{"id":2186,"date":"2012-12-19T14:59:46","date_gmt":"2012-12-19T20:59:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/?p=2186"},"modified":"2012-12-19T17:26:14","modified_gmt":"2012-12-19T23:26:14","slug":"chaos-earth-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/2012\/12\/chaos-earth-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Chaos + Earth = Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Hesiod\u2019s Theogony<\/em> suggests a rather insightful equation that informs the Genesis accounts of creation in chapters 1-3. Rhoda A. Hendricks translates it thus:<\/p>\n

\n

First of all Chaos came into being, and then Gaea, the broad Earth, the ever certain support of all the deathless gods who dwell on the summit of snowy Olympus, and also dark Tartarus in the innermost part of the broad-pathed earth, and also Eros, the fairest of the immortal gods who relaxes the limbs and overpowers the resolution and thoughtful determination in the hearts of all the gods and all mankind.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Simply put, for Hesiod the following equation explains human origins: Chaos + Earth (Gaea) = Love (Eros). Hesiod does not define Chaos but the term suggests a disordered, mysterious existence that I believe parallels the Hebrew concept of Tohu wa Bohu<\/em> in Genesis.<\/p>\n

Genesis 1:2 (NKJV): \u00a0The Earth (Gaea) was without form and void (Heb.\u00a0Tohu wa Bohu<\/em>) and darkness was on the face of the deep.<\/p>\n

Genesis 2:7 (NKJV): \u00a0And the\u00a0Lord\u00a0God formed man\u00a0of\u00a0the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.<\/p>\n

Genesis 2:21-25 (NKJV): \u00a0And the\u00a0Lord\u00a0God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.\u00a0Then the rib which the\u00a0Lord\u00a0God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.\u00a0And Adam said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is now bone of my bones
\nAnd flesh of my flesh;
\nShe shall be called Woman,
\nBecause she was taken out of Man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If Adam in fact loved Eve in this mythological founding narrative of humanity, then a provocative parallel holds. For Genesis we could see it: \u00a0Earth + Void = Humanity (Woman\/Man in spiritual\/sexual union) = Love?<\/p>\n

Maybe we can see the hand of God working in a similar manner today taking the Chaos\/Void throughout Earth to produce love and spiritual union?\u00a0If this is true, chaos is a necessary ingredient in order for love to exist. Or, more positively, who couldn\u2019t use a force that \u201crelaxes the limbs and overpowers the resolution and thoughtful determination in the hearts of all the gods and all mankind\u201d otherwise known as love?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hesiod\u2019s Theogony suggests a rather insightful equation that informs the Genesis accounts of creation in chapters 1-3. Rhoda A. Hendricks translates it thus: First of all Chaos came into being, and then Gaea, the broad Earth, the ever certain support of all the deathless gods who dwell on the summit of snowy Olympus, and also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":428,"featured_media":2195,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,315],"tags":[462,463,460,313,147,461,464],"class_list":["post-2186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-humanism","tag-earth","tag-gaea","tag-hesiod","tag-humanity","tag-love","tag-theogony","tag-tohu-wa-bohu"],"yoast_head":"\nChaos + Earth = Love<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hesiod's Theogony suggests a rather insightful equation that informs the Genesis accounts of creation in chapters 1-3. Rhoda A. Hendricks translates it\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/2012\/12\/chaos-earth-love\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chaos + Earth = Love\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hesiod's Theogony suggests a rather insightful equation that informs the Genesis accounts of creation in chapters 1-3. Rhoda A. Hendricks translates it\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/2012\/12\/chaos-earth-love\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Emergent Village\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-12-19T20:59:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-12-19T23:26:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/106\/2012\/12\/Monreale-Creation-of-Earth-Mosaic-12th-c.-CE-e1355950153193.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"392\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"488\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael D. Bobo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael D. Bobo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/2012\/12\/chaos-earth-love\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/2012\/12\/chaos-earth-love\/\",\"name\":\"Chaos + Earth = Love\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-12-19T20:59:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-12-19T23:26:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/#\/schema\/person\/1b2c8835c2db86184d576f4e4381c076\"},\"description\":\"Hesiod's Theogony suggests a rather insightful equation that informs the Genesis accounts of creation in chapters 1-3. Rhoda A. Hendricks translates it\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/2012\/12\/chaos-earth-love\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/2012\/12\/chaos-earth-love\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/2012\/12\/chaos-earth-love\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chaos + Earth = Love\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/\",\"name\":\"Emergent Village\",\"description\":\"Voices of the Emergent Village Community\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/#\/schema\/person\/1b2c8835c2db86184d576f4e4381c076\",\"name\":\"Michael D. Bobo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2059c748944f63cfe6e83edb3efb3ea7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2059c748944f63cfe6e83edb3efb3ea7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Michael D. Bobo\"},\"description\":\"Michael D. Bobo is a Humanities Professor at Citrus College.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/mdbobo.wordpress.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/author\/michaeldbobo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chaos + Earth = Love","description":"Hesiod's Theogony suggests a rather insightful equation that informs the Genesis accounts of creation in chapters 1-3. Rhoda A. Hendricks translates it","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/2012\/12\/chaos-earth-love\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chaos + Earth = Love","og_description":"Hesiod's Theogony suggests a rather insightful equation that informs the Genesis accounts of creation in chapters 1-3. Rhoda A. Hendricks translates it","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/2012\/12\/chaos-earth-love\/","og_site_name":"Emergent Village","article_published_time":"2012-12-19T20:59:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-12-19T23:26:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"392","height":"488","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/106\/2012\/12\/Monreale-Creation-of-Earth-Mosaic-12th-c.-CE-e1355950153193.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Michael D. Bobo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Michael D. Bobo","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/2012\/12\/chaos-earth-love\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/2012\/12\/chaos-earth-love\/","name":"Chaos + Earth = Love","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-12-19T20:59:46+00:00","dateModified":"2012-12-19T23:26:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/#\/schema\/person\/1b2c8835c2db86184d576f4e4381c076"},"description":"Hesiod's Theogony suggests a rather insightful equation that informs the Genesis accounts of creation in chapters 1-3. Rhoda A. Hendricks translates it","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/2012\/12\/chaos-earth-love\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/2012\/12\/chaos-earth-love\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/2012\/12\/chaos-earth-love\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chaos + Earth = Love"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/","name":"Emergent Village","description":"Voices of the Emergent Village Community","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/#\/schema\/person\/1b2c8835c2db86184d576f4e4381c076","name":"Michael D. Bobo","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2059c748944f63cfe6e83edb3efb3ea7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2059c748944f63cfe6e83edb3efb3ea7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Michael D. Bobo"},"description":"Michael D. Bobo is a Humanities Professor at Citrus College.","sameAs":["http:\/\/mdbobo.wordpress.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/author\/michaeldbobo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/428"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}