Interesting question, the clearest use of a Creation story for philosophical purposes of which I am aware is the one related by Plato in Timaeus. It seems clear to me that Plato was intentionally relating a fable in order to outline his viewpoint on the structure of reality rather than an account of events that actually transpired. The later Neoplatonist Plotinus at least interpreted it this way, for he proposed that the Cosmos is necessarily eternal, which negates the need for a creation story altogether. Furthermore, the Greeks already had a creation myth in Hesiod's Theogony-so why would Plato invent a new one if not to lay out his view of the world?
It may be that the creation myths of the Bible were primarily for this purpose solely, simply a description of the structure of Yahweh/Elohim's universe as viewed by the authors. But I suspect that the lines between objective "real" history and philosophical model-making were not so sharp in 600 BC as they are today, in fact I'm pretty sure they weren't. So, IMHO, the most probable interpretation of the creation stories is that they are both Philosophy *and* (purported) "Fact" from the standpoint of the writer.
Another thing that occurs as I consider this subject is the apparent lack of concern on the part of the OT prophets on literal belief in the myths. They seem to be primarliy concerned with proper worship and the rejection of false gods, the behavior of their people rather than whether they believe in a particular version of the creation story. I can imagine that if some Israelite was under the impression that Yahweh created the world by carving up the primal chaos fish, the prophets wouldn't have been bothered as long as he wasn't worshipping Baal or consorting with foreign nations. Maybe that's why the creation and flood stories read like theologically altered myths from other ANE peoples- the factual accounts of what happened were subordinate to the theological and philosophical positions that were being outlined by those stories.
This message has been edited by Ratel, 04-02-2006 11:10 AM
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