quilt analogy

pype.dev/content/bible-project/the-flood-story---quilt-analogy.md

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+---
+date: 2024-12-14 05:43:43
+templateKey: blog-post
+title: The Flood Story - Quilt Analogy
+published: True
+tags:
+    - bible-project
+    - faith
+---
+
+# The Flood Story in the Hebrew Bible
+
+I'm slowly making my way through some Bible Project classes online because Tim
+Mackie is a fantastic teacher and BP has done be a _great_ service by opening
+my eyes to the reality of the Biblical narrative and what it means for my life
+of faith in Jesus.
+
+The second session is filled with great points and 10 minutes in I had to jot
+this one down...
+
+## A Quilt as History
+
+Imagine your grandmother's grandmother made a quilt, and passed it down the
+family tree. In a sense, that quilt contains history that would pre-date you
+but would absolutely have meaning to you... However, you might look for meaning
+that was never intended to be present.
+
+The pieces of the quilt have their own history - there will be material that
+might've been part of a dress, or curtains, or bedsheets, or anything else
+someone in the family tree found interesting and meaningful for the story they
+are telling with their quilt.
+
+The question of what each of the pieces mean on their own, or in where they
+come from is interesting perhaps, but it's not the same question as asking what
+those pieces mean now that they have been curated into the family quilt... The
+creator(s) of the quilt may repurpose those pieces entirely, and it wouldn't be
+"right" for you or me to be upset that one piece of the quilt came from an
+article of clothing or cloth associated with something we might not like - the
+author (your grandma) __repurposed__ it for that very reason, to change the
+meaning and communicate something to you, perhaps something totally different
+than what that cloth might've meant before it was added to the quilt.
+
+## Creation as a Quilt
+
+The quilt is a curated piece of pieces of fabric - and to bring the metaphor
+home very abruptly, so is the Hebrew Bible... the authors of the Hebrew
+scripture absolutely repurposed stories and images that were present in their
+time and before, but not to make something that is a cheap copy, but to
+communicate the story of the *actual* God of gods, ruling over the world. 
+
+For example - the very beginning of the creationa ccount in Genesis 1 has the
+spirit of God hovering over the waters. Without getting into more details than
+a short write-up warrants, the waters in ancient thought represent chaos. Not
+only that, but there is an older creation account called the Enuma Elish where
+their savior god, Marduk, fights the chaos waters (Tiamat) and conquers her
+eventually... The thing about the Hebrew narrative is that Yahweh doesn't have
+to fight the waters... he subdues with his words because he isn't in tension
+with creation, or even with chaos, all things obey him and the chaos waters
+that other gods had to fight and die over are no different. So the meaning of
+the waters is somewhat consistent across lots of cultures, but Hebrews took the
+stories and in essence made them "more true", but at the very least made them
+relevant to the story they are/were communicating about the God of gods and
+Lord of love - that he is the creator of all things and invites us to partner
+with him (as his image-bearers).
+
+## Calm Down
+
+A lot of Christians get upset or skiddish when other stories and cultures get
+brought up - as if the Bible had to fall from heaven in their favorite English
+translation... but in my opinion that is the silliest and cheapest view of the
+Word of God... he chose people out of foreign lands to make an inheritence for
+himself, his people, and those people tell his story using images that they
+know.
+
+It's important for us to answer interesting questions but not lose sight of
+what's important... The Enuma Elish is an interesting piece, and there's
+parallels with the Hebrew bible, but the Hebrew creation account clearly
+communicates that Yahweh doesn't have to labor and fight for order, he speaks
+order into chaos. That lesson is wholly different from other creation
+narratives, but is it derivative of them... 
+
+That used to bother me, but understanding that the authors of the Bible,
+carried forth by the guidance of God's spirit, curated these stories and
+narratives for God's people to communicate the truest Truths about him and his
+love for people help me understand the reality of God partnering with humanity
+- which starts in the Garden and is how Revelation ends