Breaking Down The Bible. Genesis 6. The Sons of God and Noah’s Ark

Animals boarding the Noah's Ark (Jacopo Bassano workshop)

This is one of my favourite chapters of the Bible, and, from my point of view, one of the most enigmatic, too. If only someone had gone to the trouble of thinking about it carefully in the 2000 years that have passed since it was written.
Almost every line poses mind-boggling questions.

1. And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

Who were the mothers of these daughters?

2. That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

Breaking Down The Bible. Genesis 5 Generations of Adam

The fun thing about the Bible is that almost every chapter of it contains some kind of inconsistency or contradiction, and for 2000 years few believers have bothered to seriously question them. The book poses a myriad of questions, but answers very few, if any.

1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;

I still wonder what kind of likeness we are talking about here — physical or spiritual. Sounds like some crazy alien boffin created biological machines simply because he could, just like we are pointlessly playing around with robots.

Does absolute Good and Evil exist?

Musings on the nature of Absolute Good and Evil.

"Are there, infinitely varying with each individual, inbred forces of Good and Evil in all of us, deep down below the reach of mortal encouragement and mortal repression — hidden Good and hidden Evil, both alike at the mercy of the liberating opportunity and the sufficient temptation?" — Wilkie Collins.

Absolute Good vs. Absolute Evil.
(Satan before the Lord,
Corrado Giaquinto.)

“In religion, ethics, and philosophy, the phrase, Good and Evil refers to the evaluation/judgement of objects, desires, and behaviours on a two-way scale, with one direction being morally positive ("good"), and the other morally negative ("evil"). "Good" is a broad concept but it typically deals with an association with life, continuity, happiness, and prosperity. Evil is simply defined as the opposite of Good. Depending on the context, good and evil may represent personal judgments, societal norms, or claims of absolute value related to human nature or to transcendent religious or philosophical standards.” (Based on Wikipedia definition)

Immanuel Kant

 “The only objects of practical reason are therefore those of good and evil. For by the former is meant an object necessarily desired according to a principle of reason; by the latter one necessarily shunned, also according to a principle of reason. “ — Immanuel Kant.

 The big question is whether there is absolute Good and Evil, although it’s part of a bigger question — if so why? Whetstone for human spirit? For the thrill of it? Is it a local phenomenon or it’s valid for the rest of the universe(s)? But that’s like asking WHY God exists. Makes the mind boggle. I’m afraid we’ll have to settle for the answer 'Because He Does' in the foreseeable future.

Breaking down the Bible Genesis, 4 The First Mourning.

Genesis 4:3

 'And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.'

Genesis 4:4

'And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:'

Breaking down the Bible. Genesis, 3 The Fall.

“I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modelled after our own — a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty." — Albert Einstein.

This is a crucial event in the book and history of mankind, because this is the point where all our misfortunes began...

Despite the fact that it should be taken as an allegory, something terrible must have happened. We became weak slavish mortals; lost all privileges and were ousted from the paradise.

The Fall.

(Capella Sistina. Michelangelo)

Destiny vs Free Will.

'There is no purpose to life, but it’s not an accident.' — Richard Dawkins.

In Thornton Wilder’s THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY the characters were doomed to meet their deaths in the collapse of the bridge as a logical outcome of their lives and personalities. "Is there a direction and meaning in lives beyond the individual's own will?" was the question posed by the author, which is basically fate vs. free will. As a matter of fact, every time a number of people die or get injured in an accident a mind-boggling question raises its ugly head — did some superior force make it happen accidentally on purpose?

Some people believe there’s a cause for everything; others say it’s just a blind chance. I’m inclined to think that chance is an unperceived necessity.

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). 

What is the Meaning and Purpose of Life?

William Shakespeare.
(Chandos Portrait)

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.
(W. Shakespeare, 'Macbeth'. Act v, scene 5)

There is  little to add really to this masterly definition of the futility of life. Indeed, two things inexorably invalidate any purpose and meaning life can have: ageing and death (not to mention diseases), so any quest for purpose of life is a total waste of time. Still, as self-aware beings the thinking humans have always pondered on this question. It hurts to accept that our life has no Meaning or Purpose at all, so we desperately try to at least build up an illusion. Throughout the history of mankind the belief in afterlife and eternal soul has arguably been the only source of hope that what we do in our lives signifies something, in other words, there must be someone somewhere who cares.  Being unable to see the bigger picture, all we can do is merely speculate why we have been dragged into this vale of tears.