official site of Author, Composer, and Poet, David Robertson Miller
May 10, 2020
FIRST, LET'S RECAP
So, let’s get you up to speed.
Over the last few weeks, we have been discussing the conflict between Religion and Science. This is from my recent book, Thou Shalt Not Scoff! A Rational Unity of Religion and Science. We’ve traced back the historical details of much of the conflict, and in particular began our discussion about the issue of Creation, and the beginning of the Universe and of life.
In the April 26, post we discussed how throughout human history we have wondered about our origins, and that nearly every civilization has held onto some creation myth. And we compared three of them (which I so imaginatively labeled, A, B, and C.) Recall that A and B were very similar in that they placed the order of Creation: Heaven, Earth, Plant life, Animal life, and Human life, and that they defined “human” as mankind in general, the population of humans, male and female. But, C was very different; C lists the order of creation as: the Earth, then Heaven, one single man, Plant life, Animal life, then one single woman, and finally mankind.
Then, on May 3, we revealed the sources for the first two of these accounts of Creation. We said that A and B, the most similar stories, are respectively from the Judea-Christian Bible – Genesis 1:1 – and the scientific theories: The “Big Bang,” and Darwinian evolution. We pointed out that, if interpreted correctly and open-mindedly, these two divergent stories have much more in common that we realize, and so perhaps much of the conflict between Religion and Science could and should be dispelled.
BUT WHAT ABOUT C?
So then, now that we have reconciled the Biblical account of Genesis 1, as corroborated by modern scientific theory, what about that pesky little Story C, the one that so blatantly contradicts the other two, the one that at first blush seems the least plausible?
Well guys, hold on to your hats!
Story C is also from the Bible – Genesis 2:4, the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
“Aha!” I hear Science exclaim, “…See, see, the Bible contradicts itself. Religion is debunked! Science wins!”
BUT IS IT A CONTRADICTION?
Nope, not at all.
You see, Genesis 1:1 is from what is known as the Biblical P Source. That is, the Priestly community at the Jerusalem temple sometime around 550 BC, most likely the latest of the Old Testament documents. Genesis 2:4 stems from a much earlier source, called th JE, Source, perhaps written as early as 950 B.C. We’ll get into what those letters are all about later on down the line, but for now, just know the two were written about 400 years apart, at very different times by and for very different people, and for very different reasons. We can tell this partly through the linguistics; P and JE are just about as far from each other as modern English is from Shakespeare.
Forsooth!
We also have to consider the mythical, symbolic nature of the writing in C. Where A was intended to teach basic history and to provide an accurate account as best they could understand it back then. Like much of the writing of its time, C is more of an allegory. This story and others like it could have been passed along orally for generations before ever being committed to papyrus. As with much such literature, it is poetic, allegorical, intended to teach valuable lessons. Through the story of Adam and Eve we are taught to be obedient to our parents and to God, to be trustworthy, and to be wary of evil influences (not to mention, Snakes!). We learn that good behavior is rewarded, and bad behavior has its consequences.
HOW COULD WE HAVE MISSED THAT??
The separation of Genesis 1 and 2 is often missed, and it’s easy to see how. One reason is that whoever it was that put the Bible together, called the “redactor” (some people believe that may have been the biblical prophet Ezra) chose to insert the JE story immediately after the P story, even though P was the more recent. Therefore, it reads as though Genesis 1 tells the broad story of creation, and Genesis 2 focuses on particular episodes within the same story. Perhaps this was the intent.
Imagine you’re writing a biography of Abraham Lincoln. You could start off with a lot of basic facts about his life: where he was born, his education, his leadership during the Civil War, his assassination, and all of that. Then you could tack on that little story we all heard in grade school about how he was supposed to have walked three miles in the snow to pay someone back a penny he owed them. Did this really happen? Maybe, but probably not. It is more likely a semi-allegorical story about “Honest Abe,” which illustrates his honesty, integrity, and loyalty to his friends. The fact that it is literally untrue is completely beside the point.
This is similar to the account of creation depicted in Genesis 1 and 2. Add to that the common misconception that the entire first five books of the Bible were written by Moses (and yes, we'll talk about that later, too. Really keeping you in suspense, aren't I?) and there you go.
But a careful, open-minded reading of both stories, in context, as well as knowledge of history, linguistics, and all of that fun stuff, all serve to debunk that notion and lend credence and authenticity to all three of our seemingly different accounts of creation. Thus we can reconcile at least this troubling aspect of the Religion vs. Science conflict.
So there!
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
A whole lot more! Because there are still a lot of prickly points of contention between Religion and Science. Creation is just one of them. Now that we (hopefully) have shed some light on that one, next week we’re going to take up another one: Evolution!
Yikes! You don’t want to miss that one!
I know you are very eager to hear about what Religion and Science have to say about the hot topic of human evolution. So, if you just can’t wait until next week,, you’ll just have to head over and get the book, Thou Shalt Not Scoff! A Rational Unity of Religion and Science. If you want the Kindle e-book version, just click here. Or, if you prefer the paperback, go here. While you’re at it, if you want, you can also check out the rest of my stuff.
Do you like what I’m saying here? Do you not like what I’m saying here? Either way, I’d love to hear from you. You can read the past posts, and leave your good or bad comments below. If you do, I will go ahead and put you on my email list and keep you up to date with what’s going on in my site, the weekly posts and all of that fun stuff (I promise I won’t send you any spammy ads). If you don’t want to be on the list, that’s fine, just tell me so.
See you all next week!