Looking for God: an Ongoing Tale - Creation: Big Bang vs. Big Dome

Jeff has just finished making a point with Mitch. He said that the creation narratives in the Christian Bible don't mention the Big Bang. Not only that, but they seem to describe a flat earth with water below the earth and a domed sky with water above it. “As far as I can tell, the Bible starts off with a big error. So, how can anyone believe it after all?” is the way Jeff concludes.

Tamara looks at Mitch as if to say, “I don't think you can get out of this one,” and Mitch catches the look. He takes a breath, but doesn't seem too rattled.

“Here's how I look at it,” he begins. “Do you mind if I say a few things about how people thought about the world when the beginning of the Bible was written?”

“No, of course not. Go ahead.”

“Well, about 3500 years ago, many people in the Middle East, especially in Egypt, did see the world as flat, domed, and surrounded by water. In fact, the people who produced that part of the Bible were living in Egypt, in not very happy circumstances, but that's another story. They were descendents of Abraham, Jewish people.”

“Ok, but what difference does that make?” Jeff asked.

“If you, living in Egypt, were going to write about the universe in those days, you wouldn't be able to write about the Big Bang because you would never have heard of it. You would, though, be able to write about a flat, domed earth with watery borders because that was the best picture of the world available to you. So, you can call it a big error if you want. But that would be beside the point. The point is that the writer of the first part of the Bible is connecting with the thinking of his own time.”

“But that just leads to another question. What's the use of the writer just repeating what everyone at that time already thought about the world?”

Mitch responds quickly. “Well, I would say that he isn't just repeating. He is making a new statement about the world.”

“How is it new?”

“For the Egyptians, and many other people of that time and region, the world was populated by many gods. There was a sky, and a sky god named Nut by the Egyptians. There was land, and a land god, named Geb. The rulers of Egypt were considered to be children of the gods — a concept that came in very handy when they forced their enemies into slavery. There were many other gods, for example, the sun god Re, who each day took a boat from the east to the west across the waters of the sky. At night Re descended into the underworld, to journey through the dangerous waters there.

“In the Bible story of the world, there is a sky, but no sky god. Land but no land god. A sun, but no sun god. There is only one God, the God who created everything there is. There are rulers, but they are not descended from the gods in a way that the rest of us aren't. There is no hierarchy of persons allowing a few to treat the rest as slaves, slaves of the children of the gods.”

“That sounds very interesting,” Jeff responded. “I can see that those stories of the creation, when they were written, would have been politically dangerous because they cut away the right of ancient Egyptian rulers to oppress people. But how are these creation stories true, or even just a little relevant, for today?”

Tune in next week for the conclusion of “Big Bang and Big Dome.”

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