There are no answers in Genesis

[Anomalocaris]

Anyway, it's not true to say that we read Genesis in EXACTLY the same way we read Hesiod or Shakespeare -- for aesthetic pleasure and the introduction of memorable images. Obviously, just the fact that so many people take the Bible more seriously affects our reaction to it.

But since the arts in general deal with non-science issues that are important to life, Genesis is more like art than it is like science. It provides images and symbols, sometimes in narrative form, which enrich our thinking about our lives and the issues in our lives.

Lie repeated by many people become THE gospel.  In this we agree.   Where we differ is in our assessment about whether lies repeated by many people become any truer, and whether people’s seemingly meritorious reactions to the lie is a credit to the lie or a credit to the people.   The essence is this: Is it creditable to pretend a lie is less false if many people are swooned by it.