Alpha Omega

Before starting out to check the authenticity of the description of the creation process as presented in the first chapter of Genesis, one must take note of a few stumbling blocks that impedes the understanding of Genesis.

First of all, many learned theologians believe that the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Holy Bible, was written by at least four different people and that Moses and its other writers were essentially “editors” who gathered together these writings and other writings and then added some of their own. These authors are today identified as the Priestly, the Yahwist, the Elohist and the Deuteronomic.

The first chapter of Genesis is the Priestly account of the creation. His well organized, rhyme-like description of the creation is somewhat similar to Babylonian accounts but it exhibits the unique theology of ancient Israel. The second and third chapters of Genesis, the Yahwist account of what happened in the beginning, are a story about the relationship of a man and a woman and their struggle against the evil of this world. Finally, the Elohist is woven into the Yahwist in a number of places throughout the Pentateuch. This ancient servant uses dreams, visions and things of this nature to communicate with God.

The Deuteronomic author had no active role to the Book of Genesis and therefore will not be discussed at this time.

The above is probably true. One is must leave information of this type to those theologians with whom it is concerned to figure out. But such does not interfere with the interpretation of Genesis that is given in this book. This is because the Latin Vulgate of St. Jerome is over sixteen hundred years old and the Douay-Rheims is over four hundred years old — both old enough to prove what this book intends to prove.

Besides, before the development of writing, ancient people taught their children to memorize, word for word, such stories as related in the opening chapters of Genesis. Then when they were finally written down, they were written just as they were originally conceived many generations earlier. When St. Jerome translated Genesis into Latin he was inspired by god to keep this wording just as it was. It was kept again when it was translated into English. One, therefore, has Genesis today, thousands of years after its conception, basically in its original wording.

But again, whoever and however it began is irrelevant to this trilogy, for the explanation of the creation process in Genesis describes what its heavenly Author wanted described. Which is an explanation of the creation as it actually happened. This latter fact, and the fact that the description presented in Genesis is older than the Copernican Revolution and subsequent scientific revelations, is another major premise of this treatise.

One should note that many theologians believe that a literal interpretation of Genesis makes God out to be a liar, for it denies that which science teaches. They instead claim that the ancient originators of Genesis obtained their stories from bastardized versions of ancient Babylonian, Egyptian and Mesopotamian myths. These myths, they claim, were altered and combined by these Hebrew prophets in order to form their own stories that explained their one God as superior to the many gods of polytheistic religions.

The theologians of today claim that Genesis is not a myth because the bible was never intended to be a book of science. They further claim that the ancient authors of Geneis were just trying to reveal their one true God as superior to the pagan polytheistic gods. Since to propagate this latter would not be a lie, they conclude that Genesis is not a myth and God is not guilty of inspiring a lie.

But a myth is a myth, no matter how it is explained. Genesis describes a creation process of the universe, the earth, life and man. That explanation is either the truth or a lie, authentic or symbolic, factual or mythical. If it is a lie or a myth or anything but the truth, then God is guilty of deceit.

This treatise hopes to show that chapters two and three of Genesis could possibly and conceivably date as far back as the Mesolithic Age, 10 to 15 thousand years ago. Then many years after that, the ancient originator of the first chapter of Genesis was inspired by God to compose a poem of sorts that would actually parallel what science would eventually reveal about the creation process thousands of years later.

One may wonder how this ancient prophet could know anything about galaxies, nebulae, microscopic bacteria, photosynthesis, evolution, dinosaurs or any of the other scientific discoveries since the Copernican Revolution. The answer is simple: He did not have to know. The narrative he composed was what our Lord revealed to him. This “poem” was in a form that this ancient prophet, with his very limited knowledge of science and the things of this world, could understand and, most importantly, could believe in. Yet it is completely acceptable to one living in today’s highly advanced technology.

God revealed to His ancient servant a creation process that he could comprehend and believe in, a creation process that all those who would come after him could comprehend and believe in, and a creation process that someone living in today’s highly developed, technological society could comprehend and believe in.

Most theologians will confirm the fact that God often asks one to do things that are beyond one’s comprehension. The Holy Bible is full of such requests by God of the prophets. This treatise hopes to manifest that Genesis is just this sort of intercession. God revealed to His ancient priest what He wanted this “poem” to say and it has laid veiled in mystery until He chose to reveal it. This book aspires to manifest that Genesis is a Rosetta Stone that needs proper interpretation.

But an even larger stumbling block in an understanding of Genesis is man’s own lack of humility. He is too proud to admit that he does not understand the works of God. He does not have the humility one needs to accept God as simple Truth. Man puts our Lord on a pedestal and hangs a sign there saying: Do not touch Him least you die! Man then persecutes unmercifully all those who would die to themselves by touching Truth and acknowledging their own unworthiness.

What did the unbelievers do with the treatise on the heliocentric system of planetary motions by Nicolaus Copernicus? Later, when Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642) discovered satellites revolving around Jupiter and then used this as evidence to also prove a Sun centered solar system, what did the unbelievers do to him? What did they do James Hutton (1726 - 1797) when he declared that the mountains were millions of years old? What did they do to Charles Darwin’s treatise on evolution? What did they do to Alfred Wegener when he tried to explain continental drift to them?

