Creative Chaos

by André Rabe

  Table of Contents

  Acknowledgements

  Abbreviations

  Reviews

  Preface

  1. Invited into Mystery

  Mystery Found a Voice

  Music and the Mystery of Time

  Music and the Mystery of Self

  Music and the Mystery of Meaning

  The Symphony Anticipates Your Sound

  2. Matrix of Meaning

  Creating Meaning

  Non-Identical Twins

  Grasping Esau’s Heel

  And the Lads Grew Up

  Birthright and Priority

  Narrative Creation of Self

  Narrative Identity & Illusion

  Reconciliation

  3. The Wisdom of the Unconscious

  The Symbolism of Original Union

  Background Stories of Genesis

  Enki & Ninhursag

  Enki and Ninmah

  Atrahasis

  Adapa

  Immortality & Wisdom

  The Garden and Creation as a Process

  Differences Between Myth and Yahwist Account

  4. Divine Seduction

  Pre-conscious Memory

  Introduction to the Yahwist Creation Story

  Breath of Life

  Knowledge and Death Consciousness

  Alone? Let’s Make Some Animals!

  A Companion That Opposes

  5. Becoming Human

  Serpent Symbolism

  The Awakening of Desire

  Wisdom and Vulnerability

  The Knowledge of Good and Evil

  Grasping for the Gift

  Twisting of Desire

  God From the Perspective of the Fearful

  Being Human and Projecting Blame

  Growing Up

  6. Origins Reimagined

  Development in Consciousness

  Consciousness of Time and Narrative

  Divine Presence

  Tohu Wa-Bohu

  Creative Edge of Chaos

  New Framing & Unintended Consequences

  7. Beautiful Questions

  Original Perfection?

  Actual History?

  Creation Ex Nihilo or Ex Profundis?

  The Fall Radically Redefined

  Unfolding Meaning

  8. Girard’s Narrative Conversion

  Mimetic Theory

  Origin Myths and the Bible

  Mimetic Desire and Chaos

  Scapegoating

  Sacred Awe

  Ritual, Religion & Law

  Myth Subverted

  Narrative Conversion

  New Perspective

  Girard and Irenaeus

  Girardian and Psychological Synergies

  9. New Creation

  God Unfolding in Flesh

  The Human Archetype Transformed

  Jesus and Stages of Consciousness

  Jesus, Mimesis, and Self-Consciousness

  The Mind of Christ

  History Reinterpreted

  Satan Reinterpreted

  Violence Reinterpreted

  Resurrection

  Paradise Restored or New Creation?

  Conclusion

  Additional Resources

  Acknowledgements

  To put one’s intuitions into words is a most rewarding exercise but also unexpectedly difficult. Subtle contradictions and inconsistencies only come to light when we try to find language for these impressions. But new insights and greater clarity are rewards that are out of all proportion to the difficulty of this process. In this way, our narratives are not simply reflections of reality but movements that create new meaning. Much of my writing starts with conversation. What a rare gift it is to find a person as passionate and intrigued by the same themes that intrigue oneself. Some find such a conversationist among their professional colleagues. I am so thankful that I have found this friend in my wife, Mary-Anne.

  It is not the absence of influences that define new meaning and unique concepts but, rather, the unique combination and reconfiguration of existing concepts. As such, if there is anything fresh or unique in the ideas presented here, I am deeply indebted to the many influences and conversations I have had over the years with friends, students, and books. There is no way I can mention them all by name. Our online students at mimesis.academy engage us weekly with the most beautiful questions and insights.

  There are, however, a few I can and must mention by name. They are the brave ones, who offered to review some of the earlier manuscripts. Thank you, Harry Haver and Tonya Stanfield for your patience and encouragement. In my desire to connect the big ideas and clarify the big picture, I often failed to see the detail - such as the finer points of grammar! Thankfully, grammar is a big deal to some of our friends. So I want to especially thank Kathryn Hannula, who has read and reread the manuscript numerous times and offered many helpful nuances. If any errors remain, it’s because of my stubbornness to ignore her suggestions. But more than her keen eye for detail, it is her passion for this message that has been an inspiration throughout.

  Abbreviations

  Different translations of the Bible are used throughout and indicated with the usual abbreviations. The following two are new and therefore get special mention here:

  DBH The New Testament: A Translation by David Bentley Hart

  RA The Hebrew Bible: A Translation by Robert Alter

  Reviews

  In reading Creative Chaos by Andre Rabe, I discovered to my joy that theology can still be both intellectually profound and profoundly moving. Rarely in recent years have I come across such an excitingly transformative reflection on the hidden meaning of Christianity. Informed not only by biblical scholarship but also by the sciences and an awareness of the brutal history of human violence, this succinct work digs deep beneath conventional Christian thought in search of enlivening currents of meaning crusted over by centuries of dubious religious assumptions. Readers will find in this surprising text that both Christian teachers and their sophisticated opponents have too often blunted rather than exposing the meaning of divine creation, redemption, the crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus. I strongly recommend this book as one not only to be read but also reread.

