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The Book Of Genesis Essay

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The book of Genesis aims to answer many of the fundamental theological questions like who is God, what it means to be a human, and what is the divine-human relationship. Many turn to the bible to give us answers to these important questions we have in our life. The book of Genesis can help provide us with some truths if we are able to see it as a metaphor.
The reason Genesis is so important is not because it gives us a scientific 100% true account of how the world and man were created. Instead it can give us insight in a metaphorical way as to way the world and man were created by God. If we can understand that the bible’s purpose is not to give us factual accounts of the world, we can let go of asking how it was possible and concentrate on …show more content…

Borg first recognizes that a myth does not mean it is completely wrong, instead he says, “myths are metaphorical narratives about the relation between this world and the sacred” (Borg 71). Myths are not to be taken as facts and also not to be taken literally. “The only literal statement in Genesis 1 is ‘God created the heavens and the earth’” (Borg 72). This shows that what is written in the bible is not always supposed to be taken literally. Stories like the creation of the world in six days, Adam and Eve, and Noah’s ark are hard to be seen as historically accurate and instead are supposed to be read as mythological stories with metaphorical meaning. People can get caught up in arguing if these accounts are true or not, but according to Borg that is not the purpose instead we should read them from a more metaphorical view in order to appreciate the messages and also understand why Israel would tell these stories. “the book of Genesis can be read as an unfinished plot of a mystery story” (Boadt 101). The fact that the book of Genesis tells the story about creation while still leaving many questions unanswered is a great example of how it is a mystery. The further we read into it as a problem seeking literal answers and analyzing it, it can leave us more confused. For example, after reading Adam and Eve has two sons Cain and Abel and one of them killed the other

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