AND THE WINNER IS... OR, PERHAPS, WAS...

The first chapter of Genesis, in my humble opinion, is one of the most beautiful passages in all of scripture. (click here for a copy) It is an ancient account of the creation of the world; a profound, poetic reflection on the origin and meaning of everything. Of course, being ancient, it is not scientific, so it is important that we not impose modern, scientific notions upon it. We must take it simply for what it is. But what is it?

The ancient Hebrews lived in a world that was populated by several other people groups. There were the great empire folks: Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Egyptians; and the lesser, but significant: Philistines, Edomites, Amorites, Canaanites. Each of these cultures had its own understanding of, and approach to, reality, that is, its own gods, myths and legends. These groups threatened one another, negotiated deals, minded their own business, got in each others way, and generally tried to survive in whatever spaces and places they could occupy. In other words, they were rather like us.

In the first eleven chapters of Genesis, and particularly in this first chapter, the Hebrew writer is setting out what scholars call a polemic, from the Greek word polemos war. The Hebrews were in a battle with the surrounding cultures, a battle for the minds of their children. They were setting out their story as clearly and forcefully as they could, in opposition to other stories. And they managed to set out one that was different enough, interesting enough, powerful enough, convincing enough to outlast all the others. It’s the only one that’s still widely known and loved today. But what’s so different about it?

All the other creation myths are complex tales of many gods working, battling, negotiating, and struggling with one another, and of how, through this process, the world came to be as it is. In the Babylonian story, for example, Marduk becomes the supreme god by destroying Tiamat, the ocean goddess, in an epic battle. He then fashions the earth and sky from her divided corpse, and destroys Tiamat’s husband, Kingu, using his blood to create human beings to do the work of the gods.

In the Hebrew story, however, there is only one God. He is in no war, no struggle. There is no killing, nor conflict. He simply sets about to create a harmonious world for the pure joy of doing it. In the beginning, we are told, he created the heavens and the earth, but there is no indication how he actually did it. He simply declares that light will be and it is. And then he goes about ordering everything by divine decree. He does it all in six days, and then takes a day off.

It is profoundly significant that God partners things as he creates them: light and darkness, land and sea, sun and moon, birds and fish, and ultimately human beings, created in his own image, male and female. All of this underscores a foundational principle of the Hebrew faith, that the cosmos arises from peace and cooperation (shalom) not war and struggle. Disharmony and isolation threaten what is good. And what is ultimately good is the will of this loving, creative God, Elohim.

Of course, this story simply doesn’t fit the modern, scientific view of the cosmos that, on one level at least, we all share. – Why would anyone imagine that it should? – The sun is created on the fourth day, though vegetation springs forth on the third day, and day and night are established on the first. What was the earth orbiting for three days? Where are the galaxies, comets and other planets? Where are the dinosaurs, atoms, microbes? What about evolutionary development, ice ages, continental drift? None of these things finds a place in this story; just the world in which we live, we who live here, and the God who created it all. The earth is the focus because it’s our home. Partnership and cooperation are the key operative principles because they give life. And all of it is a pure, unmerited, gift of grace and love.

This may not be everything we will need to know about existence, but it’s a pretty good place to start. And it is the narrative, among all the competing narratives, that eventually prevailed.

* The picture is Ancient of Days, by William Blake