Adam and Eve - Part 1: Although the most durable meaning of the story (Our whole physic

» Dan_Ellsworth - Although the most durable meaning of the story (Our whole physic

Although the most durable meaning of the story (Our whole physical universe is here because God willed it to be - specifically including humanity.) is not the literal meaning (We *do* allow Jesus to use parables, I hope.), I believe the Bible sometimes is more literally true than it has to be. Thus, in particular, there might have been a first couple made capable of moral decisions, and the "line" of full humanity spread outward (Cain's wife and all that) from that point. It might have had to do with a sort of mental "critical mass", or maybe a favored land where making a living was so easy that the humans could converse with God in a leisurely way - I'm not sure. But my "faith" in science would not be harmed by the discovery of evidence for an actual Seth or Cain or Eve. Taking (as I do) God as the underlying source of the Bible, I don't think it was intended to allow smugness for either the literalists or anti-literalists. But for many today, we need to perform a cultural translation - which raises some questions in my mind:

I heard of "de-mythologizing", but that may itself be a contemporary mythology. So is it a modern task to translate into contemporary mythology? What is that? (And can we tell while living in our culture?) Can something be literally true and yet part of our cultural mythology?

Young men in a garage revolutionizing the computer industry - that has happened but I think it has the "feel" of mythology. The U.S. President with idealism undercut by lust - whether of body or for power. The automobile as "freedom machine." The nonconformist whose insight or discovery eventually sweeps the nation or the world. (Thomas Edison and Henry Ford as cranky, stubborn, brilliant innovators.) There is some literal truth to all of these, but possibly they are close to a cultural mythology, too. And it doesn't hurt if you can arrange to be born in a log cabin you made with your own hands.

One thing to watch out for is that "myth" and "mythology" are red-flag words in some religious circles. It's hard to get a sensible conversation going once you've let those words out. So some degree of de-toxifying is needed - and I'm not sure I know the way.

Dan Ellsworth (e-mail, bio), Editor, "Christianity - Protestant"

-- posted by Dan_Ellsworth