Wanting to Be like Gods

1. Wanting to Be like Gods Creation, Providence and the Problem of Good and Evil

2. Those who have died have never left • The dead are not under the earth • They are in the rustling trees • They are in the crying grass • They are in the moaning rocks • The dead are not under the earth • “Breaths,” Lyrics adapted from a poem by BiragoDop for “Sweet Honey in the Rock. Ancestors

3. We are the African and the trader. We are the Indian and the settler. We are the slaver and the enslaved. We are oppressor and oppressed. We are the women and we are the men. We are the children. • Alice, Walker, “In the Closet of the Soul,” Living by the Word Race and Ancestry: “Interlocking Systems of OpPression”, Combahee River Collective

4. Mania City heat. Blaring speed. Jealousy, hate and love. Grass mirages waver in the street. Oasis. From “A time to Heal,” Karen Baker-Fletcher. Sisters of Dust and Sisters of Spirit. Minneapolis, MN, U.S., Fortress Press, 1988

5. Black Migration To Cheri, who died at 15, and Lady, whereabouts unknown. She used to run through Wide fields; Thorns scratched lightly in sweet smelling grass. Here wild child cuts Her feet running Through pop glass Glinting green In the brown packed dirt That dusts her legs Talc-grey. Silver black bullets Lie smooth among The alley’s cruched Black coals Where wild child plays, Where dead rats Smell like rotting flesh And dogs fight. From “Sisterist voices, Sisterist Memories” in Karen Baker-Fletcher,Sisters of Dust, Sisters of Spirit

6. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not cause it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; but a stream would rise from the earth[adamah] and the water the whole face of the ground--then the Lord God formed man [adam] from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:1-8

7. The word “adamah” means “from the earth” or “of the earth.” • The word “adam” means “earth creature. • Similarly, the word “human” is related to “humous”, again “of the earth” or “earthy.” • The word ruach means “breath” or “wind”—spiritusin Latin. It may also mean vibration and is related to sound or singing (Leonard Sweet). Human beings are inspired earth

8. Science Scripture In Both Science and in Christian Sacred Scriptures Human Beings consist of Water, Matter and Vibration or Energy

9. As Sally McFague puts it, we are made from “the dust of stars.” • There is a direct relationship between God and creation, the Spirit of God and the matter through which God gives all creatures shape, structure and form. • Heaven and Earth are God’s creation. • In scripture , as in Postmodern science, the elements that constitute heaven, earth, land, waters, vegetation, water-creatures and creeping creatures precede human beings. God creates human beings last. Scripture and Science: Different Yet Compatible Regarding Creation

10. In Genesis 1 God creates us humans last in God’s own image, male and female. • In Genesis 2 adamand eve, which means “mother of all” are of the same nature—bone of bone and flesh of flesh. They are both earth creatures. same substance. • In Genesis 1 and 2 human creatures care for creation together. God Freely Created us in God’s Image, Male and Female, to care for creation Wilson Bigaud, 1931-2010

11. The word providence is related to the words “provision” and “provide.” The understanding of providence is based on the presupposition that God is good and that God provides for the ongoing good or well-being of creation. Creation and Providence

12. From “Creative Commons” Some Christian Writers like John Wesley believe We Human Creatures were Created in “Original Righteousness”

13. What happened to the good creation? If what God provides is good and ensures the well-being of all creation, then why is there evil in the world? If the earth and all that is in it, including humankind were originally created good, then why is there so much sin, the violation or transgression of others that leaves us in a world of broken relationship? If God is Good why is there so much Evil in the World?

