From the Beginning: Stories Of Our Origin and Creation
From the dawn of time, cultures have told tales about their origins as well as of their Gods. That is the way of the Jews too. Their stories can be found within the beginning of the Torah (or ‘Old Testament‘). The continuing heated discussions regarding the tales of Adam and Eve (among others) continue to this day.
A Challenging Situation
When it comes to how to interpret the Bible, women particularly have found the situation to be difficult, and challenging at best. There seems to be no middle ground - the Bible is either considered the literal in all ways or has been dismissed as merely a means to keep women down. It is essential that we discover a middle ground, a means which allows us to take from the Bible the important messages of love and forgiveness, but removes the blame and fear that has been mistakenly woven into it. It is time for a “time-outâ€; a deep breath, as well as a much more reasoned approach to these sacred texts.
For yes, they're sacred; sacred mythology from a long ago time which still speaks to us today. The expert on myths, Joseph Campbell, has made it known to us that myths are a way to show deep truths in metaphors, making them more simple to understand. Presented this way, myths make spiritual that which has been literal. Throughout time, men and women have looked for answers to the core questions of existence, and myths are the results of their search. They work in 4 different ways. Joseph Campbell believes in the sacredness of mythology and frequently described mythology as having the fourfold use belonging to human societies.: Metaphysical, Cosmological, Sociological and Psychological.
According to Campbell, the deep mysteries of existence are beyond words to convey. Myths are "The only way to get a complete understanding of a culture is to become part of the mythic rituals of it, some of which may be found inside the Bible. Myth also functions as being a proto-science, making the physical world a lot more understandable within the comprehension of the society at that time. Mythology confirmed the existing social order and enforces it by reflecting it as part of the stories themselves, frequently describing how the order arrived from divine intervention, as seen throughout the tales in the Bible.
Lastly, myths may help people ease through the stages of their life. As an example, most ancient cultures used rites of passage when a youth passed on to the adult stage. For example, there are rites for children to move into adulthood, as well as for adults passing into old age, then finally for how to move on to the place that's beyond this mortal coil. So, myths are able to teach us the way to embrace all aspects of our lives.
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 four revolutions, and the 5th is gathering speed. The first transformation of thought occurred with the creation of a people and a sacred book using the theology of one transcendent God, known 1st as the Book of Moses or the Torah (literally “The Lawâ€). These concepts of the Israelites being known as people of ’the Book’ and that they worshiped only one God, quickly created a distinction between them and their neighbors.
The 2nd transformation erupted within Judaism and was the start of Christianity and the new body of writings known as the New Testament. It has been fifteen hundred yrs., but today we are seeing the change in stressing the importance of Scripture along with the ability for everyone to have the opportunity to read the words of the bible in their own language instead of having it read to them by a priest. The 4th transformation has been heralded by the enlightenment and ever-growing challenges to religion and sole authority of Scripture, that has come from the world of science and reason.. Now, we are in the midst of what Cullen Murphy calls the fifth revolution, as women infiltrate the sacred halls of academia, creating the credentials and the expertise to manifest a new scholarship based on of the insights from the feminine perspective. The outcome? Murphy, a male Roman Catholic, quotes an article he wrote in 1993 for The Atlantic Monthly that now seems prophetic indeed: “I write these last words on the day of my daughter’s 1st communion in a denomination which still restricts the role of women, and I write them with the expectation that with regard to the position of women, matters will not remain - will simply not be able to remain - as in some places we see them now; in the expectation, to employ a biblical turn, that the present way’s days are numbered.†Murphy goes on to make reference to the handwriting on the wall from the Book of Daniel which, traced by a moving finger upon the plaster, becomes a judgment, a sentence, and an imminent and inevitable prophecy for 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.â€
Author Resource:
This is a small part of one lesson on Mystical Christianity, by Mother Maryesah Karelon, offered through the ULC Â Seminary .hostgator coupon
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