The Creation Myths and Evolution

While I've addressed the Creation myths in earlier posts on this blog, I've been queried specifically as to how in particular one can understand the accounts to be mythical, and where the line is drawn with regard to those myths and the historical narratives found elsewhere in the Old Testament. And the corollary to this issue being the question of how evolution and Creation can possibly co-exist.

In addressing the first issue, we have to understand the historical context of the book of Genesis. The book of Genesis is not a single book. Think of it as a microcosm of the Bible itself. While we call the Bible, the "Book" essentially, we all know and understand that it's made up of dozens of books from various times and places, and with varied influences and styles of literature. It even involves different original languages for its different texts (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic). We know, therefore, that approaching the Bible as a monolithic work is a flawed basis for any sort of exegesis. Proper hermeneutics really begins with a grounding in the historical context of the work in question. The "Book" of Genesis leaves us with a similar issue. Unlike many of the other Books of the Bible, it doesn't exist as a whole piece of literature written for a specific purpose. For example, Exodus was written to relate the details of the escape of the Hebrew people from the Egyptians and their subsequent trials in the desert, etc. Leviticus and Deuteronomy tend to focus on the legal and societal regulations for the Hebrews. The later books tell the history of the Hebrew state, and show its frequent apostosization and repentance through the eyes of the prophets, and then its eventual destruction. Genesis, however, does not confine itself to one story, one pair of eyes, one main character or even one segment of a story. It's not just the story of Abraham, as Exodus was really the story of Moses, and it's not the story of Adam, even while Adam's lament is more potent than Isaiah's. Like the Bible, Genesis tells several stories, through the mouths of several authors and voices.

Historically, Genesis was written at a later date than the rest of the Pentateuch. But the stories of Genesis are much older even than Exodus. Genesis is essentially the written compilation of an oral tradition that stretched back not only thousands of years to Abraham, but to the dawn of the human collective memory with "Adam" whose name is not only "dust" but also "Mankind," and Eve, who is the Mother of the World. Which is precisely wherein we can see and draw the line between the portions of Genesis that comprise myths of the Hebrews, and those parts which are more historical narration, and we can see in the Hebrew psychology the very necessary connection between them.

Before proceeding, we have to understand what myths are, and what they are not. Myths are stories designed to relate a truth or truths to the audience. They are most often used to explain natural phenomena or unexplainable events. They may be and often are based on historical persons or events, but they do not have to be. They generally refer to the past. They are not lies, they are not history, they are not scientific accounts. They do not relate scientific facts. They are not textbooks.

To fully appreciate this, we have to understand the difference between facts and truth. A fact, for the purpose of our discussion here, is a thing which is demonstrably and verifiably, particularly through science, to be true. It is a fact that apples fall from trees in our experience, it is a fact that Evan is writing this article, it is a fact that water is a molecule comprised of two hydrogen and one oxygen atoms. All facts are true. But not all truths are facts. I claim that it is true that there was an event in primordial antiquity wherein the whole of humanity as represented by its progenitors "Adam" and "Eve" Fell from Grace with God and into the imperfection we know today. But I do not claim that the names "Adam" and "Eve" were the factual, ie actual, names of those progenitors. The names are, as already noted, as symbolic as they are anything else, for all of humanity at its beginnings. Nor will I claim it factual that the first sin was the eating of a particular fruit, nor that there was necessarily a talking serpent, even while it is true that the first sin was one of disobedience and a desire to be like unto God, and the first temptation had at its root Satan, who is the oldest pretender to that particular throne. I claim that it is true that God imbued humanity with a unique spirit, creating a soul which is a commingling of the material and the spiritual such that we can never be complete as either one alone. But I will not say it is a fact that we were molded out of clay. These are examples of the truths taught by the Creation myths that cannot be treated as factual stories or claims.

So how do we know where the line is drawn between history and myth? It is simple. The Book of Genesis relates multiple stories, the figures in which are either easily identifiable as mythic in proportion and stature, or historical. Abraham, for instance, is an historic figure. We know that when Abraham's story begins, we're dealing with a narrative of the history of the Hebrew people. We also know that Adam and Eve's story exists particularly to explain certain truths understood by the Hebrews (the Fall, the Soul, etc.) while not being necessarily entirely factual. So what about the materials in between Adam and Abraham, and the persistent geneologies presented that would seem to indicate factual history?

The Hebrew people placed a tremendous importance on family, and upon lines of relations and relatives. Part of this importance can be seen in the very first historical Hebrew, Abraham, to whom God promised a family which would have more members than there are stars, while he and his wife were so old as to make natural conception impossible. Complex and all encompassing geneologies were important to the Hebrews in likely many ways, but the way which this author is most confident of is in their ability to link each Hebrew to another Hebrew, and so propogate the belief of their nation as a whole family, fostering a stronger sense of community. Then there is the notion of descent and kinship, particularly in the case of the descendents of David and the promised Messiah. The Prophets knew that the savior of the Jews would come through the line of David, who was the greatest of their Kings. It was important to the Hebrews that their first great King be connected to their last and greatest King, and likewise that David's line should stretch back to Abraham, father of their people, and that Abraham's line should stretch back to Noah, whose line stretches back to Adam and Eve. It's a contiguous union of humanity, and it's the human part which is most important, for the Hebrews, and for Christians now.

Remember the two principle truths of the Creation myths already discussed? The Fall, and the Soul. Both of these things were things common to all humanity, ie all the descendents of Adam and Eve. It is important to have a direct connection, even one that is mythical, with those original humans, both for the purposes of theology concerning Christ's redemptive sacrifice, but also in understanding our own nature as fallen Creatures with unique souls.

