Growing up, the Bible’s creation story is the only one I read. It wasn’t until this class that I really explored more than just Genesis. And turns out, in a sense, I wasn’t really missing much–Mesopotamia has plenty of similar stories. This was such an interesting realization to me, considering that I hadn’t thought much about other stories or how geography affected them. Sometimes I forget that the Bible was likely told orally until written down, and that they developed and travelled around just like the epic poetry and legends of Old English.
During our discussion, I have been really indecisive in how I view the Genesis story. It’s extremely unlikely that the author(s) were there, so there’s no way of really knowing what happened. Considering that this was probably an epic or mythologically-influenced story makes me think–what is considered true? A beautiful story about light emerging from darkness and man being formed from dust is not without value, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be an exact recounting of events in order to be meaningful. Even if it is some outlandish legend passed down, it’s still tradition and it’s still inspiring.