RE: Genesis 3
December 15, 2014 at 1:59 pm
(This post was last modified: December 15, 2014 at 2:06 pm by watchamadoodle.)
(Sorry if somebody has already mentioned this.) In response to the question in the OP:
One of the Sumerian myths had the gods rebelling against the ruling god, because they didn't like working. To solve this problem the gods created humans who would have the bodies of gods but not the immortality. These humans could do the menial labor that the gods didn't want to do, but they would be too weak to rebel.
Regarding the Garden of Eden, this referred to the gardens associated with ancient near eastern temples. The four rivers referred to building temples near natural springs.
Also, apparently the earliest city dwellers saw themselves as slaves to their city's god and temple. All the land was owned by the temple. The food was processed through the temple. People received food rations from the temple. This was the way the Israelites thought about Yahweh. Yahweh was the slave master of the Israelites. Other nations had their own slave masters.
So the puzzling things in Genesis like "in God's image", "don't let them eat the tree of life and become like us" make more sense after learning these things IMO.
(Sorry if my historical facts are somewhat wrong. Hopefully they are accurate enough for discussion.)
One of the Sumerian myths had the gods rebelling against the ruling god, because they didn't like working. To solve this problem the gods created humans who would have the bodies of gods but not the immortality. These humans could do the menial labor that the gods didn't want to do, but they would be too weak to rebel.
Regarding the Garden of Eden, this referred to the gardens associated with ancient near eastern temples. The four rivers referred to building temples near natural springs.
Also, apparently the earliest city dwellers saw themselves as slaves to their city's god and temple. All the land was owned by the temple. The food was processed through the temple. People received food rations from the temple. This was the way the Israelites thought about Yahweh. Yahweh was the slave master of the Israelites. Other nations had their own slave masters.
So the puzzling things in Genesis like "in God's image", "don't let them eat the tree of life and become like us" make more sense after learning these things IMO.
(Sorry if my historical facts are somewhat wrong. Hopefully they are accurate enough for discussion.)
