Genesis for atheists: Part I
Adam and Eve continue to get bad press these days. Increasingly, the creation account is dismissed as an enduring fable– far from the reality of dinosaurs and evolutionary theory. But jokes of fig leaves and tainted apples aside, the Genesis document contains some staggering insights, masked as they are to a cursory reading.
First, let’s bypass the naive perspective held by some, that the earth is a mere six thousand years old. These estimates, based upon a simplistic reading of the genealogies in Genesis, ignore biblical allusions and metaphors.
In Hebrew, the word “day” can mean a literal 24 hour period– or an aeon. Genesis is not a scientific or historical treatise, subject to chronological research. Its purpose is to outline the invisible, causative strokes of a thematic spirituality, and then render them onto a visible canvas, like an artist who uses color to portray emotions.
We would never believe– for a moment– that an artist’s choice of pigments are feelings. But we recognize how their physical existence echoes and mirrors intangibles: black for depression, red for anger or pink for femininity.
Nor would any scientist– or rationalist– demand that the artist measure and justify their selection of color and shape, because we know artistic expression is a bridge, a window into an emotive world.
So too, a literal, analytical reading of Genesis misses the deeper message. It’s like using a spectroscope to measure the wavelength of colors used in a painting. The results are scientifically accurate, yet completely miss the message within and upon the canvas.
Truth is– that type of analysis, by its very approach– cannot see or receive the artist’s intent. In a similar way, an intellectual reading of Genesis delivers equally useless results.
Although the honesty of atheists is both valuable and commendable, this blindness towards intuitive and emotional depth, as a transcendent perspective… Is a huge handicap.
I know. I lived in that world for years.
It’s like trying to explain love as a by product of biochemical reactions. And yes, I tried that too, as a biochemistry major. We may think of “love” as an evolutionary necessity, selected only to protect the young and raise them to ensure species success. But that perspective, as I found out, has insurmountable problems– so immense that no truly honest person can pretend to dismiss them.
I’ll explain what these are in Part II.
