A Heathen’s Analysis of The Bible 1: Genesis 1.1
by The Bible is perhaps one of the most popular books ever to have been published. Reports suggest that more homes own a copy of the Christian text than The Da Vinci Code. Many people live their lives by its contents, but how does the text itself stand up to scrutiny?
1.1 In the beginning… to 1.24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature
The story of creation, as told in the Bible, follows this path – earth, light, sun and stars, birds and whales, reptiles and insects, flowering plants, then animals. Why does science, common sense, and the fossil record, suggest that these things could not have occurred in the order stated?
1.3 And God said, Let there be light… to 1.16 And God made two great lights…
In Genesis 1.3, God creates light and separates it from darkness – day from night – on the very first day of creation. But it is not until the fourth day that he creates the sun, moon and stars. How could there be ‘the evening and the morning’ on the first day if there was no sun?
1.11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass
Genesis 1.11 takes place on the third day of creation, a day before the sun and the stars. How did plants survive on that day (which is also generally understood to be something considerably larger than a 24hr period) without the sun? Is this a mistake, caused by authors who were unaware of the process of photosynthesis?
1.16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night
The lesser light – the moon – is not technically a light, merely reflecting the sun’s light from it’s surface. Perhaps a petty issue, but an issue nonetheless.
1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
Looking at the Bible as a manual, I’m concerned about the lack of explicit instruction here. God’s suggestion is that we (as the ancestors of Adam) can go out and eat whatever we like - but would you go be happy to go out into the world and eat anything which grew? A good proportion of plants are pretty toxic; fatally so. On top of that, what about the Cannabis plant? Opium poppy? The coca plant? Are these okay for consumption according to God?
The Heathen’s Analysis of the Bible will continue shortly with Genesis 2.1…
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Post CommentPetalm
On October 11, 2009 at 5:25 am
You make some good points. But religious people are going on “belief” which doesn’t involve having much proof. WHo knows what it means, but if it gets people to behave well, and follow a few simple ethical and moral rules in life then it’s a good thing!
fivegoldstars
On October 11, 2009 at 9:23 am
The article isn’t intended to sway anybody – it is simply a look at the Bible, and the information contained within. It fascinates me how Christians claim to live their lives by it, but in reality, they pick and choose small portions. I agree that the thread of morality, in the New Testament at least, could be seen as a good thing, but the inaccuracies, hypocrisy and downright silliness needs to be examined too. Atheists and non-believers are perfectly capable of leading good, moral lives, as were those who lived BC.
dawngordon
On October 11, 2009 at 10:58 am
I do not pick small portions, I believe the entire bible, other then when they stoned people to death and killed others that is..