Not Holier Than You

Episode four: we have human version 2.0 , pt 1?

Let’s revisit what full humanity is from Genesis 1.26-27. When humanity is together, there is the full expression of the image of God.

Here’s a little experiment….

What happened as you listened to the sounds in that file in the early minutes of the recording? What was your initial response? Why is that? What does it say about you? About us, humanity?

After Genesis 3 - It’s all downhill from Eden (literally and figuratively)

Overview of consequences: Cain, Lamech’s boasting, antediluvian context, had a good think with Noah, but only until Noah got drunk on a mountain, and the dispersion and decline continues (Genesis 7-11).

Then Abraham and Sarah, and God seems to take another path (Genesis 12)

The children of Abraham are not the “chosen of God” in a way that makes them special or part of an exclusive club. It’s more like Costco, less like the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony Tracy Jordan wanted this) club.

 Repairing the Damage

God provides multiple tracks to repair the damage of Eden.

One track: Abraham and Sarah will create a family of reconcilers bring the world together again.

A second track: The prophets, but Isaiah especially, will remind the people that the goal is not world-wide domination by means of some Judean People’s Front or the People’s Front of Judea (kudos to Monty Python), but as a “light to the nations’”. God’s unending goal is to get the family of humanity back together again Isaiah 11; 42.6; Is 49.6; Is 60.3, returning exiles from Babylon plus returning the scattered children on Noah as described in Genesis 10). This sheds new light on John 8.12 (as well as below in reference to Daniel 7)

3.Third track: The other track God pursues is reworking the whole adam thing again, but with a twist.

Read Daniel 7

Babylonian mythological beasts vs the Human One (aka the son of man)

1.       Dream with four empires as beasts

2.       A redeeming “human one” 7.13

3.       Resulting a restored Eden-like relationship between people and earth

The Human One – Jesus’ main way of speaking of himself in the third person. Mat 8.20; 9.6; 11.19.

A little sidetrack on Kumbaya, see: https://www.npr.org/2012/01/13/145059502/when-did-kumbaya-become-such-a-bad-thing ; and https://youtu.be/Ca9s9UiHYvE?t=15

The image of God remains a possibility to be activated? Present, but latent? The image of God is actualized in reconciliation (Isaiah’s hope of bringing people together)?

Let us know what you think, and what questions you have. We are figuring this out as we go. Our huge disclaimer is that we are learning too, and that we might be wrong, but we believe that through conversation around the scriptures, with a community of faith, we can begin to discern. So, partnership with others is crucial in this adventure.

Musical intros, transition music, and the outro are by At the Speed of Darkness. You can support At the Speed of Darkness through purchasing his music on Bandcamp. https://atthespeedofdarkness.bandcamp.com/

Remember where the human is in Genesis 1 and 2, it is in the relationship the reciprocity, the image of God is found. We are told there are two trees in the garden of Eden. A rough outline follows:

Genesis 2.8-9

Verse 16 Tree of Life – Center of the Garden – this is Eden’s holy of holies Come to the tree and “eat eat” vs 16 ·אָכֹל ak to-eat תֹּאכֵל thak you-shall-eat It is so good, they are told to “eat eat” This tree of life represents ongoing life, or restoration as needed. I don’t know if I want to say eternal life since that makes it sound like you have one bite and you don’t need to go back. But this is fruit to “eat eat.” So it’s not a one and done kind of thing.

Verse 17 Tree of Tov and Ra (as adjective: bad; as noun: evil) here is it an adjective Ra: Ecclesiastes: 2:16-17 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die! So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was ra’ to me. Proverbs 25.19 - a ra’ tooth and an unsteady foot, is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble. Jeremiah 24.2 the Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the Lord. One basket had very tov figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very ra’ figs, so ra’ they could not be eaten. Genesis 1 and 2: has shown that God knows what is “pleasant/beneficial,” and he will provide tov (the woman) when something is not tov (man being alone), that is, ra’. the tree represents a choice: Will they live with God, allowing him to know/define tov and ra’? (see: https://bibleproject.com/podcast/tree-knowing-good-bad/)

Genesis 3.1 The Serpent – created, wise (Matt 10.16, even Jesus thinks serpents are worthy of imitation) Carefully worded questions by the serpent to keep dialogue going. Genesis 3, Serpent follows the same syntax as “eat eat the tree.…Certainly you won’t die die.” Vs 5 “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Ka-elohim idio “ye shall be gods” What is gained and what is lost? Genesis 1:26 makes the point that they already are “as gods” as partners with God. “And Elohim |said: Let Us dmake humanity in Our image 7andn according to Our likeness. + Let them hold sway iover the fish of the sea and iover the flyer of the heavens, + iover the domestic beast, + iover every •land Syanimal~c and iover every •creeper •that is creeping on the earth Genesis 1.27 “So Elohim |created »•humanity in His image; in the image of Elohim He created »it: male and female He created »them.

