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Genesis 1-3: A Retelling of the Story
By Troy Lee
For “Connections”
March 19, 2005
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
(slide 1)
The image on this slide is a famous engraving done by the German artist
Albrecht Durer, done in 1504. This picture depicts Adam and Eve in the
Garden of Eden. Durer got the inspiration for this engraving from the
creation narrative, or story, found in the first book of the Bible,
otherwise known as Genesis.
Have you noticed that the creation story found in the first 3 chapters of
Genesis is rarely talked about? In fact, you may be hard pressed to hear a
sermon about it in church. More than that, it’s almost embarrassing to
bring it up in conversation with your fellow students or friends. You
wouldn’t dare talk about it in class or at work would you?
What’s up with God creating the universe in 6 days, then taking a coffee
break on the seventh day? Or, God creating Eve from Adams rib-surely God
could have created Eve without such invasive surgery? Its gets worse-the
first people are butt naked running through a garden, that incidently has
two sacred apples trees within it. They talk to the animals, including a
snake that convinces them to eat the fruit from a forbidden tree. Then God
enters the scene, like a Park Warden at Jasper, looking for Adam and Eve
and kicks them out of the garden for not having a park pass. Its no wonder
this creation story is not on anybody’s “top ten list.”
The truth is, people have grappled over the Genesis creation narrative for
hundreds of years. Some see it as an un-historical myth, others see it as a
literal, factual record of the beginning of the universe and humanity. Some
people believe in a literal “6-24 hour creation days” and that the earth is
somewhere between six-thousand and ten-thousand years old. Others believe
that God created the universe in “6-epoch length periods of time” and that
the earth is billions of years old. Some believe in neither.
I am not here to argue for either position. Its okay to believe in a young
earth or an old earth-they are not core beliefs of the Christian faith
anyways.
But, I think that both views are missing the point. Often what happens is
that we focus on peripheral themes, missing fundamental themes in the
story.[i] It is safe to say that historical and scientific issues were not
in the mind of the author[ii] when he recorded the Genesis creation story
in approximately 2000 BC.[iii]
So what was on the mind of the author? How are we to understand this story?
What is it trying to tell us? How does it relate to me? More importantly,
how does this story fit into my story-where is the juxtaposition?
PART TWO: THE TRUTH ABOUT STORIES
How many of you like stories?
Do you read fiction?
Do you enjoy stories about people’s lives in print, in films?
I think that we all love stories. In fact stories control our lives.[iv]
Stories reflect our experiences, our journey, and our objective and
subjective understanding of reality. They mold and shape us. In fact, we
are stories.[v] Stories are powerful, and sometimes we create stories that
are not true. Once we tell stories, they cannot be called back.[vi] Stories
enter our personal and collective consciousness, often affecting how we
relate to others and the world around us. Some stories have to be retold.
When I was 8 or 9 years old I had lots of problems learning, reading and
relating to other kids around me. In fact it was so serious that I was sent
to a psychiatric hospital for 5 or so weeks of testing and observation. I
experienced lots of things at the Eric Martin Institute in Victoria,
including kids who were genuinely crazy and being locked in a pink closet
when I was bad. But the one thing I will never forget are the door-handles.
You see, because this was the children’s wing of the institution, the door
handles were all beyond our reach-for security reasons. I remember looking
up at the door-handle thinking that “if I could just reach it,” I could
open the door and escape to the outside, beyond the walls, beyond the pink
closet, beyond the white lab coats and medication, to where kids were
normal, where I was normal.
The Genesis creation narrative is a story re-told. It wasn’t re-told in a
cultural-historical vacuum. In fact, there were other dominant stories,
representing different worldviews, around at the time. These stories
represented the worldviews of the ancient Sumerians and Babylonians. Some
of the creation stories included the Atrahasis Epic, Enuma Elish, and the
Gilgamesh Epic. These stories made up the intellectual furniture of the
societies[vii] in which ancient Israel lived and moved.
The Genesis creation story was a story told from the fringe, a story told
from the margins of mainstream society. A story told by dirty, dusty
vagrants. It was a counter-culture story, presenting an alternative
worldview.[viii] It presented a different picture of God, the cosmos, and
humanity. It’s an honest story, not idyllic, and it’s refreshingly
unromantic. It’s a story retold.
(slide 2)
But first, lets look at one of the dominant stories in the ancient Near
East at the time. This Babylonian story is called the Atrahasis Epic
and dates from around the 18th Century B.C.E. It was found on clay tablets
in the Cuneiform writing style, like you see on this slide.
In the Atrahasis Epic physical matter is eternal, and many gods ruled the
universe. The lesser gods served the greater gods, working on their farms.
Some of the lesser gods decided to revolt against the greater gods, and
stopped working. Since the gods had no one to farm the land, someone
suggested that they create humans to do it instead. So a lesser god was
murdered, and his blood was mixed with clay and saliva to create humanity.
