Breaking down the Bible. (Genesis, 1 - 2) Creation of Man

“The light and spirit of the Divinity are the wings of the soul.” — Plato

 Tanach

No doubt Bible is a record of mainly myths and legends, some historical events, a bit of moral guidance and words of wisdom, but I wonder how much of its text was added by Pharisees and later Christian priests seeking to manipulate and enslave the uncultured masses, "survived the purging of texts considered to be heretical (either out of stupidity or in order to look after the clergy's mean interests) in the founding years of Christianity as a church", or was simply lost in translation. As an Italian saying goes: traduttore — traditore (a translator — a traitor). 

I’ve never had doubts about the existence of God (or some superior power), the simplest proof, being that humans have never managed to get round the fundamental laws of nature — that is, we still get ill, age and die in the ugliest way, and to the best of my knowledge there’s still no way out of this vicious circle. However, the descriptions of God leave much to be desired.

Genesis 1:1

‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.’

Bereshit aleph,
Genesis on egg

This poses the same question as the Big Bang theory: what was before the Big Bang or, better say, what was God doing before creating the heaven and the earth? In the case of the Big Bang string theory says it was caused by the collision of two p-branes that existed before, resulting in the creation of our universe. At least it makes some sense.

As for God, supposedly He has existed and will for ever, which means eternity, a concept difficult to grasp for a mortal mind. Was He just meditating and, according to Aristotle’s Metaphysics, contemplating His own thought process? Or was He creating other universes, earths and living creatures?

                                                                                         

The history of the known universe only encompasses a few days of God’s everlasting activity, with the creation of physical laws, the building of solar system with its planets and the launch of the evolution of life forms (yes, Darwin’s evolution) on the earth squeezed into 7 days.

Genesis 1:26

‘And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.’

Why the perfect, self-contained being would want to create someone outside Himself is anybody’s guess. May be when divine boredom grabbed hold He thought that some kind of show was a good idea, either that or He had some obscure vested interest we obviously haven’t cracked yet. Can the perfect being get bored? Beats me, how come the Maker, that is perfection, produced such a flawy copy of Himself; unless that was the idea, but, then again, why? Knowing what kind of creature he created (because the perfect being would know, wouldn’t He?), why would He punish fish, fowl, cattle and every creeping thing by letting man have dominion over them? Weren’t they innocent by default?

Genesis 1:27

'So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.'

 Torah

 I’m at a loss to understand what was the woman created for? Why not a hermaphrodite instead? Obviously the show promised more fun with two genders.




















Genesis 2:7

'And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.'

One of the few things that seem to be clear in this book, we are made of the same atoms, quarks, in short matter, as the planets, the sun and the stars.

Creation of man. (Michelangelo.  Capella Sistina)

Genesis 2:8

'And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.'

Genesis 2:9

'And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.'
Genesis 2:17

'But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.'

Why plant a tree humans weren’t supposed to touch? And what are Good and Evil? Does our ever-evolving understanding of moral precepts change their absolute essence? If the ideas of evil and good are intrinsic to God, then they are invariable and don’t depend on time, fashion or anyone’s personal point of view. Probably, it's all much simpler -- a man living in harmony in Eden is a boring show, Evil on the other hand provides an action packed drama. Anyway, God didn’t destroy Eden, he just ousted humans from it, so Eden could still be out there (Shamballa -- a parallel dimension?).

Genesis 2:18

'And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.'

Why wasn’t it good? Wasn’t God himself alone? Why didn’t He give Adam another man or angel as a companion?

Genesis 2:21

'And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;'

Wasn’t there enough dust to make a woman? What was the point of taking Adam’s rib instead? Or it’s probably just human account of the origin and reason of gender based discrimination.

Genesis 2:24

'Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.'
What this passage actually means (at least for the romantics) is that
A unit of human species is not a separate man or woman, but a couple: a man and a woman.