In a healthy academic setting, this would be a good opportunity for dialogue among peers about the nature of a thing—in this case, the nature of the Biblical Worldview. I’ve rarely experienced that at ASU (healthy dialogue between people who disagree), and when I have, it is with others who are classically trained. Let me illustrate how the methodology of an ASU Religious Studies syllabus committee prevents such dialogue.
Let’s pretend we are discussing whether there is a biblical worldview. We can start by asking, “Does the Bible teach that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth?” This seems simple enough. There it is, as the opening line. So, the answer is “yes.”
Not so fast. In order to know if the Bible teaches this, you must ask who benefits from such a belief. The patriarchy. They are the ones who will benefit from God the Creator. They displaced the goddess who rules over a cyclical system with “God the Creator,” who creates all things in order to control the other.
Having established this, if we look behind Genesis 1:1, we see remnants of the original goddess author who was erased by the patriarchy. The original author, who taught the interconnection of all things in the womb of the goddess, was redacted by later editors to support the patriarchal priestly caste.
This is why Eve, who in Chapter 2 was the hero of the story, is by Chapter 3 turned into the villain. Chapter 2 has portions of the original goddess author’s introduction of the strong female lead who steps in to finish what Adam could not do. However, the patriarchy, although unable to completely edit it out, redirected the story in Chapter 3 to conveniently portray Eve as the one who fails the temptation.
This is all the more evident when we think of the sexual symbolism involved. The goddess encourages the woman to be open and free with her sexuality. The woman walks about naked and unashamed. However, the patriarchy cannot have women in control of their own sexuality and bodies. We see that the woman is quickly covered up and then only given a name when she is made to have children with Adam.
All of this points to early redacted goddess sources, which deny that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Therefore, that belief is not part of any fictional “Biblical Worldview” invented by the patriarchy.
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”
(Romans 1:18 ESVi)