To Christians who aren't creationists

[Neo-Scholastic]

My understanding of the scriptures does not reflect the recent orthodoxies, so I do not speak for all. The scriptures have both an external meaning and an internal meaning. Just from memory this is how I read it.

Firstly how do you interpret Genesis 1 and 2? I'm aware of the long-ages, gap theory (whether to account for evolution or the angelic conflict) and framework hypothesis…Assuming you believe in long-ages, how do you account for the order of creation being different than what science tells us?

Both Genesis 1 and 2 are allegories. Genesis 1 corresponds to the progress of the soul, which starts in darkness and proceeds through stages until reaching full regeneration. Each of the days represents a stage in that development and uses symbolism identical to that found elsewhere. For example, references to water, depending on context relate to true or the lack thereof; birds relate to the love of spiritual truth, plants and trees to forms of knowledge etc. Genesis 2 is in reverse order and describes the process of corruption, not only of individuals, but forms of worship over time.

Who were really Adam and Eve? Were they truly the first human beings?

Adam is representative of the first ‘church’, when humans saw God directly from nature. Generally, the wives of the patriarchs represent the ‘proprium’ or ego understanding of self. The generations of Adam represent successive states worship. The specifics of each have been lost, but the names remain. For instance, Abraham represents worship from conscience, Moses from external law, etc.

If death is just spiritual death, did men never kill each other or do other sins until that point?

The doctrine of original sin came in with Augustine. Human nature has not changed, although our understanding of God grows corrupt with time and needs to be renewed with additional revelations throughout history.

Was Noah's flood universal or local?

The flood waters represent universal lack of truth and resulting brutality that filled the earth as some point in history. Noah represents the seed of spiritual truth that was preserved through this turmoil.

How did men live to 900 years old? Or did they?

All numbers are symbolic throughout the scriptures, Genesis through Revelations. Animals two by two signify the union of truth and good that Noah preserved.

Was the tower of Babel a real event? If so, does it account for all the languages of mankind?

No, the story symbolizes our inconsistent understanding of God when we try to mix spiritual ideas with natural ones, for example theology and science.

Is your interpretation truly what the text intended? In other words, how do you defeat creationist's arguments that you take it to mean whatever you want it to mean to accommodate science?

And they don’t? A system of symbols must be allied consistently. What works in Genesis must also work in Leviticus, John and Revelations.

If you take all the spectacular events in the first few chapters of genesis to be just stories (i.e. like parables, not having actually occurred in any sense), how do you account for the way the NT treated it?

The NT is also cloaked in symbols. For example, Jesus feeds (spiritual sustenance) the masses with two (truth plus good) fish (using natural ideas, i.e. parables) and five (complete, but just enough) loaves of barley (basic spiritual truths). Although something legendary may have happened as well, that is not important to the message.

The NT from my memory treats Genesis as literal, as for instance, when tracing Jesus' genealogy all the way back to Adam.

See above. While actual people may have been involved, the inner meaning of the text is to show how the understanding of God was preserved throughout history, on the father’s side by the desire to do good and on the mother’s side by the recognition of truth.