Humanity slaved for the gods. But as their population grew, their noise
began to irritate the gods more and more. So the gods decided to destroy
the human race. They first tried to destroy humanity with a plague, then a
famine, followed by a drought. But in the end a flood did the trick. A few
humans and animals survived however. Ironically, when the gods realized
that they destroyed their only labour force which had provided food for
their offerings, they regretted their actions.[ix]
In ancient Near Eastern stories, like the one we just heard, “function” is
an important emphasis. In other words, these stories attempt to identify
function as a consequence of “purpose.” [x] In the Atrahasis Epic, the
function of human’s was to provide food for the gods, because the lesser
gods refused to be slaves to the greater gods.
Unfortunately, our scientific worldview often focuses on structure in an
attempt to understand cause and effect.[xi] This is why we often miss the
point of ancient Near Eastern stories, including the Genesis creation
story.
PART THREE: GENESIS 1-3 RETOLD
(slide 3)
In the Genesis creation story;
(slide 3a,b)
the one God creates the universe from nothing, as an intentional and
deliberate act. God is personally involved with creation. God values the
cosmos declaring it good.
In the Genesis creation story;
(slide 3c)
God creates both men and women in his image and likeness. He creates men
and women equal. He creates humanity as representatives who conserve and
enhance the earth, while creating families, communities, and society. He
creates a community of people, and plants and animals, and non-living
things that live in cooperation with one another, with God at the center.
God values and loves humanity declaring them “very good.”
In the Genesis creation story;
(slide 3d,e)
God creates humanity with the capacity to make their own choices. He
creates people who can willingly love and serve him. However, rational,
willful beings bring disharmony into creation, convincing humans to follow
their own desires rather than God. Community becomes disunity. Humanity
becomes alienated from God, from each other, from themselves, and from the
garden.
PART FOUR: Getting Back to the Garden
My own story is one of trying to get back to the Garden. My early childhood
experience was perhaps a controlling narrative speaking into many areas of
my life. It is a story of feeling “alien,” and “outside” of the circle,
outside of something. It really is a story of overcoming alienation from
God, from others, and from myself. The door-handle beyond my reach has been
a recurring motif throughout my life. I just want outside the door, and
into the Garden.
The Genesis creation story is an unfinished story, much like my own story.
In the last scene God explains the affects that Adam and Eve’s sin will
have on themselves and all of creation. They are not let off the hook. Then
we see Adam and Eve leaving the Garden. In fact, in the subsequent chapters
humanity moves eastward away from the Garden, away from immortality, and
away from God.
(slide 3f)
Despite the unromantic, and pessimistic view of humanity that we see in
this story, it is refreshingly optimistic. Before Adam and Eve leave God’s
presence He promises to destroy evil, and humanity will play an important
role in that process. This is because God created us in his own image and
disclosed his ideal for humanity at the beginning of time.[xii] It is only
through God that this image,[xiii] damaged by sin, can be recreated. It is
only through God that all of creation can be liberated from its bondage to
decay.[xiv]
Throughout the remainder of Genesis, humanity moves away from God. However,
God continued to fulfill his commitment to them, as well his commitment to
all of creation. In fact, God’s commitment to recreation continues today. I
see this in my own life, as God’s Spirit continues to recreate me to be
more like Jesus.
PART FIVE: CONCLUSIONS
The Genesis creation story is a controlling narrative for Christians. It is
thematic in nature and counter-cultural in content. In this story God is
personal, interactive, and committed to restoring all things.
So where do our stories fit within the Genesis story?
(slide 4)
I think our stories are like a piece of coloured cloth within a tapestry,
by itself, it seems insignificant and without meaning. However, when
combined with all the other pieces and colours, it creates a meaningful
picture. A picture of how things were, how things are, and how things will
be. One day it will be a picture of community, celebration, and harmony
between all things with God at the center.
It is a story that has to be retold.
Endnotes———————————-
[i] G.J. Wenham, Genesis 1-15: Word Biblical Commentary (Waco: Word Books,
Publisher, 1987), xlv.
[ii] Ibid, liii
[iii] Ibid, xliv-xlv.
[iv] T. King, The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative (Toronto: House
of Anansi Press, 2003), 9.
[v] Ibid, 2.
[vi] Ibid, 10.
[vii] G.J. Wenham, Genesis 1-15: Word Biblical Commentary (Waco: Word
Books, Publisher, 1987), xlviii.
[viii] Ibid, xlv.
[ix] From www.hope.edu/bandstra/RTOT/CHI/CHI_1A3B.HTM
[x] J.H.Walton et al, The IVP Bible Background Commentary (Illinois: IVP,
2000), 30.
[xi] Ibid
[xii] G.J. Wenham, Genesis 1-15: Word Biblical Commentary (Waco: Word
Books, Publisher, 1987), liii.
[xiii] Colossians 3:10
[xiv] Romans 8:21
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