In this small corner of the Anglican world, the Sunday past is called Septuagesima. It begins the preparation for Lent, a time of fasting and reflection on how to live and grow into a holy life. When Septuagesima arrives, the very first book of the Old Testament, the Book of Genesis, comes into the list of readings for daily prayer. For the better part of a month, I and millions of other Christians will read almost the entire book from start to finish, but we never read the same one twice.
The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is one of those tales, like Jonah and the Whale, that is tailor-made for children, but it is actually the second account of creation in Genesis. The first one appeals to me as a writer. It begins with the opening words of the Bible: In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void …” In this version, God speaks creation into existence.
God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. Genesis 1:10a. Sunset at Cabo de Roca, Portugal ~ æssmith photo
This is very far from our understanding of the cosmos today and how it came into being, but that is all right. Diarmaid MacCulloch, author of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, writes of putting aside “modern neurosis about the authority of the Bible” so it can be taken “seriously rather than literally.” This enables each individual reader to hear God speaking words meant only for them. What you hear will depend on many things:
- where you are in your life’s journey
- whether you have begun your quest
- what personality type you are
- the state of your physical and mental health
- countless other factors specific to you
One thing that confused me when I first began reading the Bible on a regular basis was its description as “the inspired word of God.” The God of the Old Testament is full of vengeance and cruelty. He is the opposite of what Jesus taught about loving others, including your enemies and those different from you. Early on in the New Testament, writers are already contradicting this message of love. Some Bible writings, like the Adam and Eve story in Genesis, invite us to believe a myth instead of well-founded scientific discoveries about the beginning of the universe.
The Bible is the work of many, many writers and editors, most unnamed. They were inspired by God to write these words for our benefit, which they did to the best of their knowledge at the time. That is why the person seeking for understanding is open to renewing Genesis and all of Holy Scripture with each reading. Truth emerges over time.
As the Bible becomes more familiar, questions become more searching, and answers richer and more satisfying. Diverse parts of the Bible link up in many ways, and readers become better at discerning meaning. Make a habit of reading it every day, and you will soon see what I mean.
(My ebook, Father Robert’s Gift, will be free to anyone who subscribes to this blog once the site is properly launched this spring. It helps lay a foundation for daily prayer and scripture reading to sustain you on your quest. If you are reading this pre-launch, you received the URL from me or someone else, or you found Anselm’s Quest by “accident.”)