Humans - our part in development

Genesis is not compatible whith what we know of the history of the universe and of life on earth. It IS just a myth, this for me is undeniable.

Of course people can deny whatever, even the Holocaust or the moon landing. But I personally cannot possibly consider Genesis as factually true. In that I am coherent with my own religious (Catholic) upbringing that sees it as metaphor.

Myths are metaphors. They shouldn't be believed literally. To take Genesis literally would imply polytheism, because "Elohim" is a plural. It would imply that these Elohim are nasty and dissimulative, lying to Adam. Elohim who curse entire species because some girl ate some sodding fruit. Elohim who believe that the knowledge of good and evil should not be given to man. Elohim who created the world in 7 days when we know for a fact that it's not possible, and that evolution took billions of years...

Myths are also works of art. They are beautiful and meaningful poetry. It's a better way to look at them, and more respectful, than to assume them literally true.

I must confess that this is the first time I’ve been mistaken for a Literalist. Blasphemous yes, but not that.

There are countless metaphors in the book but I look at Genesis as probably a combination of verbal history and how a man with zero scientific knowledge would interpret a vision of the Big Bang and following events given to him in a vision by God.
Or is 'God' also a metaphor in the Catholic Church?

Okay so you agree with Catholics: it's a myth but an inspired one.

Why did Jesus die?

I don’t know much about Catholic theology, that’s why I asked you a question about it.

Do you care to answer?

If Genesis is a myth then Catholicism is virtually worthless.

Why would it be?

No, God is not a metaphor in Canonical Catholicism. I think The jesuit and paleontologist Teilhard de Chardin went in that direction with the "omega point" idea but he got into problems with the church for it.

It takes away the purpose of Jesus dying for our sins. Jesus and His disciples spoke about Adam, Noah, Melchizedek, etc. as being real people. Why would we believe in what Jesus said if He was wrong about Genesis?
Paul told the Corinthians that believers are to be pitied if Jesus' resurrection was not true. If there was no reason for Jesus to die for our sins, then Christians are even more to be pitied.

If they worship a god who essentially said, "I will forgive you your sins (thing that offend me) but only if you first torture and kill my son"...they should be pitied "from here to Hell and back.

yeh but it makes a ripping yarn and think of all the preistish vestments . They aint made by LL Bean ya know. How many times in the KJB is Jesus packing a weapon??

There's no shortage of "sin" for which Jesus could have died for. It's not like Adam and Eve trump in evilness anybody else. All they did was eat some fruit... and it's also absurd to state that someone who doesn't know the difference between good and evil -- as was Adam before the fall -- can sin. It's like saying a bird or a fish can sin.

Anyway, the original sin doctrine was invented by St Augustine. Jesus said nothing of it.

I know what you mean. It is amazing beyond words that God would do that. It is wonderful that Jesus would love us so much that He would be willing to do this
However, the Holy Spirit confirmed to my spirit that it was true. So, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.
My spirit was now alive!!! I now had peace like I never had before. I began to be a much nicer person than before.
Since then, I have had fellowship with God.
Science can tell us about the physical world. However, it is not meant to explain the Spiritual world.

You're asking my opinion?

Please read John 3:16-18.

Yes. Why did Jesus die?

You will not like it... but here is my credo:

I believe Jesus was not a god and not (literally) the son of God, but simply a man, who saw the world as well as Jewish religious leaders as corrupt, lost, estranged from God.

I believe he was trying to usher in the visions of Daniel and others: the coming of a messianic figure, the "Son of Man".

I believe he was never completly certain to be that figure. That'd be why he always spoke of the Son of Man in the third person.

I believe he viewed the Son of Man not as a traditional king of the Jewish people who would fight for the liberation of Israel from foreign rule, but as a sort of prophet who would summon an army of angels or some other big celestial kaboom that would settle the score and establish no less than the Kingdom of God on earth. As in Daniel.

I believe that's what he was trying to do on that cross: provoke God to action, to save him from death and the world from sin, in the hypothesis that he was indeed the Son of Man and that God would not have allowed the Son of Man to die so miserably; He would do something big.

I believe he died on that cross, for good (I don't believe in resurection), thinking he had failed. That's why he's reported to have said, dying: Father, why have you forsaken me?

He believe his tragic death achieved something. The scandal of his death did not force God to action but it did spring a new religion.

I believe this man changed the world, for the better.

I believe his message is good, but his followers often betray it.

Jesus died because he pissed off conservatives. He went around with illegal immigrants and delinquents. His message was that people should be nice to each other even when other people weren't, and that rich people should give give their money to the poor.

Jesus came to Jerusalem as part of a nonviolent movement. He upset the conservatives, the evangelist preachers and the law and order people.

They had him arrested and he suffered capital pubishment.

Many remarked that he was just a socialist, so he deserved what he got.

I didn’t know, thank you. I’ve been surprised at the number of religions that do regard 'God' as a metaphor so I had to ask. I wonder if they might be among those who Paul referred to as 'Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.'

Personally, I'm not into metaphysics. It doesn't really matter if you believe in god or not. What matters is what you do with your life. Ethics trump metaphysics.