Lies, Damn Lies and...the Bible?

At our community ministerium prayer group today (this ministerium is a multi-faith group of pastors who engage weekly to bring prayer concerns from ourselves and our churches to each other for support), a discussion occurred in which the question was something like 'could people have existed before Genesis 1:1?' That is, we can deduce from the Bible that this would have happened about 6,000 years ago. So, could people have existed before that time? My first thought is, 'does it really matter?' I mean, if it is proved that creation didn't occur exactly as it is spelled out in the accounts of Genesis or that maybe the timeframes listed there are off even thousands of years, would that be enough to shatter our faith? In speaking for myself, I would say 'no.' As a Christian, my faith is dependent upon one thing: the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. As St. Paul writes in his first letter to the church at Corinth: "When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God." (1 Cor. 2:1-5 NRSV)
I think this passage applies well to this discussion. Paul goes out of his way to explain that the primary thing for him, and furthermore the only thing he really knows, is Jesus Christ and him crucified. He does this so that their "faith might rest not on human wisdom..." What is human wisdom? I think it (partly) has something to do with the notion that we have it all figured out (or that we can have it all figured out). This pertains even to Biblical texts and the stories contained in Genesis. We assume that because something is written in the Bible that it must have happened that way - no questions asked. It also means that we look to the Bible and if something isn't there, we have to assume it didn't/can't/won't happen. We put our own understanding of something (our wisdom) above God's wisdom (Christ and him crucified) in which case it becomes idolatry - yes, the Bible can be an idol! (sounds like a good topic for another post).
It begs the question: what is the truth? Is it the Bible? I think a good theologian would say something like 'sort of' to that question. In John's Gospel, Jesus says "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (14:6a). Jesus is the truth?! Yes, and the Bible speaks to that truth - but it ought not come before it. Therefore, if we understand Christ as the truth and that everything else is ancillary, it wouldn't necessarily matter if Genesis 1 occurred exactly as written. Besides, it seems to differ in many ways from Genesis 2, so how does that get reconciled? This is an instance, it seems to me, that you can't have two vastly different stories and claim them both as the one truth.
Does this mean the creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2 aren't important? By no means! These are accounts from people thousands of years ago based on how they understood the world and how it might have come to be. It does speak to God as creator and that God cares for creation and it sets the stage for original sin and how we have messed things up by our own wisdom and yearning for that wisdom to be like God's wisdom. So, they are important stories for us as Christians.
So, could people have existed before the time period we can estimate from Genesis 1 (6,000 years ago)? Maybe. If so, and we can learn about that, good for us! If not, no big deal. Either way, I don't think the result would be enough for me to have to give up on the creed that 'Jesus is Lord!'

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! I am a Lutheran (ELCA) seminarian currently on internship in Western Iowa. Here I will from time to time present thoughts/ideas/ramblings on theological issues as they arise in my day-to-day life of learning and being. I've never had a blog and wasn't sure I would like to have one, but thought I'd give it a try anyway - I like challenges and am even beginning to enjoy trying new things (sometimes). Be sure to check back from time to time to see what is meandering through my mind. Oh, and leave comments! When I post a theological musing, it is intended to spark discussion.