Here we go again:-
And God said let us make man in our image.
Now I can't read the original Hebrew text. However, I've never read any contradiction of this well established line so I assume that is indeed what it says.
This to me implies that either there was more than one being that god considered to be equal in species if not rank. (and not created by god - as he would have mentioned it). I'm pretty sure that I saw a program on the early Jewish belief system that suggested that originally they supported a two god system (one male and one female) which would support this multi god beginning.
unless our is refrerring to the holy trinity? But I guess that coulkd open a whole new kettle of fish lol
anyway I'd def put it in fantasy.
That latter point has been argued frequently, but it doesn't quite hold up on examination. The first verse of Genesis uses "Elohim" (gods, plural), and much of the Old Testament varies between this and El (god -- singular); gradually this became replaced by Yahweh, Adonai, etc. -- other evidences of the shift from polytheism to monotheism.
It is interesting to compare the older texts of the Bible for insights into this, as the Dead Sea Scrolls make the issue much clearer; the wording from later (nearly 1000 years later) texts tend much more toward the monotheistic stance, but still retain occasional usages which are traces of the original, polytheistic stance.
This is what the Columbia Encyclopedia (online version) has to say on the subject:
The history of Judaism predates the period to which the term itself actually refers, in that Judaism formally applies to the post-Second Temple period, while its antecedents are to be found in the biblical “religion of Israel.” The Bible is no longer considered a homogeneous work; the many traditions represented in it demonstrate variance and growth. While the historicity of the patriarchs' existence and of Moses as the giver of all laws is under question, certain dominant themes can be seen developing in this early period that have importance for later Judaism.
Central to these themes is the notion of monotheism, which most scholars believe to have been the outgrowth of a process that began with polytheism, progressed to henotheism (the worship of one god without denying the existence of others), and ended in the belief in a single Lord of the universe, uniquely different from all His creatures. He is compassionate toward His creation, and in turn humans are to love and fear (i.e., stand in awe of) Him. Because God is holy, He demands that His people be holy, righteous, and just, a kingdom of priests to assist in the fulfillment of His designs for humankind and the world.
Those interested in tracing the development of the Bible may also want to look at this:
NOVA | Transcripts | The Bible's Buried Secrets | PBS
There are dozens (at least) of other references online concerning this, and a good deal more has been written about it in scholarly journals and the like.
However, this is part of why I would differentiate between the Bible as fiction -- that is, a consciously created narrative depicting events and persons known to be imaginary, primarily for the purpose of entertainment (though possibly having didactic intent as well) -- and myth and legend, which represents a gradually evolved system of beliefs and tales centered around those beliefs and/or those who most strongly represented them (or their implications), something which is thought to be factual in basis and possibly as a whole. One is a conscious, deliberate artifice with a particular set of intentions; the other may in part be conscious in origin -- an attempt to understand the reality of existence and the universe, with limited experience and knowledge of the nature of that reality -- but that aspect has been long lost to posterity, and what we have instead are genuine beliefs (even if, as belief systems, they are no longer practiced); thus having quite a different set of intentions.
The closest we can come these days to the latter is the parable type of fiction, which itself has evolved from these preexisting belief systems and their tendency to utilize fictional techniques as analogies or examples of certain precepts or ideas in action.
As such, the Bible, being a compendium which has been altered, rearranged, had numerous books rejected or accepted by various movements (which has involved some very peculiar things, such as passages even in the KJV which call attention to citations of books which were rejected from the canon -- and therefore which are
not in the KJV -- by the Council of Nicea as "corroborative evidence"), been translated in various ways, with often quite different results,
und so weiter, represents a very gradually evolved set of beliefs and legends; and this, not surprisingly, often reflects that slow, gradual alteration in inconsistencies, oddly contrasting phraseology (sometimes within the same verse), and general conception of even the nature of the earth and sky, "hell" (to use the usage of the KJV, which -- depending on what part of the Bible it is from -- is used for quite different concepts; even in the New Testament, it can be a "translation" for "Gehenna" or "the grave"), and the like.
It's a fascinating study and rich in what it offers for an understanding of how the human mind and emotions work, not to mention offering a very rich source of allusions and references which any writer will find of enormous value -- after all, as with the other mythological systems, these are often very potent symbolic distillations of particular ideas, concepts, and themes of deep emotional significance to us as human beings.