The Patriarchs of the Hebrews prior to Abraham are largely mythic persons. In ancient days, these names were related via story telling, not from written records of any factual reliability. This isn't to say it's not true that there's an ancient connection, indeed all current science that I've seen indicates that humanity had a common origin point, it's to say that the names and supposed ages are matters of story and myth. They explain the relationship of the Hebrews to Adam, they explain the Hebrews' place in the world, and particularly for them, their unique relationship with God. Why the Hebrews for all the covenants and promises? If you asked them back then, you'd likely see that they believed their connections to Adam and Eve were part of it, and the stubborn Godliness of their forebears.

A quick note on Hebrew numerology before we continue. Remember that numbers for the Hebrews were not merely means of counting, they were highly symbolic references to other things. Three and seven, for instance, were numbers relating to God. Forty is another powerful number, as is twelve, and of course twelve times twelve, or seven times seven, etc. are even more powerful. They refer to things like God Himself, or God's time, or all of time, and a complex study of them must be taken into account when examining the numbers used in the Bible. The numbers are not always meant to be facts, but they do have hidden truths. Seven days of Creation is not factual, but that doesn't mean the use of the number seven doesn't have particular meaning and importance that is true. So too the numbers of years and ages of the mythical Patriarchs should be taken into account, though I admit I lack the education in Hebrew numerology to tell the meanings and possible interpretations therein.

Thus we come to Noah. Are we still in the mythical portions of Genesis? Noah is major confirmation of this, for his story is yet another story of explanation. Buried in the communal memory of Man is this idea of a Flood as cleansing as Baptism. Particularly it is buried in the minds of Mesopotamia, and is referenced in the Epic of Gilgamesh, a Sumerian mythic figure who was said to have met the man who survived the Flood. What's the historical context? The Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Mesopotamia, is the ancient cradle of human civilization, and the region from which Abraham and the Hebrews originally hailed. It is an area wherein the yearly flooding of the rivers was both a cause of tragic death, and the means by which the river plains were saturated with nutrients allowing farmers to bring about crops and keep the population sustained and even growing. Floods were conceivably and quite justifiably the perfect symbol of death and rebirth to those people, and the story of Noah not only explains the horrors of the great Flood which cleansed the Earth and gave Man a second chance, but also grants the hope of God's promise that floods would never again destroy Man. A promise very much needed by those peoples.

Not only that, of course, but we can see in Adam, and in Noah, and in many other Patriarchs of the Hebrews some reflection of Christ, who was the new Adam, Christ who saved Humanity from an even greater peril and turned the waters from destruction to salvation, etc.

And finally we come to Genesis 11, the story of Babel. Still myth? Well, is it a story which attempts to explain some natural riddle or event which was not otherwise understandable? Yes. It does. Placing oneself into the Hebrew family at the time of the telling of such stories, one of the first questions might be why it is that people, if all are descended from Noah in a fairly short stretch of time, have so many differing languages and customs. Remember that the Hebrews were often a people apart, and would encounter many other nomadic and settled peoples in the Mesopotamian region. Every area would have different customs and languages. Why so different? The story of the Tower of Babel attempts to explain the sundering of Mankind into so many confused and distinct fiefdoms. Does it do so factually? No. We can all likely agree that no tower could ever threaten to enter the actual Heaven, and certainly we could never actually threaten God. But is it true? Is it at all conceivable that humans had the arrogance in the depths of our past when we all lived closer together to challenge God, or that human pride encompassed trying to build massive monuments to our own glory, and so we estranged ourselves from our brothers? Why yes, I do believe these are quite conceivable. In fact, I'd say the past is riddled with examples of human leaders mad with their own legends and building massive monuments to themselves. The Pyramids, the gardens of Babylon, the tomb of the first Chinese Emperor, Chiang Shi Huang (might have mis-spelled that one), etc.

And so chapter eleven closes with more geneologies, linking up humanity's scattered remains with one particular man. A man named Abram. And at that point we not only see that we're no longer working with stories designed to explain problems and answer questions, but that we're looking at a fairly detailed historical description of one man's life, family and covenant. The style of writing changes, the voice of the author changes, the length and details of the narrative itself become longer and more in depth. There's a marked change in literary style between chapter eleven and chapter twelve, and that's not even getting into the theological distinctions of the small stories versus the main story of the age.

Now, as already mentioned, the corollary to all this is the question of Evolution and Creation, and how the two can possibly co-exist. When understanding the Creation accounts as myths, it is possible to be both a Christian who believes that God created everything, and also an Evolutionist who believes that the current theory of evolution offers the most reasonable and simple scientific solution to the specification of life. Science doesn't contradict Genesis, nor Genesis science, because the myths in Genesis, like all myths, were never meant to relate scientific facts. They relate truths, principally spiritual truths about our relationship with God. There is no reason why God, who is outside of time, could not or would not create slowly as compared with quickly. In fact, there's a great deal to be said for God allowing the universe to develop based on a rational scheme, simply because He Himself is Rational, and created us to be rational and wants us to understand His Creation to the best of our abilities.

The only major caveats to understanding the co-existence of Evolution and Creation are in the two principle truths already discussed. We must admit, as Christians, that humans are specially created souls, ie that they are physical entities commingled with a unique spirit given from God, and that our Creation was the highest of God's Creation, that we are Stewards of the whole Earth. This is something that science, necessarily, cannot comment on. Science can no more measure the soul than it can offer moral or philosophical comments on whether we are "higher" or "better" than anything else. And we must admit as Christians that as those special Creations of God, we chose to reject Him and so Fell and changed the world. What the world was like before that Fall, we have only glimpses and dreams to tell us, and one ancient story. What it is like afterwards, we have all of modern science and religion to describe.