  - John Haught , Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Theology at Georgetown University.

  Andre Rabe’s latest work is his essential re-imagining of the Christian meta-story. With easy, deft hand and keen theological instincts, he guides us through Scripture, Genesis in particular. Understanding the first book of the Bible as a back-and-forth of the unconscious and conscious selves, he demonstrates how the God of creation is seeking continually to tease human beings forward, to the depth of relationship which is love. The anthropology of René Girard forms a leitmotif, revealing how humanity began on the wrong footing of violence and rivalry, and yet in Christ a new-and-true way of being human is offered, one of nonviolence and forgiveness. Christ thus “re-sets the trajectory of the human story.” The outcome is a holistic, healing narrative of seduction to love, so different from the divided, unhappy legacy of the old reading, with its damaging binaries of paradise/fall, heaven/earth, perfection/sin, grace/law. Rabe’s work represents an epochal moment of fresh reading, one that is happening in many ways throughout Christianity but is given here what could very well be its classic presentation. This book overcomes violence not simply in the obvious, physical sense, but as the very key to existence which has framed everything for human beings, including the interpretation of the Christian message itself. According to Rabe, it is exactly all this which God in Christ is saving us from.

  - Anthony Bartlett Ph.D. Theologian and author, including Seven Stories

  Andre says, “You cannot be certain and astonished at the same time.” In Creati
ve Chaos , he expertly walks through the origin stories, archetypes, and symbolism gently challenging traditional certainties that may hold us back from new possibilities. Humanity has been unconsciously shaped by narratives. The ideas presented here push the narrative forward in thought-provoking ways, challenging us to ask entirely new questions. Creative Chaos invites us into a chaos that is not evil, but the deep waters over which the Spirit hovers and creates new life. Jesus is presented as a model of how to live in a posture of openness to a God that will continually surprise. It’s a challenging, refreshing perspective which opens doors you may not even know were shut. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is up for a fresh take on what they’ve held as certain or who desires a new adventure in their spiritual journey.

  - Tonya Stanfield , Masters in Christian Spiritual Formation and Discipleship. Author of Traffick Proof - A Counter-Human Trafficking Tool.

  God is not a rival, vying for control of your life. Turns out, control is not the goal. This book is a summons to set out on the adventure of maturity; through myth, rabbinic midrash, patristic thought, psychological insight, Girardian anthropology and Biblical contemplation to new possibilities for life. Beyond the lack within, beyond a blueprint from above, beyond being a spectator on the sidelines, beyond chaos being met with coercion, the Spirit beckons you to a beauty unimagined in the depths we fear.

  - Jarrod McKenna , award winning nonviolence educator and host of the popular InVerse Podcast.

  Preface

  Chaos may seem an unlikely source of creativity, but below its senseless surface lies a swirling depth of possibilities. Every person enters a world that is already filled with symbols, meanings, and stories. No one starts with a blank canvas. Rather, we find ourselves thrust into a matrix of narratives. Yet, something truly new is possible amid this chaos. Time is a space in which these stories can be reassembled, reinterpreted, and ordered in a way that gives particular meaning to my life.

  Our stories can be more than a reflection of reality; they can transform experience, inspire new action, and in so doing, transform our reality. “And the word became flesh. ” That is how the Gospel of John describes the event in which divine ideas became tangibly real in the person of Jesus. Text, words, and ideas are not meant to remain intangible - they are searching for embodiment.

  This book is a journey through thousands of years of symbols and narratives that point to the underlying reality of our existence. We follow the development of consciousness through the stories humans have told, beginning with myths that are older than the Scriptures. The biblical text marks a definite progression in human awareness, and within the context of the Bible itself ideas continue to develop.

  The perspective given here might be new for many, but the aim is to provide more than simply an alternative interpretation of Scripture. Rather, I hope to show the connection between the inherent human capacity to create meaning, the depth of the text we have at our disposal, and the measureless gift of the Spirit of truth drawing us forward. An inexhaustible mystery lies enfolded in each of us. How it unfolds in your story is an unprecedented unique event. This living narrative reached a crescendo in Jesus. In him, we see the mystery unfolding in flesh and we receive an invitation to share in his consciousness.

  Each of the chapters in this book is a progressive step in understanding and opening up human consciousness. Ultimately we want to receive the kind of unitive awareness Jesus spoke of when he prayed: “I have given to them the glory you have given me, that they may be one just as we are one. ”

  The mysteries of time, self, narrative, and meaning are all intertwined. And our part in the mystery is more than passive explorers - we are invited to co-create . In Chapter 1 the metaphor of music is used to explore the nature of reality and the role we have in shaping it. How we give value to our life events is not always obvious - much of it is hidden from our awareness. Events gain significance in the context of a story. Similarly, our individual stories gain meaning in the context of larger stories.

