The GENESIS: a Symphonic Work and Analysis
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Eve's Answer to the Serpent: an Alternative Paradigm for Sin and Some Implications in Theology
Calvin Theological Journal 33 (1998) : 399-420 Copyright © 1980 by Calvin Theological Seminary. Cited with permission. Scholia et Homiletica Eve's Answer to the Serpent: An Alternative Paradigm for Sin and Some Implications in Theology P. Wayne Townsend The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, `You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die. "' (Gen. 3:2-3) Can we take these italicized words seriously, or must we dismiss them as the hasty additions of Eve's overactive imagination? Did God say or mean this when he instructed Adam in Genesis 2:16-17? I suggest that, not only did Eve speak accu- rately and insightfully in responding to the serpent but that her words hold a key to reevaluating the doctrine of original sin and especially the puzzles of alien guilt and the imputation of sin. In this article, I seek to reignite discussion on these top- ics by suggesting an alternative paradigm for discussing the doctrine of original sin and by applying that paradigm in a preliminary manner to various themes in the- ology, biblical interpretation, and Christian living. I seek not so much to answer questions as to evoke new ones that will jar us into a more productive path of the- ological explanation. I suggest that Eve's words indicate that the Bible structures the ideas that we recognize as original sin around the concept of uncleanness. -
God Made Eve and Ordained Marriage
GGOODD MMAADDEE EEVVEE aanndd oorrddaaiinneedd mmaarrrriiaaggee Several thousand years have passed since Adam and Eve became man and wife, but God hasn’t changed what he first instructed mankind regarding marriage in the Bible. Did you know that God was the One who decided that man and woman should marry? In Genesis 2 we find part of the wedding service spoken in many wedding ceremonies today. Men and women and marriage and children are very important to God. Marriage is not just a good idea… it’s a “God Idea”! But some people don’t know or don’t believe what God says about marriage. They say that marriage is something to be tried out to see if it will work—depending upon how you feel about it. Many folks are even suggesting that the idea of marriage is outdated. But what does the Bible say about marriage? Let’s take a look and find out! God decided that Adam needed a wife to help him and to be his companion. Genesis 2:18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” God decided that Adam should not live alone. - God was his Creator and knew what was best for him. - God didn’t ask Adam what he wanted or thought best. - God made the decision to make a wife for Adam. God loved Adam and wanted him to be complete. - God knew that Adam wouldn’t continue to be happy if he remained alone. - Because God loved Adam and wanted what was best for him, he decided to make a wife for him. -
Another Look at Cain: from a Narrative Perspective
신학논단 제102집 (2020. 12. 31): 241-263 https://doi.org/10.17301/tf.2020.12.102.241 Another Look at Cain: From a Narrative Perspective Wm. J McKinstry IV, MATS Adjunct Faculty, Department of General Education Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary In the Hebrew primeval histories names often carry significant weight. Much etymological rigour has been exercised in determining many of the names within the Bible. Some of the meaning of these names appear to have a consensus among scholars; among others there is less consensus and more contention. Numerous proposals have come forward with varying degrees of convincing (or unconvincing as the case may be) philological arguments, analysis of wordplays, possi- ble textual emendations, undiscovered etymologies from cognates in other languages, or onomastic studies detailing newly discovered names of similarity found in other ancient Semitic languages. Through these robust studies, when applicable, we can ascertain the meanings of names that may help to unveil certain themes or actions of a character within a narrative. For most of the names within the primeval histories of Genesis, the 242 신학논단 제102집(2020) meaning of a name is only one feature. For some names there is an en- compassing feature set: wordplay, character trait and/or character role, and foreshadowing. Three of the four members in the first family in Genesis, Adam, Eve, and Abel, have names that readily feature all the elements listed above. Cain, however, has rather been an exception in this area, further adding to Genesis 4’s enigmaticness in the Hebrew Bible’s primeval history. While three characters (Adam, Eve, and Abel) have names that (1) sound like other Hebrew words, that are (2) sug- gestive of their character or actions and (3) foreshadow or suggest fu- ture events about those characters, the meaning of Cain’s name does not render itself so explicitly to his character or his role in the narrative, at least not to the same degree of immediate conspicuousness. -
