Archaeologically, the cuneiform tablets which depict Mesopotamian myth predate the writing of the Bible by 1000 years. There is also a logical argument to be made that the serpent in the garden was added to imply superiority over the religion of the Mesopotamians who worshiped a snake god.
The Bible is rife with borrowings from other religions; the great flood and the garden of eden to the virgin birth. Perseus, Gilgamesh, Jason, Dionysus, Osiris, Horus, all born of virgins. Virgin birth is like a cliche in ancient myth.
I think a thousand years from now, people will read how 20-21st century man conquered the stars, split the atom, and mapped the human genome, but was still unable to break himself away from the myths and folklore of ancient religion.
Thomas Jefferson once said: "The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter".
Their writing predates the written Bible but not the story of the creation. If Cain left the Garden and started a civilization in Mesopotamia he would have taken the story of their beginning with him. The stories are similar but the Babylonian myths are twisted.
The Bible is rife with borrowings from other religions; the great flood and the garden of eden to the virgin birth. Perseus, Gilgamesh, Jason, Dionysus, Osiris, Horus, all born of virgins. Virgin birth is like a cliche in ancient myth.
What if they did the borrowing of the stories of the flood, garden etc. I know that the "virgin birth" was before the event but it was a story told in the stars, before written history.
I know science is always finding answers, discovering things about us and our universe. But it never really gets into the philosophical. Some may say that is just because in the end it is all illogical to be judging things in any way but empirically. However there is that one piece, that one bit of our spirit that will never be satisfied with it all just being a random series of events, perhaps tossed in with a bit of luck if I maybe so bold.
Maybe that’s because we think too much, perhaps it’s a weakness in many of us, but maybe, just maybe there is something the is just out of reach of our science no matter how far it goes.
I leave with this, something I have thought of over the years both as a lover of science and a practicing Christian. I was a very big fan of Sagan back in his hay day. Whatever you opinion maybe of the man, he did bring the marvel of the universe to many. I was discussing him one day with others and one of my peers was dumb founded and finally said “But he is an Atheist”. That disturbed me to no end, not because of the revelation, because I knew indirectly, but it made me wonder abut the fate of this man. But then when I would watch his show, I would see that glint of wonder in his eye. It was more than just emotion, he got it. He got how supremely wonderful it all was. He may not have given credit where I think it’s due, but in his own way he was a much stronger believer than many of my fellow Christians.