  Understanding the processes by which we construct our stories and create structures of interpretation is of great benefit. Chapter 2 explores the fascinating relationship between the conscious and unconscious. That enigmatic part of us, which does not submit to the logic of time and order, can also be a rich source of new meaning. Jacob’s ladder is a beautiful metaphor of the connection between the known and the unknown, the earthly and the transcendent. A healthy co-operation between the conscious and unconscious gives us the benefit of a story grounded in reality, yet open to astonishment.

  As a child develops, so do the stories he or she tells. Humanity as a whole also developed through different stages of consciousness and this development can be traced in the way our stories evolved. The Genesis origin stories are for many the context in which they understand their own existence better. And indeed they are a rich source of meaning. An important discovery of 22,000 cuneiform clay tablets was made relatively recently. They contained myths similar, in many ways, to the biblical narratives. Chapter 3 looks at these pre-genesis texts to gain insight into the development of the human mind and what they reveal about the Genesis texts.

  The mythic symbols of the unconscious provide a new depth of interpretation as we re-discover the wisdom of Genesis. Mythos is the unconscious subtext over which the Logos is written and creates a new context in which to re-read the Genesis origin stories. In Chapters 4 and 5 we begin the adventure of understanding anew the Yahwist origin texts of Genesis 2 and 3. We begin here because these stories are older than the Genesis 1 account. By reading them in this sequence we can better appreciate the development of the story. These narratives are not simply concerned with ancient history. They are the narratives of every person’s development. It is your story; your becoming; your genesis.

  Talking animals and magical trees are completely absent from the Priestly source - the author of Genesis 1. An obvious development in thought has occurred. The conscious and unconscious enter into a more mature relationship in these texts and the results are beautiful! Chapter 6 explores how the writer of Genesis 1 re-imagines the beginning and thus, the significance of the present.

  These alternative readings bring into question many of the popular concepts taught from these first three chapters of Genesis. For instance, the concepts of “original perfection,” “the fall,” and “original sin.” These are either invalidated or completely re-defined by this radical new reading. The concepts of the fall and original sin profoundly influence the way people understand themselves. Transforming these concepts therefore transforms the meaning of our own stories.

  In Chapter 7 we work through these implications and discover that some of the most original interpretations of Genesis, those of Irenaeus of Lyons for example, are surprisingly relevant to what we have uncovered. The aim however is not to give comprehensive theological arguments but to introduce these alternatives. The appendix provides book recommendations for those who want to delve deeper into these themes.

  Chapter 8 introduces another layer of interpretation through the work of René Girard. We again look at myths but from a new perspective. And, in the light of this perspective, we discover how Scripture subverts and converts the meaning of symbols and the message of myth. The pattern of these stories are not restricted to ancient myths - they are reflected and relevant to our own life stories.

  When such fundamental concepts such as origin, fall, and creation are redefined, they have profound implications for how we understand the person and work of Jesus Christ. If salvation is not a restoration of some imagined original perfection, then what is it? If chaos is not an evil outside of us, but a source of inexhaustible meaning within us, how does Christ help us transform this inner relationship? And, if the God of possibility invites us to co-create, how does Christ demonstrate this in a way that is relevant to our lives? The last chapter is a celebration of Jesus Christ in transforming our reality into something much richer and more open to unfolding beauty.

  C
hapter one

  Invited into Mystery

  I will solve my riddle to the music of the harp.

  - Psalm 49:4

  Music is a language not yet confined by words. It communicates values that move us, yet cannot be defined. There is a mysterious appeal to these suggested meanings - a message is present and its beauty resonates in us, yet it remains a riddle. The sound registers and we are simultaneously aware of what we hear and unaware of its full interpretation. It vibrates in both the conscious and the unconscious, and we find such seductions to explore the enigmatic - the hidden meanings - irresistible. Music echoes in a part of us that is similarly unexplained, uninterpreted, unknown.

  The self that I am conscious of - the self that is known, formed, interpreted, and well explained - began here, in the realm of the unformed. As these fragments of uninterpreted messages find meaning, a story is born; from the unformed chaos, self is born. Underlying this self-conscious story are the unconscious fragments and the processes of interpretation that we are only vaguely aware of.

  Mystery Found a Voice

  My wife and I were once invited to a piano recital in a very unique location - a mansion that lay on the rugged edge of a coastal nature reserve. As we entered the home, my attention was first drawn to the collection of paintings artfully displayed throughout the house. A handful of guests were helping themselves to the delicacies, but something more intriguing was luring me. A spectacular vision of ocean, mountains, and sky, spilling through the large lounge doors was drawing me to the outside patio.

  Like an elegant lady waiting for her date to arrive, a grand piano stood expectantly in the far corner as the sun was enjoying its last hour of wakefulness. Moments later her date arrived. The pianist took his seat and the conversations came to an end.

  A new sound filled the air.

  The gentle breeze seemed to join in with the melody and the waves rhythmically danced along. Rays of light skipping across the ocean became audible, every color a different note and every movement part of the harmony.