WANTING TO BE LIKE
GODS
Creation, Providence and the
Problem of Good and Evil

Those who have died have never left

The dead are not under the earth

They are in the rustling trees

They are in the crying grass

They are in the moaning rocks

The dead are not under the earth

“Breaths,” Lyrics adapted from a poem by Birago Dop for “Sweet
Honey in the Rock.
ANCESTORS

We are the African and the trader. We are the Indian and the
settler. We are the slaver and the enslaved. We are oppressor
and oppressed. We are the women and we are the men. We are
the children.

Alice, Walker, “In the Closet of the Soul,” Living by the Word
RACE AND ANCESTRY: “INTERLOCKING
SYSTEMS OF OPPRESSION”, COMBAHEE
RIVER COLLECTIVE
Mania
City heat.
Blaring speed.
Jealousy, hate and love.
Grass mirages waver in the street.
Oasis.
FROM “A TIME TO HEAL,” KAREN BAKERFLETCHER. SISTERS OF DUST AND SISTERS
OF SPIRIT. MINNEAPOLIS, MN, U.S.,
FORTRESS PRESS, 1988
Black Migration
To Cheri, who died at 15, and Lady,
whereabouts unknown.
Silver black bullets
She used to run through
Lie smooth among
Wide fields;
The alley’s cruched
Thorns scratched lightly
Black coals
in sweet smelling grass.
Where wild child plays,
Where dead rats
Here wild child cuts
Smell like rotting flesh
Her feet running
And dogs fight.
Through pop glass
Glinting green
In the brown packed dirt
That dusts her legs
Talc-grey.
FROM “SISTERIST VOICES, SISTERIST MEMORIES” IN
KAREN BAKER-FLETCHER,
SISTERS OF DUST, SISTERS OF SPIRIT

In the day that the Lord God made
the earth and the heavens, when no
plant of the field was yet in the earth
and no herb of the field had yet
sprung up—for the Lord God had not
cause it to rain upon the earth, and
there was no one to till the ground;
but a stream would rise from the
earth[adamah] and the water the
whole face of the ground--then the
Lord God formed man [adam] from
the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life; and
the man became a living being.
GENESIS 2:1-8

The word “adamah” means “from
the earth” or “of the earth.”

The word “adam” means “earth
creature.

Similarly, the word “human” is
related to “humous”, again “of the
earth” or “earthy.”

The word ruach means “breath” or
“wind”—spiritus in Latin. It may also
mean vibration and is related to
sound or singing (Leonard Sweet).
HUMAN BEINGS ARE INSPIRED EARTH
Science
Scripture
IN BOTH SCIENCE AND IN CHRISTIAN
SACRED SCRIPTURES HUMAN BEINGS
CONSIST OF WATER, MATTER AND
VIBRATION OR ENERGY

As Sally McFague puts it, we are made
from “the dust of stars.”

There is a direct relationship between God
and creation, the Spirit of God and the
matter through which God gives all
creatures shape, structure and form.

Heaven and Earth are God’s creation.

In scripture , as in Postmodern science, the
elements that constitute heaven, earth,
land, waters, vegetation, water-creatures
and creeping creatures precede human
beings. God creates human beings last.
SCRIPTURE AND SCIENCE: DIFFERENT YET
COMPATIBLE REGARDING CREATION

In Genesis 1 God creates us humans
last in God’s own image, male and
female.

In Genesis 2 adam and eve, which
means “mother of all” are of the
same nature—bone of bone and
flesh of flesh. They are both earth
creatures. same substance.

In Genesis 1 and 2 human creatures
care for creation together.
Wilson Bigaud, 1931-2010
GOD FREELY CREATED US IN GOD’S
IMAGE, MALE AND FEMALE, TO CARE FOR
CREATION

The word providence is related to
the words “provision” and
“provide.” The understanding of
providence is based on the
presupposition that God is good
and that God provides for the
ongoing good or well-being of
creation.
CREATION AND PROVIDENCE
From “Creative Commons”
SOME CHRISTIAN WRITERS LIKE JOHN
WESLEY BELIEVE WE HUMAN CREATURES
WERE CREATED IN “ORIGINAL
RIGHTEOUSNESS”

What happened to the good
creation? If what God provides is
good and ensures the well-being of
all creation, then why is there evil in
the world? If the earth and all that
is in it, including humankind were
originally created good, then why is
there so much sin, the violation or
transgression of others that leaves us
in a world of broken relationship?
IF GOD IS GOOD WHY IS THERE SO
MUCH EVIL IN THE WORLD?

