Expert: Germania Rodriguez - 9/19/2004

Question
Hi,
I understand that when you ask an individual about a bible verse, the answer is somewhat biased.  But I am desperate and too stupid to make sense of the bible myself.  I read the first COLUMN in the Old Testament and have underlined statements and words that seem to contradict each other and confuse me.  Here's all that I underlined and do not understand in the very first column of my Bible:

Genesis 1:5 and 1:14
In verse 5 it says "God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.  And there was evening and there was morning, the first day."  Then in verse 14 it says "And God said, 'Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night..."
Ok, according to verse 5 there was already a distinction between day and night without these "lights", so why did God have to create something to separate the night and day when night and day were ALREADY separated?

Genesis 1:6-8
"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters."
“In the midst of the waters?” There are waters above AND below?  What are the waters ABOVE?
"And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."
Heaven means the SKY right?

I have so many questions when it comes to reading the bible without a Sunday priest.  Can I please email you the questions I have?

Thank you

Ps.  We shouldn't take this literal should we?  Like all the talk about "God named this THIS... and God created the world in seven days?  Or should we?  I guess this question will be answered in a bias fashion also.


Answer
Hi,
as you wrote, we cant take the Bible literal. Genesis is a book where we learn about the orligen of this word, the origin of the first sin , depravation of the humanity and the promise of God the He himself will return  and final victory.
We cant identify how or when Moises knows about the begining of the man, or how God created this word.