Patsy (Songstress), asked me some questions about Genesis on another forum and it made me realise how difficult it is to read the Bible when we try reading it literally or historically, rather than spiritually.
Back in 2002 I wrote a HUGE forum about Genesis – it took over three weeks of daily writing and covered 3 HP pages (over 100 A4 pages !!). Now, I don’t intend to inflict that on anyone again (I was so impressed with all those, like Paul and Gillyann who stayed with me all the way through originally!) but felt a potted version might be helpful. I have severely edited this and left many "Days" out, but hope you will still get the general gist!
In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy devotes a whole chapter to Genesis, taking every verse in Chapter 1 and then most up to the Cain and Abel story in Genesis 4.
If you would like to, you can read the whole chapter from www.spirituality.com on
http://www.spirituality.com/dt/book_lookup.jhtml?reference=SH%20501&marks=false
Before we begin, I will put any quotes from Genesis 1 in purple, the Adam and Eve allegory in red and the writings of Mary Baker Eddy in blue.
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Day 1
At the beginning of the Bible is a little chapter that has been largely overlooked and ignored. It only has 31 verses and it is so easy to read it, take the words literally and then dismiss it. I am talking about Genesis 1 – you remember, where God made the world in seven days?
Most people assume that the Bible starts with the allegory of Adam and Eve. It doesn’t. The first chapter (and first three verses of the second) was written by a different author from the rest of the book of Genesis. Whoever compiled it all those thousands of years ago decided to leave the two accounts of creation in there, side by side. The second one is completely opposite and contradicts the first. The first one has much spiritual truth and power. The second is a dream. From my personal observation, I would say that Chapter 1 is divine revelation while chapter 2 is human opinion. The first one holds the secret of what God is, what life is, what man is and our relation to HimHer and from this understanding comes immense power that can be expressed through metaphysical healing. It’s worth giving it all a deeper study!
The Bible is on three levels – the moral, the historical and the spiritual. There is the inspired Word – divine revelation, there is also human opinion and there’s also human opinion writing down what they think God’s word is – we have to decide for ourselves what is true and what is not, according to how we have come to understand the Light.
Reading the Bible literally does not work, as it is full of contradictions, so how do you know what is true and what isn’t? We need to remember that it was written by a variety of men of differing levels of spiritual understanding and inspiration. There are also mistakes and mistranslations and where an inspired teacher was dictating, perhaps his not-so-inspired scribe wrote it down wrong! Many people would find what I am saying blasphemous, but that’s just how I understand it.
I decide for myself what is true by what works for me – if I get healing and protection, guidance and supply, peace and joy from a story or a verse, then I consider it to be true because I have PROVED it in my experience. I don’t accept anything just because someone says it’s in the Bible (or Koran or whatever) therefore it must be true. It’s all too easy for religious leaders to threaten with eternal damnation or promise eternal heaven, (or 72 virgins to greet you etc) when they’re not going to be around when you find out for yourself!! What a con!!
The Scriptures are very sacred. Our aim must be to have them understood spiritually, for only by this understanding can truth be gained……
It is this spiritual perception of Scripture,
RE: A spiritual view of Genesis for Songstress
Interesting, Judy.
I recall now that, yes, it is true and certainly not your or CS's opinion that the opening of Genesis has two books stuck onto each other, written out again as though they were one manuscript. This is accepted academic fact.
I'd say that parts of the Bible are written on more than three levels actually. For example, not that I myself can elucidate, but much of the OT can also be read in terms of kabbalistic symbology, kabbalah being the inner or esoteric teaching of the Jews. Then there's a fifth level at least: in the 1970s a fascinating book titled "The Quantum Gods" came out by an author whose name I don't recall. He demonstrated that the "seven days" of Creation in Genesis are also a key teaching on how, through thought, feeling, and the spoken word or fiat, human beings can also command matter as it were, and "precipitate" things, causing events to take place by consciousness.
So the opening of Genesis is also a manual on white magic, or how human beings can be co-creators with God. You just have to read the inner meaning within each of the seven days, understand what is really being said, and then apply those seven "days" (which are really stages) in order to bring things to pass.
Venetian
RE: A spiritual view of Genesis for Songstress
Hi Venetian,
Thanks for your comments, and especially for reminding us about the other stages! There are also of course puzzles like this one:
Subject : Centre of the Bible
This is pretty strange or odd how it worked out this way.
Even if you are not religious, you should read this.
What is the shortest chapter in the Bible? Psalm 117
What is the longest chapter in the Bible? Psalm 119
Which chapter is in the centre of the Bible? Answer Psalm 118
Fact: there are 594 chapters before Psalm 118
Fact: there are 594 chapters after Psalm 118
Add these numbers together and you get 1188.
Does Psalm 118 v.8 say anything significant about God's perfect will for our lives?
The next time someone says they would like to find God's perfect will for their lives and that they want to be in the centre of His will, just send them to the centre of His Word!
Psalm 118 v.8 (NKJV) "It is better to trust in the LORD than put confidence in Man"
It saddens me when people just dismiss the Bible (or any other sacred text) as simply a fairy story and not of any relevance to today's world and its problems.
Love and peace,
Judy
PS This is just my little jokey numbers thing, but I like to remind myself of it sometimes:
Question: What is God's telephone number?
Answer: Isaiah 6524 😉
RE: A spiritual view of Genesis for Songstress
Dear Judy
This quote smacks of seperation and the Vatican's wish to stand between us and GOD.
Psalm 118 v.8 (NKJV) "It is better to trust in the LORD than put confidence in Man"
We are one, we are all part of GOD there is no seperation unless we perceive it to be so IMHO.
being love
kim xx
RE: A spiritual view of Genesis for Songstress
Hey Kim,
The Vatican didn't write the Psalms!! 😉 (Or are you saying that they deliberately compiled the Bible so that verse would be in the middle. Hard to engineer I would have thought as it was all translating what was already there.
Most people do see separation between God and his idea, man - that's what the Adam and Eve allegory is all about! Most people do trust in man, or at least in material things and remedies rather than God, so yes, that is separation, isn't it? Very few people turn to God in total trust and expectation of good except as a last resort and then see Him as some sort of Band-aid, which is not what it's all about! Surely the Psalmist here is turning us gently away from our reliance on matter and back to one-ness?
Love and peace,
Judy