In the Beginning: Tales Of Our Origin and Creation

The Beginning: Tales Of Our Origin and Creation Since the beginning of time, cultures have told stories describing their origins as well as of their Gods. This is the way of the Jews as well. Their stories can be recorded throughout the beginning of the Torah (aka ‘Old Testament‘). Like with all other cultures, the creation stories found in the Old Testament tell the tales of the beginning of the people. Unfortunately, from perhaps unintentional misinterpretation and misunderstanding, these types of tales have, over the centuries, denigrated the female half of the people. The apple of the Garden of Eden has had a awful effect on all of humanity, both men and women, and we can’t start to build bridges between the genders or talk of true partnership until we fix the wounds created by the twin serpents of fear and blame. It is time. A Difficult Challenge For many people today, particularly women, the Bible has become a prolematic and increasingly pointless challenge. The extremes appear to rule the day - either Holy Scripture is to be received as the precise word of God, or it is not read at all. ridding ourselves of all the positive stuff along with the bad, then starting over, -- and being willing to accept unquestionably the blame and anger towards women that the strict reading from the Scriptures provides. It really is time to take a “time-out”; a deep breath, as well as a more reasoned look at these sacred texts. For yes, they're sacred; sacred mythology of a long ago time that still speaks to us now. The expert on myths, Joseph Campbell, has made it known to us that myths are a way to present deep truths as metaphors, making them more simple to fully grasp. Presented that way, myths make spiritual that which has been literal. Throughout time, men and women have looked for answers to the core questions of life, and myths are the products of their search. They work in 4 distinct ways. 1St, they give us an open invitation to explore mystery Also, they show the way things from the earth and matter might be changed into things which are holy and sacred. Furthermore, myths also validate their own social structure, as can be seen in much of the Old Testament literature. Lastly, myths give us a roadmap for living a rich spiritual existence. Cullen Murphy, in his beautifully written synthesis of women and the Bible, ‘The Word According To Eve‘, proposes that Holy Scripture as we know it has been the catalyst of 4 revolutions, and a fifth is gathering speed. The 1st dramatic change came through the Book of Moses, which introduced the idea of there being merely a single God. These concepts from the Israelites being known as People of ’the Book’ and that they believed in just one God, quickly created a distinction between them and their neighbors. The second transformation erupted within Judaism and gave birth to Christianity and a new body of writings referred to as the New Testament. Fifteen hundred yrs. later we see a similar shift within Christianity, this time exalting the authority and importance of Scripture as well as creating the opportunity for the Bible to be read by the laity, in the vernacular instead of having it read to them by a priest. The fourth dramatic change occurred as the advances of science and reason challenge the accuracy of the words and tales of the Bible. Now, we are in the midst of what Cullen Murphy terms the 5th revolution, as women infiltrate the sacred halls of academia, earning the credentials and the expertise to manifest a new scholarship using of the insights of the feminine perspective. with the expectation, to employ a biblical turn, that the present way’s days are numbered.” Murphy goes on to refer to the handwriting on the wall from the Book of Daniel which, traced by a moving finger along the plaster, becomes a judgment, a sentence, and an imminent and unavoidable prophecy of the future. “On a host of matters involving women and the Bible, the writing on the wall is there to be read. And more and more of it shows itself with every passing day.”

This is a small part of one lesson on Mystical Christianity, by Mother Maryesah Karelon, offered through the ULC Seminary.