I stumbled over the start of your essay, and as it is foundational to your discussion, I stopped there. I stopped, Mr. Weiland, because the Bible story perspectives you have espoused are from Bible adaptations intended for children's consumption. These versions often make the Bible stories more fable than history. Briefly, three things: "To the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day." Nobody knows what fruit the tree of good and evil was and not likely any fruit we know of in existence today. The flood is reported in the geological record only three countries-- all in the Middle East, and to the people like Noah and in those days that WAS the whole world. (A simple online search will bring you up to speed.) I intend to read the rest of your essay and suspect I have had similar feelings as you have expressed. Thank you for your efforts.