Maybe before asking what Genesis is trying to tell us, we should ask what Genesis was trying to tell those to whom it was originally written. They were a pre-scientific people who had just been rescued from 400 years of slavery in a land that worshipped many gods and had it's own creation story.What was Genesis trying to tell us? That God created the universe, and wanted a family and that family stared with two people created. The women was then fooled by the Devil and the man was right there and partook in what ever the one thing that God told them not to do. Thereby turning over dominion to God's arch enemy, who was once by the way the most perfect of God's creations. Mort cole I think you are far out there on this one, the point being man was created to make the family of God from two people. Sheese.
BTW, nowhere in Genesis is the serpent identified as the Devil. That association comes much later, which means there is nothing to indicate that the original hearers would have understood the villain to be anything more than a talking serpent. The serpent in the story is a mythical creature which embodies the idea of sly persuasion and treachery.
The Hebrews were coming out of a land of many gods and would be going into a land of many gods. During the interim, while wandering in the wilderness, they are being taught about who their God is. The Egyptians had gods to represent the sun, moon, sky, etc. Genesis is saying that the Hebrew God is above all of those. In fact, the things that pagans worship as gods are creations of the one and only God.
The Hebrews would have a special relationship with God (ie covenant) and be placed in a land where they would be surrounded by temptations to turn away from God and go their own way. They would divide up the land according to tribe, which would provoke jealousy and inter-tribal warfare.
These issues, and others like them, are foreshadowed in the early Genesis stories.
The creation story, Adam & Eve story, Cain & Abel story, etc. are speaking God's values to them and reminding them of the consequences of turning away from God and breaking covenant.
Whether or not the stories are historically true, they did serve as cultural myths to help shape the Israelite's identity as a people. Most cultures have these myths. By "myth" I mean, as wikipedia puts it:
In the U.S., we Christians teach our children that American was founded as a Christian nation. This is one of our cultural myths. We tend to downplay the fact that many of the founding fathers were actually deists (which is one step away from atheism) and that America was built on the backs of African slaves and the graves of Native Americans. These rather "un-Christian" facts don't mesh with our mythology (and I'm probably angering somebody right now by tweaking with the American myth)."... a sacred story or narrative containing supernatural, divine or heroic beings, arranged in a coherent system, passed down orally, and linked to the spiritual or religious life of a community. Myths have existed in all cultures since before recorded history. Myths are often set in mythical time, a time before time or history begins, and are intended to explain the universal and local beginnings ("creation myths" and "founding myths"), natural phenomena, inexplicable cultural conventions, and anything else for which no simple explanation presents itself. In this sense myth is distinct from fiction, legend, fairy tale, folklore, fable and tale."
By "myth" I don't mean something that is patently false either. The purpose of myth isn't to substantiate facts, it is to convey a collective identity and/or deeper truths. That's what I think the early Genesis stories, first and foremost, were intended to do.
I hope I've not taken this thread to a place no one wants to go. Please forgive me if I have.
