Letter to the Creationists
To whom it may concern:
We have all heard the views and the debates between the so-called
Creationists and the Evolutionists, and I thought
that I would pen this open letter to the Creationist camp.
This letter is not an attempt to "prove" evolution or to ridicule
beliefs. My message is simply to point out that many creationists
are … well, they are missing the whole point of the Bible.
It isn't that I don't believe in literal or historical aspects
of events in the Bible, it is just that these things don't
matter. I mean, who Joiakim fathered in 829 BC? Who
cares. How does this really relate? The point of the
Bible and the rest of the world's scriptures is the meaning behind
the written word.
For example, did Adam and Eve exist? What does it matter? Where
is the Garden of Eden? Is it in Jerusalem or Missouri? How about we
look at it another way… What if the Garden of Eden still exists,
but it is located inside your soul? What if I said the Garden of Eden
is a symbol for your soul?
Then the commandment to "work and take care" of the Garden is
really a commandment to take care of your soul. To bring forth
fruit and flowers for God, means to bring forth good works and
beautiful thoughts…
Or do the flowers mean "art"? … Now you might start to see why
a literal interpretation is flat and meaningless, where a
symbolical view is so much deeper.
The Bible is, therefore, not a history of the world as such, but
a poem that describes a person's spiritual journey.
As a poem, it is subject to poetic interpretation. This
means that as you read it, you relate it to your personal soul.
Since this makes the Bible personal,
and since no two people are the same, personal interpretations will
also be different. We are all on a spiritual journey, but we are at
different points in the road.
I could read and think that eating of the forbidden fruit
from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is the selfish
indulgence of using knowledge for wrong pursuits. And in this
case, we have all fallen from the grace of God that is inherent
in all people. But that is just one meaning as I see it. You
may see it different, but both interpretations would still be
correct.
Now, it isn't the case that people who believe in a literal
interpretation of the Bible are "wrong" … just that they are
missing the point. The historical accuracy is meaningless, but
if the stories inspire us or the symbols teach us the way to our
inward journey of the spirit … now, we are getting somewhere.
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Comment
Just ran across the following from Bully for Brontosaurus by
Stephen Jay Gould (Chapter 22):
There are no shortcuts to moral insight. Nature is not intrinsically anything
that can offer comfort or solace in human terms, if only because our species
is such an insignificant late-comer in a world not constructed for us.
So much the better. The answers to moral dilemas are not lying out there
waiting to be discovered. They reside, like the kingdom of God, within us. The
most difficult and inaccessible spot for any discovery or consensus.