What have the proud and conceited unbelievers always done when Truth presented itself to them? They rejected it, ridiculed it and persecuted it every time, for they do not have the humility one needs to accept God when He appears to them. They oppressed Truth in the name of God just as they have always persecuted under the pretense of doing God’s will. The only offering they give to our Lord is lip service! Their hearts are far from Him!

It takes humility to accept the fact that man evolved from an ape and that he is equal to a worm (Ps.21:7). The unbelievers did not have this humility and they failed to follow the example of the humble, patient believers who accepted both the opening chapters of Genesis as truth as well as other explanations of the creation.

The pseudo-Christians (both Catholic and non-Catholic) failed to listen to the words of the many faithful who prayed to God for guidance in their hour of trial. They failed to accept the teachings of the steadfast who believed that logic and science could never contradict the Holy Bible. They failed to understand that it makes no difference whether it is scientific truth or biblical truth, it all has the same source: God. Truth is truth no matter how it is reported.

The humble, patient believers had enough faith to know that somehow everything would work out in the end, even though the Holy Scriptures and other explanations of the creation process had the outward appearance of contradicting each other and denying that which their faith understood.

The description of the creation as presented in Genesis was accepted by St. Paul and St. Barnabas, whose beliefs concerning the origin of the universe, the earth, life and man were strongly influenced by the Greeks. The opening chapters of Genesis were accepted by St. Benedict (480 - 543) and St. Francis of Assisi (1182 - 1226), yet their conception of the origin of everything was filled with all kinds of medieval beliefs.

The two great theologians, St. Augustine (354 - 430) and St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 - 1274), both accepted the Holy Bible as truth as well as the truths of scientific logic. Both believed in the spirituality and the corporeality of man. After the scientific revolution began and during the height of the Reformation neither St. Thomas More (1478 - 1535) nor St. Teresa of Avila (1515 - 1582) rejected either the Holy Scriptures or scientific explanations of the creation.

These children of God had the humility to accept the guidance of those who were more learned than they, and the faith to submit their own beliefs to examination by their spiritual directors. Finally, when the twentieth century opened and scientific revelations were having a heyday, both St. Pius X (1835 - 1914) and St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850 - 1917) remained faithful to the Holy Bible and to science.

None of these children of God formulated their own biblical interpretation and then attempted to impress this belief on the scientific community.

Nor have any of those scientists who have sought truth attempted to impress their beliefs upon the theological community. Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506) did not; Leonardo DaVinci (1452 - 1519) did not; Thomas Malthus (1766 - 1834) did not; Charles Lyell (1797 - 1875) did not; nor did Gregor Mendel, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler or Isaac Newton try to impress the theological community with their beliefs.

All these people — some with deep religious convictions — and many, many more not mentioned in this trilogy refused to reject truth when it was presented to them, no matter what form it took upon its presentation. They refused to openly comment upon subjects of which they knew little or nothing. Rather, they held to the beliefs they knew to be true in their own fields of expertise and yielded to those with superior knowledge in other fields of study.

Truly, only an omniscient God could describe the creation of the universe, the earth, life and man in a mystical but simple truth and have this same description acceptable by so many people, over such a long period of time and over such a wide variety of knowledges. A mortal being could not do this. Such a description would have been lost long, long ago with the ancient Babylonian, Egyptian and Mesopotamian myths of ages past.

Finally, the biggest stumbling block in the misunderstanding of Genesis is man’s inability to accept the teachings of his neighbor. He refuses to acknowledge the truths professed by those who hold a different opinion. This misunderstanding has a double edge and has divided Christianity.

On the one hand there are those who are holding fast to a fundamental interpretation of Genesis but reject scientific evolution as a distortion of truth by the godless. The other school of thought believes in scientific evolution but rejects the description of the creation process in Genesis as a myth; they give it a symbolic interpretation.

Both the fundamentalistic view and the symbolic view appear to have strong arguments supporting their belief.

The fundamentalists believe that God inspired the ancient authors of Genesis. They further believe that our Lord cannot inspire a lie and that a mythical Genesis is essentially a lie or fantasy, a story created by the imagination of a talebearer. God would not inspire such. Since our Lord must inspire truth, they conclude that Genesis must be the truth. They claim that present scientific beliefs in evolution are nothing more than an illusion. They give Genesis a fundamentalistic interpretation, calling it scientific creationism, intelligent design creation or some other fundamentalistic interpretation.

Drawing their conclusion further, they proclaim that Genesis is the cornerstone and foundation of the whole bible and if its interpretation is only symbolic or if it is a myth, then there is nothing to prove that the rest of the Holy Scriptures, including the gospels, are not myths or only symbolically true. If Genesis contains myths, fanciful stories or symbolic interpretations, this would negate the other divine truths that are proclaimed within the Holy Bible and undermine God’s promise to protect and save His lost children.

