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It is well known that the first chapters of Genesis have been gradually relegated to the realm of mythology during the slow rise of modern science. As an example, the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species more than a century ago led to a mass exodus from the Church in Protestant countries. The same defection did not happen in Catholic regions because the book was listed in the Church’s index of forbidden titles. In our days, most Christians adopt without difficulty the view that the Bible is not a scientific book. However, certain questions related to whether the first creation account fits modern cosmology could not be answered until the modern era. For instance, “the heavens” of Genesis 1:1 is traditionally believed to refer to the atmosphere surrounding the Earth like a firmament. In the seventeenth century, scholars became aware that the stars are not placed inside the atmosphere but in an immense universe, of which the empty space was supposed to exist since eternity. According to this discovery, one may attribute to the author of Genesis the subjective view that the universe is limited to the air containing atmosphere because it is the only space that could have been created. However, we know from general relativity that space is something that is being continually formed since the big bang. This is why the creation of “the heavens” may also refer to this phenomenon. This does not necessarily make the reference to the atmosphere redundant. “The heavens” may refer to more than one phenomenon, which raises the question whether Genesis is multi-significant. To answer this, let us consider the speaking snake of the Garden of Eden: it may represent both an animal and an individual capable of speech traditionally interpreted as the Devil, a fallen angel. This can be understood as two different contexts, in which both the animal and the Devil independently play their role on levels shifted in time. This is why the speaking snake can be interpreted on the level of both the angels and the evolution of the animals. Therefore, it is a multi-significant passage and the paradox (a speaking animal) created by the mixing up the different contexts is clarified by separating the various references. Thus, the text becomes much more flexible and allows conclusions of an unexpected reach. As for the universe, it can be shown that it contains repeating patterns, to which the first chapter of Genesis refers by multi-significance (or multi-reference). The creation account thus becomes perfectly compatible with modern cosmology and Earth history. The same happens for biological evolution: it can be shown, among other things, that Genesis does not state that God literally created man from the dust like a statue and then insufflated him with the breath of life, because this passage refers to several contexts, namely to the angels, the first humans and the virginal conception of Christ, and establishes a revealing relation between all contexts involving the fall of the angels, puberty, sexuality, family and the spiritual rebirth introduced by Christ (Jn 3:1-8; Gal 4:4-7). The central biblical message, the salvation of mankind, recurs throughout the whole Bible in such a typical and coherent manner as if its seventy books had been written by a single author, which is probably the strongest argument for the authenticity of the Bible. In fact, salvation history unfolds through several cycles, each of which is composed of four typical phases characterized respectively by peace, sin, judgment and a return to peace, leading to the first phase of the next cycle. This recurring salvation history offers important solutions related to Genesis, Revelation, Marian apparitions and numerous other topics. |
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