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Monday, June 7, 2010

Could the book of Genesis symbolize the transition to agriculture?

-Genesis was set in the same place and roughly the same time as the advent of agriculture in the fertile crescent.
-Adam and Eve ate the apple, opening up Pandora's box and getting them banned from Eden.
-Although agriculture and domestication of animals was a huge step in bringing about civilization as we know it, with modern conveniences, technological advances, it was not necessarily a good thing for the earth. Look around you. We've covered our beautiful planet with highways and strip malls, polluted it, and robbed it of its resources. It's undoubtedly not as breathtakingly beautiful and pure as it was back in 10,000 BCE, and although there are still some nice parts left, the world population is growing exponentially, and it's only a matter of time before it's all gone. Our domestication of animals for food destroys the ozone, there's oil in the ocean because we use it for energy, there are nuclear accidents, etc. etc.
-In other words, the agricultural revolution was something we did as human beings that essentially got us kicked out of Eden, and will eventually lead to our demise.
-Our Hunter and Gatherer ancestors are known today to have had more free time than later agriculture civilizations, to have more peace within their tribes, and to live naturally.
-This interpretation makes it possible for Christians to accept the theory of evolution. It means that Adam and Eve were not literally the first people, but the first people to make that huge step away from living like other creatures to living the way that humans live now (so they were, in a way, the first people, depending on your definition of people.) This theory does not collide with the incredible amounts of fossil and other evidence we have proving that evolution occurred. It means that humanity existed long before Adam and Eve, but that Genesis picks up right around the time of the agricultural revolution. This also makes a lot more sense because it would be extremely hard for a story to be told over generations before humans have actually invented speech...
-The most renowned works of literature contain poetic elements such as allusions and symbolism. Creationists who take the Bible completely literally are perhaps underestimating the talent of its authors.
-Share your thoughts!

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