Equally, and more common in our day, are those who have to “make sense”, in the modern way of thinking, of ancient mythological stories. The creation of man stories are not contradictory but complimentary. The first one is very simple and tells a very simple lesson–God created man and woman. The second story fills in what happened in more detail, that’s all, and that’s why the two stories were put together by those who compiled the creation stories, which were passed down to them. By picking at these stories, we’re still trying to make an exact science out of writings that were never meant to undergo that kind of scrutiny. It’s sacred storytelling, songs, hymns, not science. Does that make it unreliable? Not at all–it makes it all the more remarkable that we have so much of it intact and still helpful to us today. Miraculous is the word that comes to mind.
As for Moses’ name, I think that’s a great lesson for us. Moses is identified with his mission–of bringing to his people the word of the One who has no limiting name, such as “sun-god” or “earth-god”, etc. but is simply God–the God of everything. Bible names often are descriptions rather than “given” names, as we think of them. It’s the same with Adam, which is simply “man” (as I recall) and Eve (mother of the living). But, all of them were real people just the same and their stories tell us real things about us as people and about God. What else really matters?
