creation and fall; anachronism and metaphor
This is more of a debate with my young earth creationist self, but I need to post it here in case I forget this topic.
Genesis 3 ends with Adam and Eve getting kicked out of the garden of Eden.
Gen. 3:23 So the Lord God expelled him from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. 24 When he drove the man out, he placed on the eastern side of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries who used the flame of a whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life.
If Adam and Eve are the reporters of this story, would they have known what a sword was? Wouldn't a flaming stick have the same effect? So isn't this anachronism enough of an indication that this story was written by a later writer? I'm not saying Moses made this up from whole cloth, but I am saying it's another clue about the metaphorical nature of the story.
This thought follows on a recent argument I read pointing out another example of both Paul and Jesus speaking of Genesis 2 and 3 non-literally, here. Read at your own risk.
Genesis 3 ends with Adam and Eve getting kicked out of the garden of Eden.
Gen. 3:23 So the Lord God expelled him from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. 24 When he drove the man out, he placed on the eastern side of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries who used the flame of a whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life.
 |
| Adam and Eve Are Driven out of Eden by Gustave Dore. Picture portrayed over passage in Genesis. And he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life (Gen. 3:24). (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
If Adam and Eve are the reporters of this story, would they have known what a sword was? Wouldn't a flaming stick have the same effect? So isn't this anachronism enough of an indication that this story was written by a later writer? I'm not saying Moses made this up from whole cloth, but I am saying it's another clue about the metaphorical nature of the story.
This thought follows on a recent argument I read pointing out another example of both Paul and Jesus speaking of Genesis 2 and 3 non-literally, here. Read at your own risk.
Comments