Myth as Truth and Bible as Myth

               In a world where religion seems at the forefront of corruption, it can be hard to find any truth behind manipulated words. Now is not the time to discuss exploitation of religious doctrine within organized religion across the world, and I also don’t mean to step on anybody’s toes here. Actually, I believe religious doctrine has insight into some universal truth, but I think it is unfortunate it is used to promote hate. It can be confusing especially because we live in a world that likes to dismantle the stories as being implausible, and therefore untrue. Obviously the words don’t ring literal truths, but on a symbolic level they are far-reaching, and I frequently find similarities between completely un-related doctrine from the most random of cultures. Mythology is another word for religion, because people believed in these stories, just as people believe in the bible. Myths were used to explain the world without science. On a symbolic level, they describe human truths that are innate. In particular, Creation stories are similar in their birth imagery, where earth and water (feminine) meets the sky (masculine) and life is created after 7 months/days/years (a long mothafuckin’ time ago gestation—pregnant lady- was only 6 or 7 months). I will spare you that lecture and try to put it in terms that we all may be somewhat familiar with- Genesis Adam and Eve.

Adam and Eve story as a myth about human development-

            Because many of the stories in the Bible contradict each other when look at from a literal point of view, it was most likely intended to be read as a collection of favored stories; they are myths, what Campbell calls the truest of stories because they reflect and explore our inner sentiments so we can better understand our self. Since the story of Adam and Eve logically contradicts Genesis I (God creates man and woman at the same time on the 6^th day), it better reflects a myth about human development. The story of creation tells the birth of life, earth, and more specifically, when humans are born. The next story chronologically coincides with this notion; Adam and Eve is a metaphor for human growth from childhood into maturity.

            God’s relationship to Adam and Eve parallel and reflect a relationship between parents and their children. God first creates man, placing him in the Garden of Eden and providing him with comfort and food but warns him, “from the tree of knowledge, good and evil, you shall not eat,” (Genesis 2). Here God sounds like a parent telling their child not to touch the hot stove, or not to press that big red button, with pure intentions but nonetheless making it a tempting thought. God then creates woman. They live like infants in the comfort of a parent’s (God’s) house (Garden of Eden), being taken care of, fed, and running about naked without shame. 

Chapter 3 begins with the image of the serpent. The symbol of the serpent dates back to ancient times, representing nature, rebirth and the cycle of life because of the snake’s ability to shed its skin and appear as a new body. The snake speaks to woman, telling her “your eyes will be opened” for eating fruit of the tree of knowledge. The snake symbolizes the life cycle, and it is leading Eve into maturity. The fruit is sexuality- apple-like fruits are an old symbol of sensuality; Eve is on the eve of puberty. Eve remembers God’s warning, “for on the day you eat from it, you are doomed to die,” (G1). If she eats the fruit she is doomed to die because she is beginning a new process of reproduction and moving into a new stage of life. At this stage of life we develop our self consciousness, and idea borrowed from the Epic of Gilgamesh (1^st epic ever, dude) in which Enkidu (the dudeliest of dudes raised in the wilderness) is made ‘civilized’, made self conscious, by the Harlot (revered prostitute, sexy times). The references to opening eyes are not meant to be literal, but a symbol of coming into self consciousness. Adam and Eve eat the fruit, meaning they have sex, causing them know they were naked and feel embarrassed, thus a sign of coming into self consciousness.

With maturity and the end of childhood comes responsibility. God shows up and realizes what has happened. He responds by punishing snake, woman, and man. To women he gives ‘the curse’ of menstruation, which is also a sign of coming into womanhood. She becomes ruled by man, though it is she who is the giver of life for accepting the apple. Man must now work the land to eat, or work to provide for himself. When God expels Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, He mimics a parent telling his offspring, ‘Under my roof you will live by my rules. You want to live your own life? Go get a job and take care of yourself!’ God’s last statement, “for dust you are/ and to dust shall you return,” reflects that they are mortal, and becoming part of the reproductive cycle brings you closer to death, and certainly the death of naïve freedom from responsibility. With the knowledge of self consciousness, man and woman are left to make their own lives, and ends with a sense of individualism. Therefore, it was necessary for Eve to eat the apple for humankind to gain individuality and grow up, or else they would stay stuck in a childlike state. Hence Eve as the “giver of life”.

So what does this all mean? I don’t have an answer for you, but for me- well, I think it gives me hope. There are things in this world that are sacred, have always been and always will be. It’s beautiful, really..

[I don’t want anyone to be mistaken, I am not a Bible scholar, nor have I ever even taken a theology course, or even any sort of Bible course. However, as a literature major you come across all sorts of religion, whether it is Greek Mythology or Catholicism.]