Recovering Genesis One from Scientific and Societal Misunderstanding

Abstract

The Genesis 1 creation story is an enigma to modern society because it reads like a historical account, and yet does not accord with scientific descriptions of origins. The cosmic temple model explains some of the puzzling features of Genesis 1, including its six/seven-day structure. However, it leaves many unanswered questions, including the watery beginning of the earth, in contrast to the desert-like beginning of creation in Genesis 2. Nevertheless, the watery beginning and seven-day structure of Genesis 1 provide links with the biblical and Mesopotamian Flood stories. In addition, the stages of creation in Genesis 1 seem to closely mirror the re-creation of the earth after the Flood. This leads to the suggestion here that Genesis 1 was revealed as a series of visions inspired by the experience of Noah’s Flood. Inspiration of the creation story by the cosmic Flood would have grounded the account in historical reality, and also served to intensify its spiritual message. However, this implies that attempts to find concordance between Genesis 1 and scientific accounts of origins are mistaken. Instead, seeing Genesis 1 as a True Myth inspired by the Flood imparts the reality of God’s creation at a deeper level of human experience than a rational scientific explanation could ever achieve.