All of a sudden, the debate regarding Evolution/Creationism has flared up here in Texas.
I don't understand why we're still having this argument.
Actually, I do. Too many Christians can't wrap their heads around the fact that they can't wrap their heads around the Mind of God. So, they try to stuff God into a box that that they CAN understand.
A lot like the guy (and it probably was a guy) who wrote the book of Genesis. This fella told a story and tailored it to fit his audience. Since his audience was unfamiliar with the scientific method, he used allegory to answer some of life's fundamental questions.
This technique is tremendously effective and perfectly valid to help a male-dominated, pre-industrial society struggling with issues of identity and survival, hunting desperately to learn what caused the thunder and lightening (and, by the way, horribly threatened by the "pagan," female-dominated cultures around them).
An all-powerful — and slightly capricious — Jehovah seemed to fit the observed facts pretty well, and completely validated their patriarchal culture to boot. But, it was a story — a recitation of myth and legend — told in a way that gave comfort to the intended audience.
Myth is powerful ... but it isn't necessarily literal.
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