It's Impossible It's impossible, tell the sun to leave the sky, it's just impossible. It's impossible, ask a baby not to cry, it's just ...

The results of taking the first few chapters of Genesis literally are manifold.

Not the least is the old hoary: where did Cain’s wife come from?

Another is being forced into a position of defending the Bible as a scientific document.

And of course one is left with an extremely anthropomorphicview of God (God confined to human form walking and talking).

To these and countless other dilemmas, innumerable books and commentaries have been written to defend the indefensible - a literal six creation and then God resting (now that's got ta be metaphorical if nothing else folks).

Wise folks know not to argue the merits of a 10,000 year old literal creation with me. It is the proverbial red rag to a bull.

But here’s the one that annoys me the most.

My antagonist says: “don’t you realise that us coming into being by pure chance is utterly minuscule?”. The probability of blah blah blah is next to zero”.

But that is daft post hoc nonsense.  The probability of almost any event after the fact is also minuscule.

Do you realise that the probability that particular button ended up on your shirt in that position is also infinitesimal?

But that is entirely the wrong use of probability.

Dawkins classic definition of evolution includes the non-random selection of random variation. That takes a bit of unpacking. Part of the reason is that the word 'random' in mathematics and scientific reasoning  means something quite different from its everyday use.

Now folks, I am not a great Dawkins fan. His brand of atheism/agnosticism suiteth me not.

I think Genesis read with due consideration for much of the metaphorical content points us to a deep understanding of that ultimate reality that we call God. It points us beyond words to an encounter with "the name that cannot be named".