Why do the righteous and the unrighteous alike experience evil and
suffering if God is good? Job, who represents every human being
who has suffered or who ever will suffer great loss, learns that God
created all that existed in the past, the present, and that will come
to be (Job 1-3, 27-30, 38-42). Where was Job, God asked, when God
created all that has been, is, and will come to be? Job receives no
answer as to why there is evil, destruction, suffering, pain, and death
in the world. He learns instead that God creates, has created, and
will continue to create. The story of Job affirms the power of divine
creativity in the midst of evil and suffering. The good news of the
story is simply that divine creativity is greater than any other power in
its capacity to create.
JOB AND THE POWER OF GOD TO
CREATE

It can be helpful to focus on human
evil—sin.

Like St. Augustine of Hippo, Martin
Luther and John Calvin, JohnWesley
believed in “original sin.”

For Augustine and later Christians like
Luther, Calvin and Wesley “original
sin” is the sin of the first human beings
who misused their freedom to defy
God’s aim for the good of all creation
“ORIGINAL SIN”

Early Christian writers like Augustine believed
the first human beings originally delighted in
dwelling and acting in the goodness of God.

John Wesley Calls this “original righteousness.”

In original righteousness human beings desired
to think, speak and act within God’s initial aim
for the good of all creation.

Human beings freely chose the goodness of
God in their live

Human beings also had the potential to freely
defy God. They could be tempted to do evil.

For John Wesley, as for Augustine, Luther and
Calvin, the sin of the first human beings
creates a vicious cycle of human evil—
”original sin.”
“ORIGINAL RIGHTEOUSNESS”

In contrast to later Western Christian
Tradition, Ireaeus of Lyons believed
God created human beings
immature.

This meant human beings were
created to grow, to mature, like
other creatures in creation.
IRENAEUS OF LYONS, 2ND CENTURY A.D.—
GOD CREATED HUMAN BEINGS TO
MATURE

Knowledge of good and evil is
power.

Augustine and others derive the
understanding of the “original sin”
of “Adam” from Genesis 3.


Both men and women, according
to Genesis 3:1-7, seek to be as wise
and knowledgeable as gods.
Human beings’ desire for god-like
power of knowledge results in a
cycle of human evil—sin.


Perhaps, however, Ireaneus and
Augustine alike offer some insights
into human vulnerability to
temptation and sin.
Such thinking may indicate not only
the beginning of greed, but
immaturity.

There is another tree in the garden,
however: The Tree of Life! (Yvette
Flunder)
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND
EVIL AND THE TREE OF LIFE!

Knowledge is power. The desire to
be like gods is a desire to be more
powerful.

The desire to possess knowledge
“like the gods” is to desire for more
power to determine the nature of
things.

What would human beings,
however, do with such power?

From experience and history one
can see that human beings have
often used the power of the
knowledge of good and evil to
conquer and destroy the earth and
one another.

For human beings to possess divine power and knowledge of
good and evil, means human beings have the ability to
manipulate the delicate balance of the cosmos. Our current
ecological crisis is a witness to the use of power to upset the
delicate balance of the created order.

Our capacity to correct wrongs through God’s grace is a witness
to our capacity walk in the power of the tree of life.
THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE
POWER OF LIFE

In Christian traditions there is no freedom
without divine grace.

In the gift of freedom we have loved God
and creation.

Through misuse of freedom sometimes we
humans have sought to control and
manipulate creation to satisfy selfish desires.

When we violate the well-being of creation
entire communities and eco-systems
experience negative consequences.

God’s intention for us is to use freedom to
build strong families and communities that
respect life all around us.
GRACE AND FREEDOM
There is a kiss of the heart
to the heart
from God within,
drinking tears as they fall
like rain
enriching thirsty soil
with new green things,
springing up whole
and ripe,
and new again.
Karen Baker-Fletcher. Sisters of Dust, Sisters of Spirit.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.,: Fortress Press, 1998.

God is a God of grace who offers
guidance, calling us into God’s initial
aim for creation. God is also
responsive, responding to the cries for
justice from all creation. God who is
responsive to the cries of the earth
calls us to respond to God’s love for
creation, calling us forth to act in the
power of divine love for justice by
grace and through faith.

Genesis 1-3, along with the story of
Job, invite us to understand who we
are in relation to God and Creation.

How do these texts speak to you
today about God’s grace and our
responsibility?
GRACE AND RESPONSIBILITY

What insights do biblical texts like Genesis and the book of Job
provide on human vulnerability.

What do we learn about the Creator and Creation?

Why is there evil in the world?

What does the fruit of the tree of life taste like, look like and in
what ways do its seeds promote new growth?

Where do we witness the Tree of Life at work?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS