tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794544262811872086.post2869045370732264490..comments2023-10-08T05:10:56.748-05:00Comments on Chrysalis Mission: In the BeginningDonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00053761239501935012noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794544262811872086.post-72146118671471282822007-09-12T19:55:00.000-05:002007-09-12T19:55:00.000-05:00The reason there are two different narratives on G...The reason there are two different narratives on God's creation of humanity is pretty simple, though many fundamentalists resist the explanation: scholarly analysis of style, terminology, language and other factors has determined that Genesis (and most of the other First Testament books) had more than one author -- some of them three or four. The product we have received as transmitted down the centuries was written down by people at various times, with various intentions to explain their view of God and 'first causes' -- how things came to be -- and the authors, priests and scribes didn't always agree. Sometimes they rewrote earlier versions of Biblical mythology in an attempt to reconcile or harmonize them; sometimes they did a better job at this than other times; and sometimes they didn't bother -- just dropped in whole chunks of a differing viewpoint and left it up to the priests or readers to decide how to 'receive' the 'truth' they intended to convey. Looking back from today, it's almost as if God were saying to us, "OK, there's a lot of confusion in this text; the only way you're going to come out of it with faith intact is NOT to take it word for word, but to depend on the overarching themes of the entire book (and maybe some other writings that the church 'fathers' didn't see fit to include, AND to maintain a close and open-minded relationship with ME, your God and creator. I do not change, but humanity does, and I will always be too large and complex and varied a concept for humans to grasp entirely. You may resist the idea of my changing when in fact it is you and your growth and understanding that is changing -- and that's all to the good. That's why I gave you minds and hearts and souls and will. The day you decide your faith and your understanding and relationship with ME is set and complete is the day our relationship begins to die. Come, let our relationship grow." Anyway, that's the way I see it.<BR/><BR/>LawrenceAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com