The Beginning…
‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth….’ So starts the Judeo/Christian narrative describing the creation of existence.
The complex processes which govern the physics of universal existence have been around since the foundation of the universe; they are the physical laws of this universe and definitely pre-date the earth! The earth is about four and a half billion years old and Homo sapiens [1] (that’s us), well we are a recent addition to the evolutionary scene. We have been around for only the last 12 000 years or so, as is evidenced by the appellation attached to our species – ‘of the Holocene Epoch’ [2] The evolution of human ‘thought and cognisance’ has taken this long to reach its current sophisticated level of insight, in addition we also know that time and the evolutionary process (amongst many other factors) were prime movers behind our present state of existence – this is science fact.
Taking a literal view of Genesis has, up until fairly recently in human history (Judeo/Christian history in particular), been the cornerstone of Western understanding; with the evolution of enlightened thought do we hold our heads in our hands and proclaim the end of human spiritual reality as we know it or do we re-look at the meaning to be taken from these ancient narratives and contextualise the thought processes of the past, bringing contemporary meaning to them? I certainly think so!
The Christian idea of the world is that it originated in a very complicated process of evolution but that it nevertheless still comes in its depths from the Logos. It thus bears reason in itself.
Joseph Ratzinger – Pope Benedict XVI [3]
There are certainly those who would discard such contextualisation out of hand, in ‘their’ certain knowledge that there is nothing else – nothing but pointless, nihilistic existence, a sea of unanswered questions! One can say with certainty that the provision of empirically proven answers to the metaphysical questions – who are we, what are we and why are we here, which would satisfy theistic detractors, is unlikely? Where do we ultimately come from and to where and what are we finally destined are heady questions indeed. However if, as some would have us believe, we are just the by-products of chance and star matter, what unique by-products we are! All logical thought determines that we shouldn’t be here, but here we are nevertheless!
Probabilities Chance!
How does one calculate the odds or rather the probability of this universe coming into existence? Well you do need a foundation in the known to relate to, which in the case of the universe we don’t have – we can only hypothesize based on current theoretical knowledge. It is said that probability is the measure of how likely an event is to occur out of the number of possible outcomes.[4] Well logic and intellect say that the number of possible outcomes for our universe must have been infinite; thus the probability of this specific universe coming into existence must, for all practical purposes, be zero. Yet it did!
Cardinal Schönborn clarifies chance well when he quotes Professor Walter Thirring[5]:
It is so far “beyond human capacity to conceive” the degree of precision in this event,[6] which occurred in microscopic fractions of the very first seconds, so Professor Thirring says, that he exclaims, “And that is supposed to have happened by chance – what an absurd notion!”
Schönborn was discussing the exacting conditions required for the universe to come into existence.[7]
Analogous to this is the question – ‘what are the odds of YOU coming into existence – not just your physical substance but your metaphysical being as well; that which makes you, you’.
Author Ali Binazir sums it up succinctly:[8]
The probability of your existing at all is 1 in 102,685,000
To put some perspective on this, the number of atoms in the body of an average male (80kg, 175lb) is 1027. The number of known atoms making up the earth is about 1050. The number of atoms in the known universe is estimated at 1080!
So what’s the probability of your existing? It’s the probability of 2 million people getting together – about the population of San Diego (USA) – each to play a game of dice with trillion-sided dice. They each roll the dice, and they all come up the exact same number – say, 550,343,279,001.
Absolutely improbable…you say and I would agree – the chances that you would be here are basically non-existent – yet you are here, you must be because you’re reading this! With such odds against your chanced existence, why would you not believe in a creative power such as that described in the Book of Genesis? This is not a punt for the cause of literal creationism as posited by fundamentalist factions of Christianity, nor must it be construed as support for the antithesis, but rather a voice seeking reason and understanding; a voice seeking contemporary meaning behind the reading of the Book of Genesis’ creation story.
Genesis – A society making sense of the unknown
The authors of Genesis did not possess the knowledge and understanding of present-day society; in fact I would risk stating the obvious by saying that their worldview was very different from ours given that a worldview is based in part on perspective or how you as an individual see the world around you – Nor did they care, says Boadt [9] I concur with his proposition that the benchmark opening timestamp for Israelite history (and consequently the Christian story) is the Exodus and that all preceding events were an attempt by the writers of Genesis to show God’s purpose with the Israelite people by a gathering together of tribal traditions on ancient ancestors stemming from pre-history.[10] Boadt suggests that as a people, the Israelites needed to understand “how they came to be a people and a nation”[11]
It has been put forward that, while the Old Testament (the Hebrew Bible) in its final form stems from a period later than that of the ‘United Kingdom’[12], ‘…it preserves the literature that had its origin in the United Kingdom’[13]. Indeed, Boshoff, Scheffler, & Spangenberg indicate that the bible actually developed around that literature.[14] This would infer that early traditions were mainly verbalised, passed down from generation to generation. At the same time this would exclude Moses from being the physical author of the Pentateuch, though he may very well have been instrumental in the initiation of the tradition of the exodus etc.; this would concur with Boadt’s assertion that Israelite history started with the Exodus.
