The Story of Genesis: A Zen Interpretation

It is said that there are seven books of wisdom in the Bible — Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs. But what about the book of Genesis? I definitely think it should be included as one of the books of wisdom. To me, Genesis is a truly deep book, full of Zen wisdom. The fact that it is not included is a sign that this first book of the Bible is not well-understood.

We live in an age of atheism. In many ways, we have long left the Age of Faith. I have the impression that the only people who are seriously studying the Bible are the evangelical and fundamentalist Christians. Many of us feel that Bible study is incredibly boring. But is it necessarily so? A few days ago, I read a bold question from a Catholic website on the Internet:

What kind of father leaves his innocent children (Adam and Eve) in a place (Garden of Eden) with incredible dangers to them (tree of knowledge of good and evil, serpent, etc.) and only a warning to “protect” them? After the mistake (eating of the tree, disobeying God), they are cast out of the garden. A real father with real children knows they make mistakes even when forewarned. What kind of loving father throws away his children like that? It seems like we’ve been set up to fail from the beginning.

Good question! I am a Chinese who grew up in a Christian family in Hong Kong. But religiosity and piety are not in my blood. Among Chinese students who go abroad to study, a substantial percentage have become fundamentalist or evangelical…