They say that this happened: Back when railroads dominated transportation in this country, a Protestant minister rose in his pulpit and told his congregation that under no circumstances should anyone travel by train, or ship goods by rail, because the Book of Genesis does not sanction steam engines.
He got that right. Genesis says nothing about steam engines because it is not a scientific textbook. It was written in a time, long ago, when science meant ideas totally different from today’s theories.
Still, it is a wonderful, magnificent gift from Almighty God. The Holy Spirit inspired its author to inform people of that generation, and thereafter, about what life is all about and how they should live to find peace and joy in their lives.
Sadly, Genesis has been so misunderstood, usually by well-meaning, god-fearing believers like the minister who condemned steam engines.
“Creationism,” for example, fixates on the first of the stories about the creation of the world in Genesis, which states that God created all things one day at a time, six days in all, and on the seventh day, God “rested,” — of course relying upon contemporary ways to calculate the passage of time: twenty-four hours, midnight to midnight; weeks of seven days and so on. (Another creation story in Genesis, which says that God created the world in one great divine act, is seldom noted.)
The message of Genesis is clear, exact, timeless and critical for everyone and anyone.
A symbol of false immortality
No one knows when Genesis was written, or when its various components were gathered, but it is very old, composed in a culture totally different from our own. People then spoke in a style rare today. We are accustomed to precision and exactness in communication. Today, “five chairs” means five chairs, not seven or two. Back then, few could count. Explaining nature was a guessing game. Popular was the use of symbols.
In Genesis, a talking snake tempted the first humans, Adam and Eve, to use the English translation of the original Hebrew.
Serpents have never conversed in human language. What did people of that time think when they heard about the talking snake? In the pagan religions that then abounded, snakes symbolized immortality and resilience amid the troubles of life, because snakes shed their skins and continued to live.
Representations of snakes were everywhere, all proclaiming paganism. People wore jewelry depicting snakes, desperately trying to connect with a power greater than themselves.
The talking snake in Genesis was the author’s way of telling the Hebrews to beware of paganism. It brought nothing good. Listen to God. He speaks. Follow God’s commandments. God, the Creator of all things, alone can be trusted.
Only God brings order
Face facts. Take heed from Genesis. Only obedience to God brings order, peace and goodness to life, as the first humans learned the hard way.
Important to the ancient Hebrews were the various ethnicities and conditions all around them, yet Genesis never identifies anyone by incidentals.
Regardless of incidentals, every person is God’s treasure. Nothing is more basic to Catholicism. This idea is the first principle of the Church’s mission, and of Christ’s.
God’s creation is good, given to us to enhance our lives, so we are obliged to protect it, and to share it. Such is Church teaching, declared in the 2015 encyclical of Pope Francis, Laudato Si.
Genesis was written in a very arid, lifeless and unproductive region. In gardens were life-giving water, abundant fresh produce that could be consumed and havens from peril.
God placed the first humans in a garden, not in a desert. He communicated with them. He guided them. He loved them and provided for them. He loves us and provides for us. We are not alone.
They rejected these gifts. God did not abandon them, but what a mess they made. We make our own messes by listening to those snakes of temptation.
