When the story opens, only two characters are present: the story teller and God. The story teller begins telling of the beginning and God. Though I do not know the gender of the story teller, I will use the masculine form, he. If you wish to argue with me about that, step into that room over there. We can argue until the cows come home. Meanwhile, we go on with our story.
The story teller says that what is before the beginning is without form, formless, a void. Completely empty. He does not say where God comes from. The implication is that God comes from the formless, that God himself is formed.
(in later perusings and musings over this story, some call the formless the Godhead. I call it the Source or the Wellspring. But now we start to get into theology or story interpretation and I guarantee theology will make your head hurt, though it can also make your heart sing.)
God begins to make things. First he gives himself some light to work by. Next he clears some space, some working room, an "expanse." In doing so, the Earth and Seas and Sky were formed. Then, he creates vegetation ("seed-bearing plants of every kind" and fruit trees of every kind) and the sun and the moon (thus creating time). The light from the sun and the moon are different from the light that God gave himself.
God keeps nodding in satisfaction. After each thing he does, he sees that it is good.
He then creates the Sea creatures, the Sky creatures, and the Earth creatures. He is pleased.
The stage is set. Now he creates something he begins to regret. "And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." This is the first version of the story. "Man" included both genders. This also implies that God is both genders.
He is not done yet. He blesses the man and woman with fertility and asks them to rule the beings of the Sea, the Sky, and the Earth. He asks them to be vegetarians. "See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food." The beings from the three kingdoms are also "given plants for food."
Then God takes a break.
"Such is the story of heaven and earth when they were created," says the story teller.
This is the end of Story One. It is quickly followed by Story Two.
The story teller says that what is before the beginning is without form, formless, a void. Completely empty. He does not say where God comes from. The implication is that God comes from the formless, that God himself is formed.
(in later perusings and musings over this story, some call the formless the Godhead. I call it the Source or the Wellspring. But now we start to get into theology or story interpretation and I guarantee theology will make your head hurt, though it can also make your heart sing.)
God begins to make things. First he gives himself some light to work by. Next he clears some space, some working room, an "expanse." In doing so, the Earth and Seas and Sky were formed. Then, he creates vegetation ("seed-bearing plants of every kind" and fruit trees of every kind) and the sun and the moon (thus creating time). The light from the sun and the moon are different from the light that God gave himself.
God keeps nodding in satisfaction. After each thing he does, he sees that it is good.
He then creates the Sea creatures, the Sky creatures, and the Earth creatures. He is pleased.
The stage is set. Now he creates something he begins to regret. "And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." This is the first version of the story. "Man" included both genders. This also implies that God is both genders.
He is not done yet. He blesses the man and woman with fertility and asks them to rule the beings of the Sea, the Sky, and the Earth. He asks them to be vegetarians. "See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food." The beings from the three kingdoms are also "given plants for food."
Then God takes a break.
"Such is the story of heaven and earth when they were created," says the story teller.
This is the end of Story One. It is quickly followed by Story Two.
can't wait to hear what comes next, geo.
ReplyDeleteHave you noticed that as our concept of the heaven or the Universe expands, that our concept of God expands? When that story was written, Heaven encompassed the sky, the sky was just lights, and after several thousand years the lights became stars like our Sun, then galaxies (Edwin Hubble) which was not that long ago. We stand on a finite island gazing at a possibly infinite sea or expanse. So, how expansive is God?
ReplyDeleteFun story so far.
ReplyDeleteLove this very much . Thanks :-)
ReplyDelete