In case you missed it, there was a debate on Tuesday evening (Feb. 5) between Ken Ham - young-earth Creationist (earth created in 6 literal days, 6,000 years ago - and Bill Nye (the science guy!). The debate was over the origins of life - bible or evolution.
I have read numerous posts in the hours leading up to and in wake of the debate - most of them are a critique of Ham’s thoroughly unbiblical approach to the bible and his refusal to listen to reason or be moved on his absurd position. A great summary can be found here: Ken Ham’s Biblical Interpretation Is as Clumsy as his Science.
In the immediate aftermath of this debate I am struck by one thought - we have lost our sense of myth and wonder. Myth has been sacrificed on the alter of “fact” - if we can’t provide something empirically, it must not be true. We teach our kids how to learn facts and not how to dream or imagine. We create machines to enter the system.
Our ability to wonder seems to be on life-support, or already on its way out the back door in a pine box.
And this startles me to no end. In an age where everything has to been measured by fact - I only need point to our culture of standardized testing that is not truly education - we have lost something truly remarkable in our ability to engage myth and wonder.
In my systematic theology class in seminary, my professor Dr. Vitor Westhelle, began our discussion of theology with a exploration of myth. Dr. Westhelle taught us that “Myth is a story that never took place, but always happens.” I think there is great truth in this statement and it sheds light on how we understand where we come from and where we are going.
The creation stories (and there are multiple) in the bible contain a great deal of myth. They recount our attempt to understand where we have come from - in a sense they never took place because we can never know when they were first told. But they always happened because we have passed them down from generation to generation. They are myth and they help us to wonder.
Dr. Vesthelle described myth in this way:
Myth tries to address where we come from, how old are we, and when did fear arrive (a member of my congregation likened this one to “when did we screw up” - I think this also applies).
Wrapped up in the questions are a sense of wonder - not a search for facts. These questions lead us to tell a story - not search for empirical evidence. Our ancestors didn't know about carbon dating or the 24 hour day. Neither did they witness the spirit of God moving over the waters. But they did understand that they had come from somewhere - for Israel it was the divine, creating, sustaining, hands of God. We who follow Jesus are a part of this story.
In the creation stories in the bible we can witness the movement of these three questions: where we come from, how old are we, and when did fear arrive? And they move us to tell a story. A story grounded in wonder. A story grounded in God’s love for the world. A story that we still tell today. If the bible becomes about facts and trying to prove detractors wrong, then the story dies. And we all lose.
So let’s reclaim our sense of myth and wonder. The journey of discipleship, of following Jesus, would be nothing without these integral aspects of our faith.
Our sense of myth helps us to recall the great deeds God has done on behalf of the world in our past, so that we can imagine and hope and long for how God will act on the world’s behalf in the future.
Our sense of wonder helps us to discern how God imagines and encounters the world - and where we are being called to follow.
Blessings on the journey,
Travis
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