Quote:
Originally Posted by woot
I'm sorry, have we not met? I'm woot, and I'm not religious. Stating that the garden of Eden was not in Missouri is not religious. It is obvious fact based several independent disciplines. First, the garden of eden is part of a metaphorical (or "false" if that's too presumptuous) creation myth, and never actually existed. We know this in various ways which have been discussed extensively on this forum. Therefore, we know it wasn't in Missouri since it wasn't anywhere. Second, plate tectonics is a well-established scientific theory, and we have a pretty good idea of when Pangaea existed. It wasn't during the time of "Peleg" or any other human. Therefore, even if we pretend that the garden of eden existed, it couldn't have been in Missouri.
When scientific principles are occasionally instructive concerning religious matters, they don't temporarily become opinions for the duration of the religious conversation.
|
I agree with you that the Garden of Eden story is not literal, and you are right that thinking of the Genesis creation myth as metaphor is presumptuous. Metaphors assert (and all metaphors assume a metaphysics, but that's another discussion for another day) a significant similarity between two referents or concepts. I'm more apt to value the Genesis creation myth as metonym.
I'd caution you not to implicitly equate truth with fact when you declare things like the Genesis creation myth false. I'm well aware of the scientific arguments you are marshalling against TB and I probably agree with them (In this thread you haven't as of yet made a factual claim that I'd dispute). But indicting the Garden of Eden in terms of fact is not the same as indicting it in terms of truth. Fiction can have great truths when it speaks to how we understand the human condition. Nonfiction, such as autobiography, can be jam packed with lies. People can find truth in the Genesis creation myths if they find the human condition in them, regardless of their factual foundation. A psychoanalyst could find them to be true to the degree that they accurately depict patterns of sexual repression that beset Western culture. A transcendentalist, like Emerson, could find that they teach truths about how humans relate to nature.
I'm sure you are aware of these things. I wrote them mostly for the benefit of passersby.