What many people, from both sides of aisle don't understand is the bible is written in symbols and it is not always to be taken literally. Jesus often taught in parables, where meaning has to be extracted from the symbols in the parable. This was a common style.
For example; Matthew 13:31 - 32 "The kingdom of heaven is compared to a tiny mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; 32. Which indeed is very small among all the seeds; but after it is grown, it is greater than all the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and roost in its branches."
If you take this literally, " Kingdom of God is a mustard seed", then one might logically conclude that God must be tiny; nanoscale. This reasonable conclusion, may not make any sense, and therefore one might then conclude the whole statement is nonsense. But symbolically, it is more symbolic of an idea, which can start out small and insignificant, but as it takes root and grows, until it becomes mainstream and used by all.
The brains of small children absorb information at a high rate, due to the growing brains. If you to give small children the option of hearing a new fairy tale; Little Red Riding Hood, or lecture them on safety issues, they will enjoy and remember the fairy tale. This comes easy to them. The fairy tale is like a small compressed file of symbols, that is easy to remember, which later in life, can be decompressed for deeper meaning.
The story of Adam and Eve is simple and appeals to the brain of a child; like a mustard seed. If you were to teach a three year old any modern interpretation, including atheism, the details and logic would be forgotten almost immediately. That is not natural to their brains. But if you teach them the compressed symbolic file version of the same lesson of life, that file format can last a lifetime and be decompressed later in life. Less ye be as children you cannot enter the kingdom. Children love symbolism; compressed files or mustard seeds, since their brains work in 3-D and not 2-D.
The position of the Catholic church for example, is to maintain the bible as it, while also writing a separate version that is more in line with contemporary teachings; Catechism. Maybe the atheists can write their own version of the bible, where God exists on the nanoscale; Matthew 13:31 - 32.
If you assume Adam and Eve were literally the first two humans, this will contradict evolution and science. On the other hand, if you assume this is a compressed file format, it could mean Adam and Eve represent two humans that had something different about them like a mutation; modern human consciousness. The timing coordinate with the rise of civilization, which required a new mental attitude to be successful; decompression.
For example; Matthew 13:31 - 32 "The kingdom of heaven is compared to a tiny mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; 32. Which indeed is very small among all the seeds; but after it is grown, it is greater than all the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and roost in its branches."
If you take this literally, " Kingdom of God is a mustard seed", then one might logically conclude that God must be tiny; nanoscale. This reasonable conclusion, may not make any sense, and therefore one might then conclude the whole statement is nonsense. But symbolically, it is more symbolic of an idea, which can start out small and insignificant, but as it takes root and grows, until it becomes mainstream and used by all.
The brains of small children absorb information at a high rate, due to the growing brains. If you to give small children the option of hearing a new fairy tale; Little Red Riding Hood, or lecture them on safety issues, they will enjoy and remember the fairy tale. This comes easy to them. The fairy tale is like a small compressed file of symbols, that is easy to remember, which later in life, can be decompressed for deeper meaning.
The story of Adam and Eve is simple and appeals to the brain of a child; like a mustard seed. If you were to teach a three year old any modern interpretation, including atheism, the details and logic would be forgotten almost immediately. That is not natural to their brains. But if you teach them the compressed symbolic file version of the same lesson of life, that file format can last a lifetime and be decompressed later in life. Less ye be as children you cannot enter the kingdom. Children love symbolism; compressed files or mustard seeds, since their brains work in 3-D and not 2-D.
The position of the Catholic church for example, is to maintain the bible as it, while also writing a separate version that is more in line with contemporary teachings; Catechism. Maybe the atheists can write their own version of the bible, where God exists on the nanoscale; Matthew 13:31 - 32.
If you assume Adam and Eve were literally the first two humans, this will contradict evolution and science. On the other hand, if you assume this is a compressed file format, it could mean Adam and Eve represent two humans that had something different about them like a mutation; modern human consciousness. The timing coordinate with the rise of civilization, which required a new mental attitude to be successful; decompression.