CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT THE BIBLE

Critical thinking about the Bible
Introduction
For centuries, the Bible has been regarded as a collection of the Holy Scriptures that details the Christians about the history of the Earth from its genesis to the expansion of Christianity across the world. It contains a series of many books authored by different people at different times. The Bible is regarded as a religious text that is divided into two parts namely; Old Testament and New Testament. However, debates have arisen concerning the nature of the Biblical God that makes the Bible as much a political text as it is a religious text. Is Creation in the Biblical account a one-time event, an event consisting of several phases, or a continuing event that is also taking place right now? How does the Biblical narrative surrounding Adam and Eve theoretically correspond to how the Biblical God is envisioned? What makes Adam and Eve paradigmatic human beings? What political repercussions follow from the way God and Adam and Eve are theorized in the Biblical text? My goal in this paper is to outline my perception concerning the Bible on the issues of political text and the creation of Adam and Eve.
History details us that the relationship between Christianity and politics is complicated and is among the major causes of arguments. People have expressed their different views on the Bible as a political text and the inter-relation between politics and Christianity. Some suggest that the Bible has no interference with politics hence it is cannot serve as a political text. Others claim that the Bible involved political circumstances hence it is right to claim that the Bible is not only a religious text but also a political text. To my perception, the Bible can be regarded as both a religious and political text. This is because Jesus emphasized obeying the authority in command and even emphasized on paying of taxes by the citizens. If Jesus the Son of God gave heed to the authority, it proves that the Bible enforced that it is not only a religious text but also political text. The Bible outlines clearly that we should respect those in power.
The Bible is chronically arranged from the time of the creation of the universe and everything in it. God took six days to complete the creation process and rested on the seventh day. People argue about in different versions in the sense of whether creation is a one-time event, an event consisting of several phases, or a continuing event that is taking place even now. This debate is fascinating and has been brought about by the fact that living things continue to reproduce hence the creation of a new being takes place. The fact remains that God has a unique way of carrying out his activities. Let me judge from the perspective that creation is only a one-time event; it clearly means that the reproduction of human beings would be impossible. It can confidently claim that creation is not a one-time event. In terms of creation is an event consisting of several phases, I could claim that God created everything individually and specialized. While in terms of whether creation is a continuing event, I support this idea in the sense that time is infinite and God being the most powerful being can always recreate everything. According to my perception, I support the notion that creation is a continuing event because living things have the ability to continue to reproduce and the fact that matter cannot be destroyed but only transformed from one form to another.
According to the Bible, the first human beings to be created were Adam and Eve (male and female). Christians believe that Adam and Eve are their ancestors and the origin of humanity. God made them be husband and wife. It emphasizes Christians that a family should be single (one husband and one wife) and should have children (one or more). Human beings are special because God created them in His own image and likeness and commanded them to reproduce and have authority over every other God’s creation. Adam is created from the dust of the Garden of Eden. Eve is made from Adam’s ribs while he was in a deep sleep. They were both naked but unembarrassed about it. She was meant to offer a companion to Adam. Therefore, a woman’s (wife) crucial role to a man is to offer companionship. She should be submissive towards her husband at all times. Adam had clearly been instructed that he could eat from all the trees in the garden except one which was centrally placed. However, Eve gets deceived by a serpent into eating the fruit from the forbidden tree, and also gives some of the fruit to Adam. This act made them acknowledge the fact that they were naked. It also made them aware of the difference between good and bad. That was the fall of man which resulted in consequences. Adam and Eve were also banished from the Garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve serve as perfect paradigmatic human beings. This is because they proved that disobedience is unaccepted and if one chooses to disobey he/she should be punished under the set rules and regulations. They are also the reasons why men have to toil and moil every single day to feed and sustain their family, why women experience such torturous and unbearable labor pains during child delivery, why serpents crawl on their bellies, and why beings end up dead. These were the consequences of the fall of man (sin).
Adam and Eve were given authority over the other God’s creation. It advances the political aspects of human beings. Humans have an ability to control things surrounding them including other human beings. That is why in a society there are leaders and politicians. Their mandate is to guide others and develop their wellbeing in terms of economy, politics, and socially in society.
Conclusion

In my own opinion, Christian believe that the stories in the Bible should be literary understood. It means that they believe the fact that the universe was created in particularly six days and that no other theory should be considered. I think that the Bible is comprehensive to understand and it requires critical thinking and knowledge to understand the Bible’s content. Christians should also remember that the Bible stories were authored by people. They had limited knowledge about religion and the world in short. They were trying to explain their theories and accounts in the Bible according to what they believed in. All I am trying to emphasize is that God is in command and He is the only one who can clearly explain to us the chronicles of events in the Bible.