My wife, Sara, and I are reading the Old Testament this year, and we're now well into the book of Exodus, also known as the
Second Book of Moses.
In chapter 3, "God called unto him... [and] said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Moses was not the first man to talk with God. There are accounts of Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who each had a personal relationship with God (as recounted in the
First Book of Moses, called Genesis).
Moses had not been looking for God. He was living his life herding sheep for his father-in-law when he turned aside, curious about a bush that appeared to be burning but was not consumed. God gave him a mission, which involved the exodus of the posterity of Jacob from the land of Egypt, and a journey which consumed the remaining forty years of his life.
After freeing the people from Egypt, "Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights." During this time he was talking with the Lord, receiving instruction, and obtaining a "covenant, the ten commandments" which he brought back into the camp on two "tables of stone, written with the finger of God."
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who believe that humans were created first and later invented God as an explanation, and those who believe that God came first, created humans, and revealed himself to them.
Moses was of the second kind. Though Moses had not been seeking an explanation, God revealed himself to him, and the two of them thereafter had a solid and real relationship.
Moses was not making this up, so the commandments that he obtained were without
confabulation.
While he was gone, the people wearied of his absence, and entreated Aaron to "make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him." So Aaron collected their gold and made a "molten calf ... and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt."
These were people of the first kind, inventing gods to make sense of their situation.
Moses believed, because of his own experience, that God came first and revealed himself to humans he had created. We get the sense that God would have wanted to reveal himself to everyone, but could not because of their lack of belief. Lack of belief was not an option for Moses, who knew God and had a relationship with him.
What to make of the two kinds of people? Today, they are at odds with one another. Those of the humans-invented-gods camp are certain that they are correct. They have a creation story, based on remnants from a distant past which can be observed today, such as fossils and the background radiation of the big bang*.
Those of the god-created-humans camp are equally sure that they are correct. They have a creation story based on revelation from the God whose prophets knew him personally.
So, which story corresponds to the reality of the universe?
Were humans created by
chance and necessity without any intervention from a pre-existing being? Did they then invent gods and creation stories to explain the incomprehensible?
Or, did a pre-existing God create humans, and then reveal himself to (some of) them? Did he provide an account of creation suitable for keepers of flocks and herds?
I acknowledge that two positions exist and claim that a person's choice of one of these alternatives is an act of faith**. The choice is based on which story seems most reasonable, and upon which authorities one finds most persuasive. It can also be based on a personal relationship with God, respectful of commandments and without confabulation.
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*According to
wikipedia, "The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model for the universe."
** It seems unjust to me that "the prevailing" view should be taught by the school system as fact while the "religious" view is forbidden to be taught, and is ridiculed and persecuted by
militant groups who believe life is an accident. Justice demands that each person be free to choose what she or he believes, with both beliefs having equal rights.
