lauraclay

I was reading Genesis, and thought it would be good to sort of analyze it bit by bit.
First of all, isn't it ironic how God's creation of the world is so similar to the hundreds of religions that came before Christianity?

__________________

The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,
and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.

The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.

The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
He is the one I would like to talk to.

Og

http://www.agnosticforums.com/god-ta...stinction.html

Those are some comments that I posted from Joseph Campbell about the Adam/Eve creation story.

__________________
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

lauraclay

That forum more directly answers my first question, so I'd just as soon continue it there. But I have more questions, lol. Why was God so scared of man not only knowing right from wrong, but living forever? Doesn't this say something about his power? Prove that it is fragile, possibly overthrown, and that he can fear. God is not all-powerful? And he is not all-knowing because he wasn't sure what would happen. I know his omnipotence has been discuss elsewhere, but I want to discuss it only relative to the first few chapters of Genesis.

__________________

The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,
and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.

The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.

The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
He is the one I would like to talk to.

Og

The story is an alegory. The behavior of God is a reflection on the human Psyche, not some literal being that you think of as some bipedal all powerful creator like us.

The question is not "why was god so scared of man" but "what does this tell us about the human experience".

You can't have a conversation about a literal interpretation of the text. The idea of a being with magical powers defies logic.

To me, the story of eden is a glorious expression of the rise of consciousness and the fundamental idea of being. I'm amazed that its survived so long. When I look at the buddha story and the christ story and the masonic pyramid on the dollar bill I see the story of eden.

To me, it's very powerful. Not because it's literal. It doesn't make any sense if you try to interpret it literally... As you point out with your questions. When interpreted symbolically, it's illuminating.. Read it like poetry, not like a newspaper report.

__________________
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

jaej

About God as a reflection of the human psyche:

A little while ago I was reading one of the Old Testament poetry books; I'm not sure which one, although I am sure it was neither psalms nor proverbs. Anyway, as I read the words god was saying, I got the distinct impression that it was a child's voice. It was so weird, god sounding like a child. The tone was distinctly vindictive and self-righteous, like a pouting child. I just thought it was odd.

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lauraclay

If God is the human psyche, does that mean we are afraid of ourselves? We do not know what we will do?

__________________

The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,
and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.

The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.

The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
He is the one I would like to talk to.

Og

YouTube - Joseph Campbell on interpretation of symbols

Campbell does a much better job of explaining it.

__________________
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

jaej

I saw this thing on the history channel today while I was bored out of my mind at Easter. They were talking about Cain, about him taking a wife after he killed Abel. The obvious problem was that, according to the Bible, any other female would have to be either his sister or his mother. A message promoting incest was unacceptable in hebrew culture, so that can't realistically be the explanation.

Another instance where taking the Bible as literal fact is just silly.

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Og

Cain/Able is an allegory about the transition of mankind from a hunting/gathering culture to a farming culture. Cain brought the animal sacrifice to god and able brought the grain and harvest offering. Cain was jealous of god's approval so cain killed able.

__________________
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

jaej

I know. I'm just saying how it can't be taken as literal fact. There was also some interesting stuff on about the book of jubilees, which attempted to fill in old testament 'holes' in the story.

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