Reflection on the Creation Stories - Phantom of the Bible

Tan, A

Aug. 11, 2011

Th121 AA

Phantom of the Bible

They say that within every great story is another even greater story. Such is indeed the case in great novels like Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera, which initially tells the gruesome tale of a man's obsession with a woman but later reveals the fickle mind of society as the true antagonist of the book. While it may be a tad difficult to find and read a great work of literature, one need not go through such difficulties because, chances are, there is already one nearby and has already been read: the Holy Bible. Every single Christian knows the two stories of Creation, the Fall of Man and the story of Cain and Abel. However, not every single Christian knows the stories within these stories, and up until a week or two ago, I did not know them as well.

In the first story of Creation, God shows his great love by taking time with each and every creation (Gn. 1). God could have made light in an instant, yet He spent one whole day just to get it up to His standards (Gn. 1:3-5). He took no shortcuts in creating the universe, just as I believe; He wanted us to do the same in life. By not simply waving a hand and making everything, God showed us the virtue of hard work and of patience. At the same time, by resting on the 7th day, He showed us the value of rest (Gn. 2:3). Now, we, as newborns of the world at the time of creation, were supposed to be practitioners of these virtues because God made us on the 6th day in His image and likeness (Gn. 1:26). Having dominion over creation, though, does not mean to simply lord over them, expecting for them to cater to our whims (Gn. 1:28). Having dominion over them means that we are stewards of creation. Just as how God took no shortcuts in creating the Earth, we, as his final creation, were supposed to take no shortcuts in caring for the Earth, God's gift to us. Yet as we see in today's era, we have taken God's creations and abused it. The fish of the sea are dying from our man-made chemicals. The birds in the air mount the walls of our homes. The animals that roam the land are either poached or exploited in some way. This was, as I believe, not God's plan for his creations. I, as being a mere mortal, cannot possibly hope to fathom what God intended, but perhaps He wanted to share with us, the beauty of nature and the brilliance of interdependency.

Moving on to the Second Story of Creation, the Garden of Eden can be taken as representative of nature, and man having to cultivate and care for it, shows the reason why man was created (Gn. 2:15). Here, we see again that man was meant to be caretakers of nature and not its master. Had God wanted for us to rule over creation, would he not have just given Eden to man instead of having him care for it? On the same note, God made the animals as possible partners for man, not as his slaves (Gn. 2:18-20). Similarly, woman is the ideal partner for man because they are one and the same (Gn. 2:22-23). Even then, God was already thinking of equality amongst people and nature, which is a far cry from the situation today.

The Fall of Man shows us that people are easily tempted by notions of greatness (Gn. 3:3-6). This need to improve ourselves, the need to be better than the rest, is the focal point of human nature. Although, why would eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil be taboo? Is there something that God doesn't want us to know about regarding the power of knowledge? Are we like some sort of children that must always be monitored by parent? Yes. We are God's creation. We are His children. And like how we want to protect children from the reality of life, so did God with the first man and woman. Maybe God knew what terrible consequences would happen should the man and woman eat from the tree. They would know shame. They would know hatred. They would learn the reality of life, and they would despair.