14. Why do the righteous and the unrighteous alike experience evil and suffering if God is good? Job, who represents every human being who has suffered or who ever will suffer great loss, learns that God created all that existed in the past, the present, and that will come to be (Job 1-3, 27-30, 38-42). Where was Job, God asked, when God created all that has been, is, and will come to be? Job receives no answer as to why there is evil, destruction, suffering, pain, and death in the world. He learns instead that God creates, has created, and will continue to create. The story of Job affirms the power of divine creativity in the midst of evil and suffering. The good news of the story is simply that divine creativity is greater than any other power in its capacity to create. Job and the Power of God to Create

15. It can be helpful to focus on human evil—sin. • Like St. Augustine of Hippo, Martin Luther and John Calvin, JohnWesley believed in “original sin.” • For Augustine and later Christians like Luther, Calvin and Wesley “original sin” is the sin of the first human beings who misused their freedom to defy God’s aim for the good of all creation “Original Sin”

16. Early Christian writers like Augustine believed the first human beings originally delighted in dwelling and acting in the goodness of God. • John Wesley Calls this “original righteousness.” • In original righteousness human beings desired to think, speak and act within God’s initial aim for the good of all creation. • Human beings freely chose the goodness of God in their live • Human beings also had the potential to freely defy God. They could be tempted to do evil. • For John Wesley, as for Augustine, Luther and Calvin, the sin of the first human beings creates a vicious cycle of human evil—”original sin.” “Original Righteousness”

17. In contrast to later Western Christian Tradition, Ireaeus of Lyons believed God created human beings immature. • This meant human beings were created to grow, to mature, like other creatures in creation. Irenaeus of Lyons, 2nd Century A.D.—God Created Human Beings to Mature

18. Augustine and others derive the understanding of the “original sin” of “Adam” from Genesis 3. • Both men and women, according to Genesis 3:1-7, seek to be as wise and knowledgeable as gods. • Perhaps, however, Ireaneus and Augustine alike offer some insights into human vulnerability to temptation and sin. • Knowledge of good and evil is power. • Human beings’ desire for god-like power of knowledge results in a cycle of human evil—sin. • Such thinking may indicate not only the beginning of greed, but immaturity. • There is another tree in the garden, however: The Tree of Life! (Yvette Flunder) The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life!

19. Knowledge is power. The desire to be like gods is a desire to be more powerful. • The desire to possess knowledge “like the gods” is to desire for more power to determine the nature of things. • What would human beings, however, do with such power? • From experience and history one can see that human beings have often used the power of the knowledge of good and evil to conquer and destroy the earth and one another.

20. For human beings to possess divine power and knowledge of good and evil, means human beings have the ability to manipulate the delicate balance of the cosmos. Our current ecological crisis is a witness to the use of power to upset the delicate balance of the created order. • Our capacity to correct wrongs through God’s grace is a witness to our capacity walk in the power of the tree of life. the Power of Knowledge and the Power of Life

21. In Christian traditions there is no freedom without divine grace. • In the gift of freedom we have loved God and creation. • Through misuse of freedom sometimes we humans have sought to control and manipulate creation to satisfy selfish desires. • When we violate the well-being of creationentire communities and eco-systems experience negative consequences. • God’s intention for us is to use freedom to build strong families and communities that respect life all around us. Grace and Freedom

22. There is a kiss of the heart to the heart from God within, drinking tears as they fall like rain enriching thirsty soil with new green things, springing up whole and ripe, and new again. Karen Baker-Fletcher. Sisters of Dust, Sisters of Spirit. Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.,: Fortress Press, 1998.

23. God is a God of grace who offers guidance, calling us into God’s initial aim for creation. God is also responsive, responding to the cries for justice from all creation. God who is responsive to the cries of the earth calls us to respond to God’s love for creation, calling us forth to act in the power of divine love for justice by grace and through faith. • Genesis 1-3, along with the story of Job, invite us to understand who we are in relation to God and Creation. • How do these texts speak to you today about God’s grace and our responsibility? Grace and Responsibility

24. What insights do biblical texts like Genesis and the book of Job provide on human vulnerability. • What do we learn about the Creator and Creation? • Why is there evil in the world? • What does the fruit of the tree of life taste like, look like and in what ways do its seeds promote new growth? • Where do we witness the Tree of Life at work? Discussion Questions