Exactly what is legend and what is history continues to divide us. The creation stories at the beginning of the bible are a great example of this. Some people discard the stories as barbaric, others reverently worship the details and take them literally. Reasonable people find themselves somewhere between these two extremes.
Most people never read the actual stories. Just as very few people read the actual text from which the ten commandments are taken. (People seem to like the list better, even though it is a broad interpretation.)
Whatever we feel or believe about the creation stories, what matters is this: all people live based on the premise of either the first or the second. And that’s the truth of the matter.
Premise of first story: human beings are inherently good. As in: on the sixth day “God looked over all that he had created and saw that it was very good.”
Premise of second story (Adam and Eve): human beings are inherently bad. So bad that they were thrown out of the garden.
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