An Atheistic Bible Study - Genesis Chapter One Verse One

That the Bible starts with ‘In the beginning’ is quite apt to this complete Bible study, line by line, verse by verse, book by book, including the Apocrypha study is really my second beginning as I had already written a vast chunk of my attempt to take the Bible apart line by line for pages on the now discontinued web site hosting pages at Bubblews.

The Bible

Some of my pages survive, but others were never kept, copied or recovered. I thought of filling in the gaps in my findings but instead I have decided to start the whole presentation afresh as if the first study was never undertaken. After all, by the time I reached later texts, my knowledge of the text in general had greatly improved. I have therefore now returned to the start again.

Many with strong religious views may not appreciate the vivisection my work is about to amount to. I would like to think my findings show me with an open mind but not so open that it can no longer hold my brains. It is unlikely this new reading will change my views too much towards faith or belief, though some may hope and pray that it does that for me.

I will start with those opening three word, a classic fairy tale opener on par with ‘once upon a time’ or ‘A long time ago in a galaxy far far away’ (except it is centred on our galaxy).

Canterbury Cathedral

The problem with this beginning is that it isn’t really the beginning. The beginning was God thinking of the idea of creating a universe and at least one populated World in the first place. What did he do it for? Was it for his own amusement or education? Was / is her bored with being of such infinite power? Is he lonely without some sort of toy to play with or experiment to conduct? Is our universe the only one God created? Are we one of several? If others went before this one, why were they scrapped or abandoned? What did God do to pass the infinity of time he had before he decided to switch our universe on?

As will be seen in a few chapters time, the Creation will go wrong, especially when Adam & Eve eat the fruit of the Tree Of Knowledge. What therefore was God’s plan for if they hadn’t listened to the talking snake / serpent entity? Would there have been some development to how Eden and its lifeforms came to behave or was life intended simply to continue unchanged from day six of the Creation to the end of infinity? Was God proved fallible and imperfect before the beginning even began?

Why did God not incorporate a back-up plan right there in the beginning? Did he create the Universe along the lines of some kind of written or mental blue-print? Did he follow the assembly instructions properly? These are questions we will never know the answer to as the author(s) of Genesis see the beginning as the start of the six day construction work, not the conception of the idea of creation or any preparation stages involved.

Belfast Cathedral

The Book Of Genesis is central to the beliefs of Creationists and others who take the Bible literally, and in particular the first eight chapters of the fifty chapters that make up the opening book, into which is condensed the creation, fall, first murder, and the Flood stories. Cosmology, physics, astronomy, geology, Darwinian evolution theory, palaeontology, chemistry, and a great deal of good old fashioned common sense are rejected in favour of the words following In The Beginning. Among supporters of such Creationist claims are the advisors to the current US President, Donald Trump and include his own former Vice President, Mike Pence.

So much scientific truth is rejected in favour of a handful of poetic mythology. We all therefore need to read those words extremely carefully whether we believe them or not. I for one, do not.

Photos taken by me.

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Arthur Chappell