In the later exilic period when the Israelites were held bondage in Babylon, Babylonian literature contained various accounts which seem to parallel Genesis accounts: [15]
1. The Enuma elish (Akkadian) – A Babylonian creation epic.
2. Enki and Nihursag – A Sumerian paradise myth
3. The Ziusudra flood – a Sumerian myth
4. The Gilgamesh epic – An Akkadian flood myth.
5. The Atrahasis epic – An Akkadian flood myth.
It is not entirely beyond reason that enculturation of the Israelites while in Babylonian exile would have enriched their traditional knowledge base and that they consequently incorporated aspects of these into their own traditions.
Matthews and Moyer put forward that the Israelites wanted to show God’s sovereign role in their creation as a people[16]; while Boadt postulates that Genesis can be seen as a pre-cursor, a preface to the beginning of the Israelite peoples.[17] They describe Genesis as an etiology of the founding of the Israelite nation and the human race in general, a search for an understanding of their origins.[18] Understandably, these writings are based on a worldview of the authors within their own time frame – the coalescence of this worldview with contemporary knowledge will invariably produce strange and confusing inconsistencies and consequently the contemporary fundamentalist clash!
This does not mean that valuable truths cannot be had from these very early writings; indeed, as I was reminded recently – all scripture is divinely inspired. As such is it a stretch to believe that Genesis illustrates the ancients need to describe the transcendence and all powerful nature of their God; it initiates the covenantal relationship which became prevalent in Israelite and subsequently Christian belief. It describes most clearly to me what they and indirectly Christianity are as a people.
Bibliography
1. Binazir, A. (2011, November 9). What are the odds? Retrieved November 17, 2014, from visual ly: http://visual.ly/what-are-odds
2. Boshoff, W., Scheffler, E., & Spangenberg, I. (2011). Ancient Israelite Literature in Context (Third ed.). Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa: Protea Book House.
3. Christoph Cardinal Schonborn. (2007). Chance or Purpose – Creation, Evolution & A Rational Faith (English ed.). (H. P. Weber, Ed., & H. Taylor, Trans.) San Francisco, California, USA: Igantius Press. Retrieved November 18, 2014
4. Collins Online English Dictionary. (2014). Holocene. Retrieved December 03, 2014, from Collins Online Dictionary: http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/holocene?showCookiePolicy=true
5. Fr. James V. Schall, SJ. (2007). The Order of Things (First ed.). San Francisco, California, USA: Ignatius Press. Retrieved November 19, 2014
6. Fr. Lawrence Boadt, CSP. (2012). Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction (Second ed.). (Fr. Richard Clifford, SJ, & Fr. Daniel Harrington, SJ, Eds.) Mahwah, N.J., New York, USA: Paulist Press. Retrieved November 28, 2014
7. Horn, S. O., & Wiedenhofer, S. (2008). Creation and Evolution – A Conference with Pope Benedict XVI in Castel Gandolfo (First ed.). (M. J. Miller, Trans.) San Francisco, California, USA: Ignatius Press. Retrieved November 19, 2014
8. Matthews, V. H., & Moyer, J. C. (2012). The Old Testament: Text & Context (Third ed.). Grand Rapids, MI, USA: Baker Academic. Retrieved November 28, 2014
9. Prof. Pheme Perkins, Ph.D. (2012). Reading the New Testament – An Introduction (Third ed.). Mahwah, N.J., New York, USA: Paulist Press. Retrieved November 28, 2014
10. Walter Thirring. (2014, October 29). Retrieved November 30, 2014, from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walter_Thirring&oldid=631679337
11. wikiHow. (2014, October 28). How to Calculate Probability. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from wikiHow: http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Probability
[1] Homo sapiens (Latin: “wise man”) is the binomial nomenclature (also known as the scientific name) for the human species: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_sapiens
[2] “Recent Period” – Collins Online English Dictionary. (2014). Holocene. Retrieved December 03, 2014, from Collins Online Dictionary: http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/holocene?showCookiePolicy=true
[3] (Christoph Cardinal Schonborn, 2007, p. Opening Page)
[4] (wikiHow, 2014)
[5] Austrian Physicist (Walter Thirring, 2014)
[6] The Big Bang theory
[7] (Christoph Cardinal Schonborn, 2007, pp. 39-41)
[8] (Binazir, 2011)
[9] (Fr. Lawrence Boadt, CSP, 2012, p. Pos. 1973 (Kindle))
[10] (Fr. Lawrence Boadt, CSP, 2012, p. Pos. 1980 (Kindle))
[11] (Fr. Lawrence Boadt, CSP, 2012, p. Pos. 1967 (Kindle))
[12] United Kingdom of the Israelites – c.1050 B.C. – c.930 B.C., the reigns of David and Solomon.
[13] (Boshoff, Scheffler, & Spangenberg, 2011, pp. 95-96)
[14] Ibid.
