by David Warmflash

Created on: July 07, 2009   Last Updated: July 19, 2009

Let's talk about what you need to believe, if you think the Bible is not outdated. Since it could take several long articles, I'll focus here on the opening lines of Genesis. Perhaps this will lead to subsequent discussions, perhaps not.

First of all, the correct translation of the opening of Genesis is as follows:

In the beginning of Elohim's creating the skies and the Earth, when the Earth HAD BEEN shapeless and formless... Genesis 1:1-2

Notice the past perfect tense. Today, we know that the noun (the Earth) before the conjugated verb the past of "to be" indicates the past perfect in biblical Hebrew. Thus, Elohim ("God", really "gods") begins the creation process on something that already exists. That's right; even the scribe who wrote this (in biblical source criticism, the "P" author a member of the kohanic class, the family of Judaean priests who believed they were descended from Aaron, and who opposed the northern Levites, or Mushite priests, who believed they were descended from Moses) didn't mean to claim creation ex nihilo.

So what was the cosmos before Elohim started reshaping it? Litarary comparison with the tales told by ancient Israel's neighbors suggest to me that, perhaps the story once was about the reshaping of the body of the primeval monster which the Assyrians and Babylonians knew as Tiamat.

Moving on: And Elohim said: 'Let there be a in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And Elohim made the and divided the waters which were under the from the waters which were above the and it was so. And Elohim called the skies. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. And Elohim said: 'Let the waters under the skies be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear.' And it was so. And Elohim called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called seas... Genesis 1:6-10

The Hebrew word often is translated as "firmament". Whatever it is at first, it is inserted into the primeval waters, after which, due to Elohim's naming it, it becomes the skies (heavens in many translations). It is the thing that Elohim uses to divide the waters from the waters. The waters below the skies then are gathered to become the seas on Earth, which is set beneath the skies.

So what happened to the waters above? If you believe the Bible, you must believe they are still there -ABOVE THE SKIES, and that the skies are holding away these primeval waters. You must deny the fact that today we know that outer space is above the skies, and that astronomers and astronauts have not come across a sea in the midst of space. There cannot be a sea in space because there is no pressure. Water evaporates immediately. Hmmm. Well, maybe the waters above went away?

No; this seems to be a consistent belief by the P author. A few chapters later: Genesis 7:11

This is how the Earth is flooded. The skies, which had been holding back the waters above, open. It's a direct reference to the other waters mentioned in chapter 1. And in Chapter 8 they are closed again. So this is not rain from the clouds, but a flooding from the outer sea which surrounds the Earth and skies. If you believe in biblical creation, you must believe that waters lay above the skies.

You must deny astronomy, physics, chemistry, you must believe that NASA and other space agencies are lying, and that astronauts are part of the conspiracy. In short, you must me be paranoid and delusional.

That's enough for now. Next time maybe we'll talk about whether the Bible's take on morality is outdated.

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