of it. especially coming from a decidedly patriarchal land with lots of authors making their own proclamations and declarations.

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

We'll all find out, eventually.

Liz Hinds said...

Thanks, Mike.

And thanks, CC. I hope I don't proselytise too much.

I hope she's eating apples now, Tammy!

We will, Sonata.

Kim@stuffcould.... said...

I guess it’s a case of whether you believe the Bible literally or not? I seem to blame others too much also, even on my blog! The Wheelchair didn’t break my dishwasher but the driver did 😆 Me....thanks for visiting

Ole Phat Stu said...

According to the bible, A&E only had sons,
who were the first motherf*ckers on record ;-)

Liz Hinds said...

No, Kim, I'd stick to the dishwasher story.

Rude, Stu!

Mike Tea said...

That is where you end up Stu when you don't understand the difference between literal, factual, metaphorical, and mythical. I you insist on a literal take it isn't true they only had sons (Genesis 5:4). But if you don't take it seriously enough to find what the text says I suppose all you are left with is a cheap jibe.