I am a college student. In the classes I am taking, my faith is being challenged. There are so many things about the OT that ring questionable. Particularly in my class about world history, we talked about ancient Mesopotamians. They have this story, called the Enuma Elish, which describes their views on the creation of the world. Mesopotamians were polytheistic and animistic (Sherman 10; Wikipedia). They also believed in manipulating gods in order to gain favor and fortune (Sherman 10). These ideals are completely opposite of what we know the Jews. However, records of the Mesopotamians and the Enuma Elish predate the Jews and the OT (Sherman 11, Bratcher). When looking at the Enuma Elish compared to OT, there are many similarities (Bratcher). Both accounts see creation as a separation of water (Bratcher Tablet IV; Genesis 1:2, 6-7 New International Version) and both make mention of monsters of the sea (Bratcher Tablet I; Psalms 74:13-14). Going further with the Mesopotamians, we see them creating a system of writing and recording the oldest known story—The Epic of Gilgamesh (Sherman11-12). This story contains a similar flood story (EoG Tablet XI) to that found in Genesis 6, as well as various other parallels. These were but two of many ancient flood stories. It seems that nearly every culture has a story of a giant flood, so it is relatively safe to assume that there was indeed a massive flood that obliterated much of the earth.
But what makes the OT’s version more believable those others? Bratcher makes reference to what he calls a “common cultural pool” when dealing with the Enuma Elish on his web page. He conceives that there are similarities within texts and stories of the ancient world on account of shared experiences, ideas, and phrases among the cultural groups. If that is true, then what happens to the authenticity of the Scripture? If it was written in opposition to common ideologies, then can it be taken as proof of this everlasting, sovereign, loving God?
Many stories in the OT (and even in the NT) seem far too extraordinary to be taken literally. Is it sacrilegious to propose reading Scripture as metaphor or allegory? Many Biblical interpreters have done that in the past—as far back as the Roman Empire (Klein 25), but was it with the cynicism that I have? I have recently studied the book of Job in one of my classes. The professor, whom shall remain nameless, stated that the prologue and epilogue of the book (i.e. Chapters 1-2, 42:7-17) were added in later manuscripts. That means that the whole back-story of God allowing Satan to test Job was not in the original story. All there was were speeches about Job’s suffering for no apparent reason until God spoke to him. Should we then take the prologue literally, or disregard it as being console to the Hebrews who feared suffering of the righteous? The book itself is not of much help, as it does nothing to give an answer to suffering, only basic thoughts of causation. Klein suggests finding the truth in each of the speeches and applying it to life even though God sides with Job in the end, rebuking his friends (395-396). Perhaps it is normal to feel discontent with the OT.
Another challenge of faith came to me in a Philosophy course. The professor, again to remain nameless, began the course asking us the popular atheistic question, “Can an omnipotent God create a stone so large that He could not lift it?” I quickly found a website by Adrian Barnett which has since been taken down (it remains credited at the bottom). The rock question deals with whether or not God can do the logically impossible or logically inconsistent. Barnett, an atheist, made great statements against the question—including where God would stand to lift this rock, that logical inconsistencies are simply “not there to be done,” and refuting the popular response that God’s ways are outside of our logical understanding.
This question, as well as other discussions in the class, got me to question God, as well. Namely in this case, I questioned how God could truly be omnipotent and Good (oh, yes—with a capital ‘G’). His omnipotence was questioned with the rock question and his Goodness with the problem of evil. Evil exists in the world, I doubt anybody would deny that, but where did it come from? It existed before the Fall, because the tree in the garden was simply of the knowledge of good and evil. The serpent, we say, was evil—Satan incarnate. So where did it, evil, come from? Well, logically, if God created all things, He created evil. Perhaps He did not set out to specifically create evil, but He created Satan. I’m sure a lot of Christians would argue that He didn’t know that Satan would betray Him, but if God were omniscient, He would have. God created free will, and with free will came a consequence of evil. It is impossible to have free will without the possibility of evil. My professor tried to explain it in terms of possible creations. Say that one possible way to create the world gave a 1 standard of good with a 1 standard of evil, another world had a ratio of 3:1, and a third had a ratio of 5:4. He/she had us decide which we would choose; some of us chose the equal one because it gave the most opportunity for free choice, some chose the second option because it had the most good with the lowest amount of evil, and still others chose the final option because it had the most good still overshadowing the evil. The professor then concluded the exercise by stating that God would have chosen what He saw as the best combination.
Perhaps none of this made sense. Maybe you don’t understand my confusion. More than likely I just started leading you down my path to said confusion. There were certainly a lot of questions in here to answer. But it is my goal and my purpose to help you to think about things you might not want to think about. As the great Socrates once said, “Life without inquiry is not worth living” (Sherman 68).
-Quizzical Thought
Barnett, Adrian. “Can God create a rock so heavy that he cannot lift it?” Adrian Barnett’s Web Page. May 6, 2004. September 17, 2008.
Bratcher, Dennis. Enuma Elish: “When On High…”. 20 July 2006. 2 November 2008.
Epic of Gilgamesh, The. England: Penguin Group, 1999.
Holy Bible, New International Version. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1984.
Klein, William W. et all. Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Inc., 2004.
“Mesopotamia.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 30 October 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2 November 2008.
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