Do any non-Christians believe in a literal interpretation of Genesis?

[Nimrod]

There are some people who believe that the first few chapters of Genesis are instructive fables. There are others who believe that Genesis is "obviously" a factual account of a six-day Creation and a one-year (approx) global Flood.

What do most Jews think about this?
Also, since Muslims believe that Moses was a prophet, do they also believe in a global flood?
And what about devout followers of other religions? Do they think that the evidence for a young earth and global flood is convincing?

[Conductor42]

Yesterday @ 11:42 PM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=378756#post378756)
Nimrod:
What do most Jews think about this?

There's an old saying - 2 Jews, 3 opinions!

We're just as divided on this as anyone else. Personally, I think the issue is a waste of time. I've read some books by Gerald Schroeder, an Orthodox Jewish Physicist, and he lays out some pretty good arguments, saying that both Science's current understanding of the earth's creation (including big bang and evolution) and the literal reading of the creation account happened at the *same time*.


Yesterday @ 11:42 PM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=378756#post378756)
Nimrod:
Also, since Muslims believe that Moses was a prophet, do they also believe in a global flood?

I believe so


Yesterday @ 11:42 PM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=378756#post378756)
Nimrod:
And what about devout followers of other religions? Do they think that the evidence for a young earth and global flood is convincing?

Depends on which religion, and even then, there's always bound to be a second or third opinion.

[stillsmallvoice]

Hi all!

About a "literal reading" of the Tanakh. I don't think that any two people could agree on a "literal reading" of, say, Genesis (certainly mine, as an orthodox Jew and based on the original Hebrew, will probably differ in many particulars from that of a fundamentalist Protestant, based on the KJV); such a thing is inherently subjective and based on our own idiosyncrasies, psychological/emotional/spiritual baggage and personal it-seems-to-me's. Thus, we should be very leery of basing beliefs and/or arguments on a "literal reading" of the scriptures. Those who do insist on a strict, narrow, "literal" interpretation of this or that section of scripture are, I believe, forcing it into a literary and spiritual strait-jacket entirely of their own devising that does no justice to the scriptures..

So, that being said, how do I, as an orthodox Jew, view Genesis? Well, of course, I believe that it (and the other 4 books of the Torah: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) is the literal word of God as He revealed it to Moses our Teacher. We believe that the Torah can be understood/appreciated/interpreted on any of four general levels ranging from that which is most in accord with a close reading of the (original Hebrew!!!) text, to the metaphorical, to the most rarefied and esoteric (the grasp of which is waaay beyond most of us). Who is to say which chapter and verse of Genesis is to be best understood or appreciated on which level? Moreover, our Sages say that the Torah is like a diamond with many facets, each with its own brilliance, each offering a different perspective from which to behold the wondrous jewel.

Lastly, I would humbly argue that we are grasping at trees & missing the forest. What is more important, (sterile?) debates over whether Genesis proves/supports or disproves/opposes this or that theory of creation or evolution, or whether Noah & the Flood "really occurred/existed", or discussing, studying and seeking to internalize its sublime moral, ethical and spiritual truths (such as befit the word of God)?

Howzat?

Be well!

ssv :hi:

[Heathen Dawn]

Yesterday @ 01:42 AM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=378756#post378756)
Nimrod:

What do most Jews think about this?

When I was an Orthodox Jew (1997–9), my rabbis ordered me to believe in young-earth creationism. All my rabbis were staunchly opposed to evolution and millions of years.


Also, since Muslims believe that Moses was a prophet, do they also believe in a global flood?

Muslims who take the Qur’an literally (which is most of them) believe in a global flood, because the Qur’an says so. The Qur’an says Allah saved the prophet Nuh and his family from the global flood.

[mickiel]

Science has proven that a literal interpitation of the creation days is just out of the question. Yet religon has proved that they would hold to their traditional views inspite of anythingelse, espically the truth. The creation days had to have been longer than 24 hours, the rest of the bible is properly recorded in calendar. We cannot go beyound our present day calendar to recon with the existance of carbon dated real life reality hisorical findings. We must go backwards, and it must be behind Adam, not in front of his existance.

One day with God isd as a thousand years with mankind. Even giving the creation days one thousand years each, still does not square with the known avialible data. So, in my view, the creation days were simplty longer than we have suspected, perhaps billions of earth years longer. But remember to God, it was no time at all. God created the world of matter to begin decaying immediately after the creation. It is temporary existance. So we can measure , counting backwards, that length in exact terms. Theres just some things we do not know for certain.

[Tfbandie]

Yesterday @ 08:57 AM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=379863#post379863)
stillsmallvoice:

Moreover, our Sages say that the Torah is like a diamond with many facets, each with its own brilliance, each offering a different perspective from which to behold the wondrous jewel.



ssv :hi:


I find this to be a wonderful and beautiful teaching and will probably borrow it for future use in discussion as well as private reflection.