The Hebrews adopted the Chaldean creation myth as "Genesis" during the Babylonian Captivity. Before that, the religion was entirely oral, and the priests were afraid it would be lost if their captivity lasted long enough, and so they wrote things down and cadged as much as they could (they were working fast) to get things going. Such is the "infallible word of god."
The Hebrews adopted the Chaldean creation myth as "Genesis" during the Babylonian Captivity. Before that, the religion was entirely oral, and the priests were afraid it would be lost if their captivity lasted long enough, and so they wrote things down and cadged as much as they could (they were working fast) to get things going. Such is the "infallible word of god."
Literalism and lack of context are the problem. Jimmy Carter broke from his Baptist tradition over the inerrancy issue and a certain literal take on Scripture.
The guys ( and they were guys) who decided the Scriptural Canon had their own times and rational. Really good biblical scholarship, aided by archeology, sociology geography, historical criticism & literary criticism, use of language and modes of communication only came into its own in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Feminist critique has been added in this century.
We educated and thinking Christians have the responsibility to understand this Book in the light of new knowledge. The best faith is the faith that seeks understanding: the most dangerous is the blind , literal non-contextual use of it to beat people over the head, to control others, to weaponize and polarize.
The Hebrews adopted the Chaldean creation myth as "Genesis" during the Babylonian Captivity. Before that, the religion was entirely oral, and the priests were afraid it would be lost if their captivity lasted long enough, and so they wrote things down and cadged as much as they could (they were working fast) to get things going. Such is the "infallible word of god."
Literalism and lack of context are the problem. Jimmy Carter broke from his Baptist tradition over the inerrancy issue and a certain literal take on Scripture.
The guys ( and they were guys) who decided the Scriptural Canon had their own times and rational. Really good biblical scholarship, aided by archeology, sociology geography, historical criticism & literary criticism, use of language and modes of communication only came into its own in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Feminist critique has been added in this century.
We educated and thinking Christians have the responsibility to understand this Book in the light of new knowledge. The best faith is the faith that seeks understanding: the most dangerous is the blind , literal non-contextual use of it to beat people over the head, to control others, to weaponize and polarize.