(August 6, 2015 at 9:07 pm)Nestor Wrote: A few thoughts:
The separate creation myths of Genesis 1 and 2 are probably reflective of two different traditions that were incorporated into Jewish theology, each evolving to possess their own significance. For example, one may have been viewed as the creation of mankind in general, while the other specifically related the original progenitors of the Hebrews. Philo of Alexandria, for example, considered Genesis 1 to represent the creation of the Platonic Ideas whereas Genesis 2 related their manifestation into a multiplicity of material objects. He also ascribed to an allegorical interpretation of the seven days by reading Pythagorean number theory into them.
That's not to say that there haven't always been literalists who mistake the symbolism of the myth for (un)factual description, but that is a deeply impoverished reading of the text that misses the philosophical or theological ideas concealed beneath the surface, in much the same way that underlying Plato's Timaeus or Ovid's Metamorphoses are a wealth of possible metaphysical or moral considerations to explore.
This sounds like a educated guess from someone not familiar with how OT Jew told or relayed their stories. Genesis one and two follows their oral tradition in story lay out. The frame work of genesis 1 and 2 if one considers the source and traditions of the people it came from does not support the 'guess' of whatever book you read.
