I have a few comments about genre and the Creation story of Genesis 1. Glenn
Morton suggested [regarding the fossil record] :
> As far as I am concerned this data leaves only the evolution option. But
> that then raises the issue of having Genesis be nothing more than myth. And
> that is something I don't want. I think the best approach is to figure out
> how to have a historical Bible without denying modern observational science.
Glenn seems to be using the term "myth" here in its common sense, to refer to
a legendary story without any ties to historical reality. In a literary sense,
however, the term "myth" can also be applied to a story which attempts to
explain a basic truth using allegory or some other non-literal device. I
personally think that this is the genre into which Genesis 1 properly falls
[expressing theological truth, but not via a literal, historical narrative].
Since "myth" implies "non-truth" to many people, other terms for this genre
have been suggested which do not have negative connotations. For example, Karl
Barth used "saga" in Church Dogmatics as a general category referring to
stories which convey truth, but which are beyond the scope of modern historical
science since they refer to non-observable, supernatural events. That doesn't
quite work either (I tend to equate "saga" with "Norse myth", so we are back
to myth again). I prefer to call it a "creation story", and leave it at that.
Glenn, could you repost your Talk.Origins comments to the ASA listserv? I
missed them and would be interested to hear your candidate scenario...
John.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Dr. John C. Eidson
MIT Lincoln Laboratory phone : (617) 981-3520
244 Wood Street, B-370 fax : (617) 981-0695
Lexington, MA 02173-9108 e-mail : eidson@ll.mit.edu
"Opinions, interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations are those
of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the United States
Air Force or MIT Lincoln Laboratory."
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