Fundamentalists believe that due to these dire effects God cannot allow the Holy Bible to be anything but total truth from the very first word to the very last word.

The other argument in this double edge misunderstanding is equally convincing. Those who follow this other school of thought hold fast to evolution, for they perceive the truths proclaimed by science. But they believe that Genesis and other apparently nonscientific (unrealistic) biblical passages (e.g., the story of Jonah and the whale) are only symbolically true or that these stories are myths invented by over zealous prophets in order to manifest God’s love for His children and His superiority over polytheistic deities.

Then, pointing to past generations who persecuted scientific truth in favor of incorrect biblical interpretations, they believe that Genesis was never intended to be a scientific treatise. Going further, they correctly show how the theological community loses every time it attempts to impress its dogmas upon the scientific community. They correctly demonstrate how scientific evidence discloses that the universe, the earth and life have all been here for billions of years and that modern man has been here some fifteen to twenty-five thousand years.

Comparing these facts with Genesis (which the evolutionists believe supports a universe, earth, life and man that are only about six thousand years old), they claim that a literal interpretation of the biblical passage supports a theory that is nothing more than a lie. That is, they believe that a literal interpretation of Genesis claims that what scientifically appears to be a very old universe and earth are in reality a very young universe and life.

Then the evolutionists rightly proclaim that if God made a young universe to look old, then He is guilty of deceiving mankind. In order to avoid this conclusion, they conclude that Genesis must be symbolically understood so as not to contradict the truths of science.

Evolutionists believe that because of these dire effects God cannot allow the laws of natural science to reveal anything but total truth. If not, then our Lord cannot be trusted to keep His promise to protect and save His lost children.

By now one should be able to perceive that both schools of thought have truth in their beliefs. With both the ultimate conclusion for rejecting their beliefs concerning Genesis is a denial of God’s protection and salvation of His lost children. As noted earlier the fundamentalists have one fact defending their belief (Genesis is the truthful word of God) and the evolutioinists have numerous facts defending their belief (science does not lie).

One should also be able to perceive that both beliefs have flaws in their views. The fundamentalistic view of Genesis has science propagating an illusion, while the symbolic view of Genesis has the Holy Bible propagating myths.

However, all those who hold fast to a fundamentalist interpretation of Genesis make our Lord a deceiver for creating a young earth that appears to be very old. The fundamentalists make God out as a fool for having fossils that appear to be millions of years old but the earth itself being only a few thousand years old.

Yet, all those who hold fast to a scientific view of the creation make our Lord a liar for inspiring a mythical Genesis. The evolutionists make God out as a fool for not being able to control the production of His own bible.

Neither the creationists nor the evolutionists can see what happened when the universe, the earth, life and man were created and then how God’s servants “wrote” a description of this creation process. First, our Lord “masterminded” millions of years of evolution. He then supervised the writing of His Holy Scriptures for a couple thousand years.

Neither belief understands that the glory of God is seen in His ability to mastermind both evolution and the writing of the Holy Bible. Neither school of thought sees that there is no glory in Him just snapping His fingers and creating the universe, the earth, life, and man (as the creationists believe) nor in His just allowing some ancient prophet to compose his own version of how the universe, the earth, life, and man were created (as the evolutionists believe).

One should note that God did not literally create man’s physical body. He does not interfere with the physical, chemical and biological laws of nature. As noted earlier, just as a rich man will hire a construction crew to build his house, following his instructions, so also did God create the universe, the earth, life and man. God created the laws of natural science that govern this world. It was the law of natural selection that did the actual creating.

Neither school of thought sees the mental gymnastics that one must go through in order to accept their version of Genesis. Neither the evolutionists nor the creationists can see that their beliefs offer the faithful nothing to believe in except magician’s trickery and deceit. The evolutionists cannot see that by negating the truths of the Holy Bible their interpretation of Genesis is feeding atheism, and the creationists cannot see that their fundamentalistic interpretation of Genesis is heresy and causing more damage to Christianity than all the atheists combined.

Just as a master chess player can correctly predict the outcome of a championship match begun with a poor, impotent opening, so also is it with our Lord.

Surely, after the universe, the earth, life and man were created and then God inspired His ancient prophets to compose the opening chapters of Genesis, He foresaw all the problems that would eventually arise were He to start His salvation of man with a weak, impotent beginning. Just as it is true that no chess master would begin a chess match with a weak beginning, so also is it with God. He would not begin His salvation of man with deception and lies. Our Lord could not have allowed science to deceive mankind, nor could He have allowed Genesis to be a myth.

Both the Holy Bible and science must proclaim the truth!

To continue the chess match analogy — no master would allow either his king side or his queen side to become weak and defenseless. Rather, he would fortify all his pieces with correct development.

So too is it with God. He would not allow either the Holy Scriptures or the laws of natural science to propagate deception and lies. He would not allow His servants to propagate anything but truth. He would fortify His children with total truth. Both the Holy Bible and science must propagate the same truth about the creation process or God’s children will be left alone, weak and defenseless.

Alpha Omega

The Stumbling Block