Did Adam and Eve really exist? Did a serpent talk to Adam and Eve like a
little cartoon snake? The story goes
that when humans first came on the scene, we had everything that we
needed. Humans didn’t have to work for
food because it was all there in all of its vegan glory. It was like a big salad bar everywhere they
walked. They hung out with the animals,
and there was no hunter or the hunted because they lived off of the earth. However, they were told to not do one thing –
don’t eat from one tree called “The tree of the knowledge of good and
evil.” They had a TON of freedom to do
just about anything – anything but distrust God. God gave them everything they needed, and all
God asked is that they recognize that God is not holding back anything for them
to be happy. An analogy would be a
parent telling their child “We’ll go to the playground today, but just don’t
try and cross the busy road.”
This story might be just an allegory to explain how God
created this universe out of love, and that originally there was perfect
harmony on earth and that humans lacked nothing. Humans selfishly decided that the universe
revolves around them, and this introduced violence, greed, deceit, stress,
worry, shame, and all sorts of pain into our world. God put freedom of choice at the center of
our existence, and with freedom comes the abuse of freedom.
Did Jesus really exist?
Did God have a son that he sent on a trip to earth to forgive us of our
sins? The story goes that Jesus came to
earth as a baby and grew up, made 12 close friends and went around healing
people physically and spiritually. Jesus predicts his death and resurrection,
and then sure enough, he is crucified and then rises from the dead 3 days later. It’s an understatement to say that this story
has a lot more meaning than even the story of Adam and Eve, but I believe that
the core message is that God puts love at the center of our existence, and that
love is ultimately sacrificing yourself for others.
To say that the story of Jesus is an allegory would be to
ignore every rule of literary criticism that clearly shows that the story
of Jesus is written as a historical narrative. However, there are still people that
believe that Jesus didn’t exist, or the story of Jesus is not to be taken at
face value. Regardless, there is truth
in story regardless of whether it’s a historical story, or a parable-like story
that communicate a truth. Jesus wasn’t
compelled to always deliver truth by detailing historical events – He delivered
most of his stories in parables.
I believe that the historical accuracy of most stories in the
bible is beside the point, because I believe the messages of the stories in the
Bible show us who God is, and they lead to life, regardless of whether they’re
historical narrative, or allegory (I understand that plenty of people will disagree with me
on this). The message of the Bible is
more important than the historical or scientific detail of the Bible, even
though there is a tremendous amount of support for the historical accuracy for
much of the Bible.
What does it mean for you if Adam, Eve, Jesus and
other stories of the Bible aren’t historical narratives, but stories people
told about the self-sacrificial love of God?
Would you still trust God? Would
you still love sacrificially?
Do you have faith in a God of love, or faith in a set of
doctrines?
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