Creation: Science, Metaphor, or Symbolism?
In the past few weeks, I have been studying and pondering five accounts of the Creation story. Two are from the Bible, using the King James Version (KJV) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSVue). Two from the Pearl of Great Price, found in the Books of Moses and Abraham. The fifth account is how it is presented in the temple. Every religion in the world and all ancient cultures have some kind of creation myth.
When we contemplate nature and the cosmos, a sense of awe overcomes us. We are reminded how small we are in the grand scheme of things. We wonder how it all began. Scientists and theologians have divergent views of how it all came to be. It is not pure coincidence that the earth and everything on and around it are designed to work together in harmony. It is no wonder that people in all ages are fascinated by creation.
Each of the creations stories differ, but the one we are most familiar with describes events in the same order as the theory of evolution. How the ancient cultures figured that out is astounding. So that makes me wonder what other things they got right. For example, Moses 2:2 reads, “And the earth was without form, and void; and I caused darkness to come up upon the face of the deep; and my Spirit moved upon the face of the water; for I am God.” The earth was not formed, and it was void of what? In this case, it meant lifeless. But the next line is fascinating to me, “and I caused darkness to come upon the face of the deep.”
What is the function of darkness in the creative process? If it is dark matter, it could make sense because dark matter is essential to the formation of galaxies. Before galaxies form, space is essentially dark. As visible matter coalesces, stars are formed, and “Let there be light” also makes sense. Again, the creation story gets first things first. Without an explanation of astronomical processes, the result of them is described quite well. As galaxies form, the dark matter, which is acted upon by gravity, forms great spherical halos around them and provides a stable gravitational framework for the galaxy to form. So, in some sense, visible matter is differentiated from dark matter. “God, divided the light from the darkness.” God puts darkness in its place, outside the light.
The creation story, while not scientific in nature, moves step by step, or day by day in the same pattern described by scientists. Responsible scientists do not think everything is left to chance. They call the process “Intelligent design” and theologians call it God caused. Either way, life on earth defies all odds.
After the earth is prepared for life, plants, fishes, fowls, and all forms of animal life come into being. The language used to describe the process is, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, the fruit tree yielding fruit, after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed should be in itself upon the earth… Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl which may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven… Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind, and it was so;”. That sounds a lot like evolution to me. But that does not mean God was not involved.
To this point in the story, science, and theology mesh fairly well together. And then it comes to the creation of humans, and this is where science and theology diverge. “And I, God, said unto mine Only Begotten, which was with me from the beginning: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and it was so. And I, God, said: Let them have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And I, God, created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; male and female created I them.” The earth did not bring forth man, nor did the waters. That language is not used in describing the creation of man. Therefore, man is a different kind of creation than every other living thing. It is true that DNA is shared between species, but the gap between the natures of man and beast is enormous.
We learn in the scriptures and the temple that all the creation is to provide a place for the sons and daughters of God to be tested and tried and continue the process of becoming like the Gods. This doctrine is unique to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. No other religion makes this bold claim, and that is one of the things that makes the church the only true church on the face of the earth.
The creation, like almost any profound event, can be used as a metaphor for other important things we encounter as we go through life. It demonstrates order from chaos. It shows that great things require organized planning and process. Becoming is building one thing upon another. By using the creation story as a template, we can create great things.
Symbols of darkness to light, simplicity to complexity, and earthly to heavenly. The entire cosmos becomes a great symbol of incomprehensibility and grandeur. But because of the Books of Moses and Abraham, we can see and understand our place in the cosmos. The language used in the story of creation is symbolic. The most obvious symbolic language is used in the creation of the woman Eve. She was not made from Adam’s rib. The idea being conveyed is that Eve is not at the head or foot of Adam, she is at his side.
So, is the creation story science, metaphor, or symbolism? The answers are yes and no to each aspect. The critical takeaway from the story is that God did it all for us. Our part in the ongoing story of creation is to realize and take advantage of our current situation.