Genesis – Our Theological Toolkit

“I don’t believe in Genesis. I don’t believe that God created the World in 7 days. I don’t believe in Adam and Eve, and I definitely don’t believe in any Flood.” (Sound familiar?)

Ok cool, but I must say, a little weird. I mean, what would be the right number of days to create a World? And you don’t believe your parents had parents? But I am happy to hear that you have no experience with natural disasters – just don’t move to California!

But ok, no Genesis for you. Got it! How about arithmetic then? Do you ‘believe’ in arithmetic? For example, do you believe that a² + b² = c²? You do? Sorry, you say you do…but you don’t! You don’t believe that one letter combines with another letter to form a third letter. The very idea is ludicrous. It’s just a bit of nonsense like you might find in an Edward Lear poem.

a² + b² = c² is true, and meaningful, only if you understand that a, b, and c stand for the lengths of the sides of a right triangle. Now we’re getting somewhere. Finally, common ground! We all believe in the Pythagorean Theorem. 

Well, Genesis is like arithmetic; it’s a toolkit – a theological toolkit. Arithmetic doesn’t tell you how much you spent on groceries last week, but it gives you the tools you need to answer that question yourself. 

Likewise, Genesis provides a detailed inventory of tools, a description of what each tool does, and some hints about how the tools work in tandem. Armed with these tools, you can do something much more important than household budgeting; you can play that ultimate reality game called Eternal Life. 

As with mathematics, so with theology! Master all the symbols and their relations and there’s no limit to the intellectual edifices you can construct. Minecraft and Legos can’t compete! 

First, the primal opposites: light & dark, land & sea, earth & sky. Then the characters: Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, Abraham & Sarah, Isaac & Rebecca, Jacob & Leah – and I’m just scratching the surface. Think of these so-called Patriarchs (sic) as our avatars.

Per Alfred North Whitehead, every event is bi-polar. He dichotomized the world as conceptual and physical, Quine as quality and quiddity,  Heidegger as what-is and that-is. The ancient Greeks created an algebra for quantitative (physical) relationships. The ancient Hebrews created an algebra for qualitative (conceptual) relationships. Together, the two algebras are comprehensive enough to encompass any possible input; and in that way, we can say that mathematics and theology are both universally true.

We can also say that John, Paul, George and Ringo (I mean, Augustine and Aquinas) were on the right track when each sought to synthesize Semitic theology with Hellenic philosophy.

Genesis is chockablock full of ideas - abstract concepts broken down and communicated in narrative form. Big Bang, evolution, urbanization, technology – it’s all there! We just have to understand it. 

In Ulysses James Joyce broke down World history and culture and reformed them as the story of a single day (June 16, 1904) in the life of a single city (Dublin). Jesus of Nazareth used a similar technique in crafting his parables: he took concrete elements from everyday life and used them as symbols to encode and communicate abstract ideas. Yes, we are traveling in good company!

Pablo Picasso endorsed our project: “It isn’t up to the painter to define the symbols. The public who look at the picture must interpret the symbols as they understand them.”

As did St. Paul: “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit…To one is given…tongues, to another interpretation of tongues… If any speak in a tongue …let someone (else) interpret (it).” (1 Cor. 12: 4 – 16  & 14: 27)

Joyce himself characterized the physical world as the “signatures of all things I am here to read.” (Ulysses)

Biblical theology is like Improv: here’s a situation, here are the characters…now go! According to the theater house rules, error (aka sin, heresy, idolatry) occurs only when someone steps out of character. 

Within each character, everything is possible; beyond the character, nothing is allowed. This is the meaning of Dogma; it sets the buggy-baby-bumpers, the guardrails; but within the confines of Dogma, it’s no holds barred! 

We’re all asking the same questions as Gauguin! Who are we, where did we come from, where are we going, how did we get here…and why? To help us explore those questions, the Judeo-Christian tradition provides a costume closet full of avatars…and invites us to go crazy. We haven’t had this much fun since we played dress-up in our parents’ attic. 

There is only one rule: avatars can do nothing that is inconsistent with their characters. Otherwise, the sky’s the limit. As theologians, professional or arm chair, working in the Judeo-Christian tradition, our job is to plumb the depths of these characters and explore the dynamics of the relationships among them. 

Ok, let’s get to work! Begin with God, Adam, and Eve. Add in a tree, its fruit, and a snake. What can you do with that? Well, that’s theology…and cosmology. 

Keep the conversation going.

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