There are probably few parts of the Bible that are more familiar than the beginning passages in the book of Genesis. There are also few parts of the Bible that are harder to believe than those same passages.

Gone are the days of superstitious beliefs. Today, we judge the stories of the Bible with the tools of current technology and education. We are confronted with an understanding of science that tells us that the earth, and the animal and vegetable inhabitants evolved over the course of millions of years – not seven days as the Bible would suggest.

We are faced with conflicting elements that even the staunchest believers would struggle to justify.

After eating that infamous apple, Adam and Eve realized they were naked and hid from God, who they heard walking through the garden. We can’t help but wonder why God would choose to walk. And when He challenged the first couple with the question, “Who told you that you were naked?” we wonder again, who is the “who” that God refers to? Was it that talking snake that deceived Eve?

Before we get too much further in the narrative, we are witness to the first murder, as Cain kills his brother Abel. The aftermath of that act is that Cain is banished to the land of Nod, but not before he complains that “anyone who finds me, will kill me.” Now we have to confront the idea that there are, in fact, other humans in the world, and where did they come from?

With all these conradictions coming up within the first few pages of the book of Genesis, it woukd be reasonable to ask, “Is the Bible true?”

Perhaps that is the wrong question to ask.

Perhaps a better question would be “Is the Bible TRUTH?

Clearly, that is a difficult question to answer. Tradition suggests that Genesis (and a number of other books of the Old Testament) was written by the prophet Moses. But even that is tought to swallow. Clearly, Moses couldn’t have witnessed the first days of creation, let alone the hundreds of years of early Bible history.

Trying to justify the events of the early Bible texts is clearly a lost cause. So, perhaps we would be better served by addressing that second question – is the Bible TRUTH?

Here, we are on a much more secure footing. Once we back off from nit-picking the debatable details of who-wrote-what-and-when — we are free to see the answe to that more important question.

The Bible may, in fact, be a compilation of history, speculation, and a hodge-podge of tales passed from generation to generation over hundreds, if not thousands of years.

But the ultimate message of love, and the need for mankind to embrace the power of love stands as the answer to that second, more important question.

The Bible is ultmately “TRUTH.”

Once we recognize that, we can appreciate that all the Biblical tales serve that greater purpose of education humanity on the importance of that critical truth.