Originally posted by Nichiren
I really don't think that a divine spirit would describe a woman as a suitable helper ...
And what makes you think you know what a "divine spirit" would or wouldn't do? I think you'd be stridently offended if God allowed you to observe
His dealings with mankind through the ages. He would appear to be the kind of deity you would have nothing to do with. That much, I can guarantee you.
Originally posted by Nichiren
God created all the animals, including the serpent. And all was good! So how come the serpent turned against God? What made the serpent not good? Many
agree that the serpent is a symbol for Satan, but why not state that explicitly in the scripture? Why omit that crucial point?
Nothing was omitted. Genesis, especially the first several chapters, are densely symbolic. If you try to treat it as a claim to literal scientific
understanding, you are falling short of the purpose of the creation accounts.
The serpent is indeed Satan. Perhaps possessing a literal serpent, perhaps being described in metaphorical terms. We also see John in Revelation
talking about Satan being the serpent that grew into a dragon.
And why did Satan turn against the Creator? Simple answer, really. God created all his sentient beings with a creative mind, freedom to act, and with
the possibility to act contrary to God's will. One day it occurs to Satan that he could run his life independently of God's rule. Instead of letting
that idea pass, he acts on it and took one third of his kind into rebellion with him. Not content with an angelic following, he strikes at the
covenant representative of Man...Adam himself. And with Adam's bending the knee to Satan, he staked his claim over humanity.
And ever since, the struggle between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman has increased through the ages. Of course, at the crucifixion,
Christ has crushed the head of the serpent, so his original power is destroyed. And yet, he is not finally vanquished until the Last Day, when Christ
returns to judge all mankind, as well as the angelic beings.
One...*one*...of the purposes of the opening chapters of Genesis is to provide a framework of symbols the rest of the Scriptures draw from.
Another is to serve as a polemic against Egyptian and Babylonian cosmologies. In other words, it wasn't the Annunaki or Egyptian gods who created us,
but Yahweh...the God of Israel. It was a revolutionary counter claim...and one that the newly freed nation of Hebrews could rally around in their
understanding of themselves and of their God and the creation.
Also, I don't believe Moses was being wholly symbolic in his storytelling. I think Adam and Eve were literal people. But, I believe they were not the
original humans. Rather, they were injected into the middle of the human story...through special creation, however. Just as described in Genesis 2.
Adam was intended to serve as a representative of all men...sort of the Messiah of mankind. But he failed and instead of Adam leading mankind into an
eventual state of glorification, another was promised. Christ is that other.
Originally posted by Nichiren
This doesn't make sense to me....
...There are many more statements that boggle my mind.
This fact does not in any way signify the falsehood of Genesis. Your boggling mind should serve as no safe haven from the claims of ANY text,
including the text of Scripture. A lack of understanding of a given line of thought doesn't mean that line of thought is invalid or wrong.
It MAY indicate you don't have the background to resolve the symbolic meaning of the text. You may not be able to connect all the points to form a
whole picture. You may be relying on biased, mistaken, or prejudiced information from other sources that cloud your view of these passages. You may
just simply be making assumptions about the text that just aren't correct in any technical or theological sense.
Originally posted by Nichiren
I'm here to learn and when I hear a logical explanation I'm willing to listen & accept.
I'm highly skeptical of that.
