I'm no expert, but I love Genesis. It is interesting to ponder. I certainly believe that Father God created the world, universe, humans, etc. But was it exactly as laid out in Genesis, or does Genesis as it comes down to us contain elements of Jewish tradition. I find it interesting that the flood myth is universal, but the tale of the serpent and the garden is not (that I am aware of).
Primitive human cultures have excellent collective oral memories. There is a tribe of Australian aboriginals who told of a story of a flood occurring ~9,000 years ago, and referenced a part of the Australian island that sunk underwater from thereafter. This tale was still being handed down by the time modern western anthropologists got there in the 1900s.
It is also interesting how the Ancient Egyptians claimed that the sphinx and pyramids were thousands and thousands of years old in 3,000 BC. At the time just before Plato, his grandfather Solon visited the Egyptians, and I believe they told him the story of Atlantis flooding 9,000 years before him. So that would put the
sinking of Atlantis at around 11,500 BC. Very close to some supposed asteroid impacts, such as the Younger Dryas impact. It is definitely an exciting theory to think about, so I have to admit my bias here.
In one of the first Orthodox sermons
I ever listened to Father Seraphim Rose states that he believes the fruit of the tree of knowledge was contemplation, which is not safe for one to engage in until one is secure in their habits, and that eventually God would have allowed Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge. I'm not sure if this is a mainline Orthodox viewpoint.
I also went to a few Orthodox study sessions, and the priest there said that you don't have to believe the Earth is 6,000 years old to be Orthodox, and that you can believe in Neanderthals as well. Early hominids, however, I believe are a whole other branch of discussion that veer more off topic.