[15] (Boshoff, Scheffler, & Spangenberg, 2011, p. 53)
[16] (Matthews & Moyer, 2012, p. Pos. 1251 (Kindle))
[17] (Fr. Lawrence Boadt, CSP, 2012, p. pos 1967 (Kindle))
[18] (Matthews & Moyer, 2012, p. Pos. 1940 (Kindle))
Jerusalem – The problem that just won’t go away.
On the east side of Jerusalem, over the Kidron Valley – opposite the walls of the Old City and the famed Golden Gate, stands the Roman Catholic Church named ‘Dominus Flevit’ meaning, ‘The Lord Wept’. “As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes…”
What is the furore all about?
The Israeli / Palestinian conflict has been going on for decades, with extremists on both sides making peace efforts very difficult. The east part of Jerusalem has traditionally been part of the Palestinian mandate since 1948 but had, since the Jordanian war, been in the hands of Jordan. In 1967 Israel forcibly took it back and were then in the unenviable position of being labelled as the occupiers, which recognisably irked them!
Donald Trump’s announcement that the US now recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and that they would be moving their embassy to that location, was more of a fulfilment of a campaign promise than it was designed to facilitate peace – a banal piece of ‘statesmanship’ if ever there was one. It suggests more brinkmanship than diplomacy and plays directly into the hands of the Jewish extremists, Netanyahu included.
As to the controversy which it has provoked one has to ask whether it is the statement itself or the effect of that statement that is at issue here because in reality, it will not change the status quo. I would say this: that the answer depends on which side of the fence you find yourself, but the effect of the statement is more likely what is at issue here. There are many different elements at play and it is difficult to pronounce on one without that affecting the other!
Also, as one commentator points out,[1] Trump’s statement is so full of ambiguities and holes, just what is it that he hopes to gain from it – clarity, I think not. It really does seem like something which has been hurriedly concocted and not something to which Trump applied his mind – certainly it appears that no regard has been paid to the consequences of this action.
For example, when Trump talks of Jerusalem does he mean JUST West Jerusalem, or does he lump it all together? He talks of Israel’s sovereign claim to Jerusalem as their capital, which would understandably infer the WHOLE of Jerusalem, surely? But the president then contradicts himself by stating in the same proclamation:
“Today’s actions — recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and announcing the relocation of our embassy — do not reflect a departure from the strong commitment of the United States to facilitating a lasting peace agreement. The United States continues to take no position on any final status issues. The specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem are subject to final status negotiations between the parties. The United States is not taking a position on boundaries or borders.”
Just what type of sovereignty was he referring to? Such couched prevarication just exacerbates an already heated debate and jeopardises any prospect to peace that there may have been – but then, maybe that is what they wanted?
Extremism, whether on the left or the right, or effected by Christian fundamentalists, Muslim extremists or indeed Jewish Zionist fanatics, is reprehensible, unproductive and distinctly anti-social but unfortunately it is one of the ills of our time. Thus, as polemical as it may sound and in my humble opinion, the Zionist fanatic who burns or desecrates Christian places of worship, destroys Palestinian houses and takes away their livelihood is really no better than the Palestinian terrorist who destroys peaceful Jewish lives!
However, before we begin discussing each of the peoples of interest in this opinion piece and in the interests of transparency, let me disclose my worldview, my cognitive orientation as an individual because without doubt one’s philosophical outlook on life has great bearing on what you as an individual put forward as your belief.
By religious conviction, I am a committed Christian, a Catholic; one who believes in a society which is based on compassion, moral rectitude, a joy for the gift of life and a commitment to the forces of justice and peace.
So, what grants a people the right to declare the land, be it region or country, as their inalienable birth right, as their homeland.
For the Jewish people, it is religion. It is the promise made by God in millennia past, to the people of the Exodus, of a promised land, a place to call their own. Despite the Zionist tradition regarding the promise made to Abraham as having been given to all Jews, including proselytes and their descendants, it does not, in my view, include every individual worldwide, who happen to espouse the same religious conviction. That is just a convenient way to populate your belief and justify your action!
The same must be applied to the Palestinian claim – they likewise must have had ancient forbears of this land, whether they be Canaanite or Philistine which, I might add, applies to the majority of Palestinian Christians living in the Holy Land.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of those ‘Palestinians’ who flowed into the area in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in search of work and a better life, but surely then they should be treated in the same way that Jewish migration to Israel has occurred?
As religious as I am, I have to say that the emotive and collegial nature of religion does not always make for the most rational means of dealing with disputations such is this.
I do not claim to have the answer, the silver bullet to solving this impasse but I will say this, that Palestinians who have an ancestral claim to living in the area must be equally accommodated in any solution. Perhaps consideration should be given to the creation of a federal state, with some form of autonomous decision making?
[1] (Anderson, 2017)
Bibliography
Anderson, S. R. (2017). Trump’s Jerusalem Policy is more ambiguous then it seems. Retrieved December 12, 2017, from Foreign Policy: https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/12/11/trumps-jerusalem-policy-is-more-ambiguous-than-it-seems/