On Faith September 11, 2014 Why Your Bible Feels Like Fantasy Fiction Six ways in which the Bible makes more sense if read as a work of fantasy. by Brandon Withrow
When I was a kid, my Sunday school teacher insisted that — because Eve was created from the rib of Adam (_Genesis 2:21-22_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+2:21-22&version=NRSV) ) — all men had one rib less than women. This extra-biblical idea has a long history, especially given that until the fourteenth century, dissected bodies were mostly men. Anatomists like _Andreas Vesalius_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Vesalius) (1514-64) called the extra-rib doctrine “simply ridiculous” and proved his point by simply counting ribs. It is ridiculous — though not any more unusual than some stuff that actually is in the Bible. Take Jacob’s understanding of sexual reproduction: he thought that showing stripes to goats while mating would produce striped offspring (_Genesis 30:31-43_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search =Genesis+30:31-43&version=NRSV) ). I’m often struck by the exotic world of the Bible; it operates by a completely different set of laws from our own. Debates about its scientific accuracy will rage on, but Bible readers might appreciate the text more if they let it sit on the shelves next to all their favorite fantasy fiction. Here are six ways the Bible fits right in with the fantasy genre: 1. Its universe defies our physics. Genesis’ story of creation begins with a chaotic water-world, which doesn’ t make sense unless we disregard the natural laws of our world. Day one, for example, starts off with a ubiquitous light (_Genesis 1:3_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1:3&version=NRSV) ) that is not unlike a _Thomas Kinkade_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kinkade) painting, since it is without a light source. Lights aren’t created until day four (_Genesis 1:14_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1:14&version=NRSV) ). 2. Earth is a strange planet topped by a solid dome. This barrier in the sky is a border between heaven and a disc-like earth: imagine something like CBS’s _Under the Dome_ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1553656/) or _The Truman Show_ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120382/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) . The dome is said to hold back the waters in the heavens (_Genesis 1:6_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1:6&version=NRSV) ), which later flood the entire planet back into its chaos. It’s also where the lights are hung at night (_Genesis 1:14-18_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1:14-18&version=NRSV) ) as they circle the earth. 3. Supernatural transportation in the sky! While most mortals are earth-bound, some get to slip its surly bonds. There are flying chariots of fire (_2 Kings 2:11_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Kings+2:11&version=NRSV) ), tall ziggurats one can climb to heaven (_Genesis 11:4-9_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+11:4-9&version=NRSV) ), teleportation (_Genesis 5:24_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+5:24&version=NRSV) ; _2 Corinthians 12:2_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+12:2&version=NRSV) ), ladders (_Genesis 28:10-19_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+28:10-19&version=NRSV) ), and ethereal lifts (_Acts 1:9_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+1:9&version=NRSV) ). 4. Bizarre beings wander around. Most people know of the talking snake who deceived Eve (_Genesis 3:1-5_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+3:1-5&version=NRSV) ), but less know there is also a talking donkey (_Numbers 22:25-30_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers+22:25-30&version=NRSV) ). Plus there are giants like Goliath (_1 Samuel 17_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+samuel+17&version=NRSV) ). One long-standing Jewish tradition sees the giants of _Genesis 6:4_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+6:4&version=NRSV) (Nephilim) as the offspring of angels and human females. There are also monstrous and multi-headed sea serpents (_Psalm 74:14_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+74:14&version=NRSV) ). Plus, there are mythical heroes — _Samson_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson) is essentially the Bible’s version of Hercules. 5. People with otherworldly powers. There are sorcerers and magicians who can turn a staff into a snake (_Exodus 7:11-13_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+7:11-13&version=NRSV) ). There are prophets, like Elijah, who call fire down from heaven (_2 Kings 1:10_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Kings+1:10&version=NRSV) ). There are witches (_1 Samuel 28:3-5_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Samuel+28:3-5&version=NRSV) ), such as the medium of Endor (no, _not that Endor_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endor_(Star_Wars)) ). The apostle Paul has so much power that his sweat rags were able to heal the sick (_Acts 19:11-12_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+19:11-12&version=NRSV) ). And of course, there’s Jesus, who walks around healing the sick, reading minds, raising the dead, and multiplying loaves of bread. 6. There is a spiritual world full of demons and the dead. Saul manages to contact his dead mentor Samuel (_1 Samuel 28_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1++Samuel+28&version=NRSV) ) through the witch of Endor (also not _this Endor_ (http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Endor) ). The long dead Moses and Elijah — who never died since he flew to heaven on a fiery chariot — hang out with Jesus on a mountain (_Matthew 17:1-13_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+17:1-13&version=NRSV) ). And don’t forget God’s nemesis, Satan (_Matthew 4:1-11_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+4:1-11&version=NRSV) ), whose demonic horde can possess humans and give them super-strength; they also occasionally run obstinate pigs off cliffs (_Mark 5:1-13_ (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+5:1-13&version=NRSV) ). Why read the Bible as fantasy? Many scholars say that we create meaning — become co-authors — whenever we read any book. Readers tend to impose their own expectations onto any text. Fantasy is ripe for that kind of working imagination. The fantasy genre demands that we suspend our expectations of the world. Fantasy is an escape because it is unlike the world we know daily (unless we’ re at Dragon Con). Likewise, the Bible draws us in because it provides its own world and rules. It does this so well that it has inspired the fantasies of C.S Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia or Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. And yet, as otherworldly as this biblical world is, it also has a distinct earth-boundedness to it. Our human brains, _as scientists have noted_ (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13782-religion-a-figment-of-human-imaginat ion.html#.U_t8bbxdVps) , enable us to “imagine other worlds” and to _create mythological creatures_ (http://www.radiolab.org/story/91597-mix-and-match/) that do not exist in nature. That’s why we gravitate to stories that transcend the mundane. And that’s why — whether we accept it as divine or not — we should try to experience the Bible as fantasy fiction. In doing so, you might discover yourself in the text — and just how human a fantasy world can be. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