The tree story ends with the two humans hiding from each other. So, if the image of God was in the humanity of them together, what happens when to the image of God when they become estranged? Remember the Babylonian story: Gods and cosmic forces were in endless competition and enslaved humanity. If that story is in your mind and a wise serpent approaches you, how strong is your trust in the motives of the God you have known? How much do you trust other people who are simply seeking advantage, who see the cosmos as one big competition?

The ending of the story is heartbreaking: Gn 3:22 - Gn 3:24

22  +Then Yahweh Elohim |said: Behold, •human has become like one of Us ›in knowing- good and evil. + Now lest he should stretch out his hand and -take mr also fof the tree of life and -eat and -live for the eon—.

23  +So Yahweh Elohim |sent him f out of the garden of Eden to serve »the ground from where he was taken.

+After He |drove »the human out, + He c made 7him0 |tabernacle fat the east ›of the garden of Eden, 7and He set0 »the cherubim and »the flame of the revolving sword to guard »the way to the tree of life.

Let us know what you think, and what questions you have. We are figuring this out as we go. Our huge disclaimer is that we are learning too, and that we might be wrong, but we believe that through conversation around the scriptures, with a community of faith, we can begin to discern. So, partnership with others is crucial in this adventure.

Musical intros, transition music, and the outro are by At the Speed of Darkness. You can support At the Speed of Darkness through purchasing his music on Bandcamp. https://atthespeedofdarkness.bandcamp.com/

Photo by Emma Gossett on Unsplash

Episode Two: This Being Human, Are We Doing it Right?

Scriptures for this conversation:

Genesis 1.26-28; 2.4-8

Psalm 8

Colossians 2.6-7,9-10

In this episode Karla and Craig introduce a different creation story. As Jewish and Christian traditions are shaped by the two creation stories in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, a people descending from Noah’s children forge a separate creation story. The Enuma Elish is the story of the people who rise from the family of Noah’s son, Ham, and his descendant, Nimrod (Genesis 10.8-10). In Jewish rabbinic literature and legend, Nimrod was considered a warrior against his brothers, and even sought to destroy Abraham. In the languages of the ancient near east, different renderings of the name “Nimrod” show similarities with the Babylonian god, Marduk (Jewish Encyclopedia). In the biblical story, Nimrod is a hunter, whose Hebrew name means ‘rebel’, and is the founder of the city and kingdom of Babylon. From the erecting of the Tower of Babel to the antagonistic relationship with Babylon throughout the biblical story, the legacy of Nimrod is significant.

A Different Creation Story

Take a few minutes to learn about the Babylonian creation story, the Enuma Elish. Here is a very brief summary: https://youtu.be/AjyhjXXNXPE

Many historians and anthropologists notice many similarities. But there are some vital differences when it comes to what human beings are understood to be and become. Nimrod and his city/state become an embodiment of the counter story in which the human being is created with a much different status and purpose.

Consider:

1.       How would you describe the differences in the stories?

2.       What is the purpose of the human being?

3.       Which story seems prevalent throughout history?

4.       When re-reading the Genesis creation stories in the first two chapters, what is the purpose of the human being, and what is the relationship like with God? Compare that with the tale of the Enuma Elish?

5.       Read Psalm 8 to reconsider what the image of God is in human beings

In this first episode, we open up the topic with a little explanation of how, as people who follow Jesus, we have deleloped our faith perspectives on how to be human. Karla shares how her view of being human was more straightforward than Craig’s. Craig’s views are effected by his impression of evangelical Calvinism that seemed to assert being human was the problem, and that God’s solution was to make us “spiritual” so that we could transcend our human “depravity.”

To understand being human, we will spend our time in the story of God and God’s people, beginning with the Hebrew bible, logically, at the very beginning.

Scripture focus: Genesis 1.26-27 and Genesis 2.21-23

Range of topics considered:

Relationship as the location of God’s image

These relationships have a role and purpose

Only in partnership with someone outside myself, who is like me, but is not me, can I share in the image of God

For additional consideration:

How was your idea of what it means to be human formed? Where did the ideas originate and have you deconstructed some of them? Built on them? Maintained the same ideas?

What are the range of things we mean when we speak of God’s image? Is it an internal imprint from our Creator? Is it a shared resemblance of some kind? How does our definition of being in God’s image change when thinking about our relationships with other human beings, maybe even other member of creation?

Let us know what you think, and what questions you have. We are figuring this out as we go. Our huge disclaimer is that we are learning too, and that we might be wrong, but we believe that through conversation around the scriptures, with a community of faith, we can begin to discern. So, partnership with others is crucial in this adventure.

Musical intros, transition music, and the outro are by At the Speed of Darkness. You can support At the Speed of Darkness through purchasing his music on Bandcamp. https://atthespeedofdarkness.bandcamp.com/