The Name of God the Golem Legend and the Demiurgic Role of the Alphabet 243
CHAPTER FIVE The Name of God The Golem Legend and the Demiurgic Role of the Alphabet Since Samaritanism must be viewed within the wider phenomenon of the Jewish religion, it will be pertinent to present material from Judaism proper which is corroborative to the thesis of the present work. In this Chapter, the idea about the agency of the Name of God in the creation process will be expounded; then, in the next Chapter, the various traditions about the Angel of the Lord which are relevant to this topic will be set forth. An apt introduction to the Jewish teaching about the Divine Name as the instrument of the creation is the so-called golem legend. It is not too well known that the greatest feat to which the Jewish magician aspired actually was that of duplicating God's making of man, the crown of the creation. In the Middle Ages, Jewish esotericism developed a great cycle of golem legends, according to which the able magician was believed to be successful in creating a o ?� (o?u)1. But the word as well as the concept is far older. Rabbinic sources call Adam agolem before he is given the soul: In the first hour [of the sixth day], his dust was gathered; in the second, it was kneaded into a golem; in the third, his limbs were shaped; in the fourth, a soul was irifused into him; in the fifth, he arose and stood on his feet[ ...]. (Sanh. 38b) In 1615, Zalman �evi of Aufenhausen published his reply (Jii.discher Theriak) to the animadversions of the apostate Samuel Friedrich Brenz (in his book Schlangenbalg) against the Jews. -
1 Genesis 1:1 'Eres Elohim Bara Bereshith the Hebrews Call This Book “Bereshith” from the First Word
Genesis 1:1 ‘eres elohim bara bereshith The Hebrews call this book “Bereshith” from the first word. This Hebrew word is translated in the Greek Septuagint by the Greek word “genesis” which means “birth, origin” The first two chapters are formed with three units: 1) Gen. 1:1 2) Gen. 1:2-2:3 3) Gen. 2:4-25 Genesis 1:1 refutes all idols and false philosophies through history: 1) Atheism (No God) 2) Pantheism (God is in All) 3) Polytheism (Many Gods) 4) Dualism (Good verse Evil 5) Humanism (Man is God) 6) Evolution (Material is God) Psalm 14:1 “The fool says in his heart ‘There is no God’.” Liberal Biblical Scholarship: 1) J = Jehovah from 850 BC 2) E = Elohim from 750 BC 3) D = Deuteronomist from 620 BC (Josiah’s reform) 4) P = Priestly from 500 BC (Ezekeil to Ezra) 1 “Toledot” According to Luke 16:31; 24:27, 44 Moses is responsible of Genesis. How did Moses write it? 1) Direct Revelation 2) Oral Stories 3) Written Documents An important word in Genesis is “ toledot”. “Toledot” is a Hebrew noun from the root “y-l-d” which means “to bear”. It is translated by these words in English: “genealogy,” “generations”, account,” family history,” “ancestral narrative.” It is found in these verses: 2:4 “the account of” is Hb. “toledot” or “generations” 5:1 - Adam’s Line 6:9 – Noah 10:1 – Shem 11:10 – Terah 11:27 – Abraham, Isaac 25:19 – Isaac, Jacob 37:2 until Exodus 1:1 – Sons of Jacob Two themes: 1) The preparation of the land 2) The blessing of the creation (’eres is the Hebrew word translated “earth” in 1:1, 2 but land later.) Seven Hebrew words form the first verse, Genesis 1:1 a) identify the Creator b) explain the origin of the world 2 c) connect these past events with man’s future The Creator “God” is “Elohim”. -
Adam and Eve—Community: Reading Genesis
last day of creative work. In the second account, however, Man is created before anything else.2 Of course, it is not to be denied that the text did not spring up ex nihilo, created by a Volume 1, Issue 1 | Fall 2003 writer without reference to previous texts. The redactor undoubtedly had a number of Adam and Eve—Community: texts to which he could refer in creating the Reading Genesis 2-3 Genesis text, and he undoubtedly used works already familiar to him as sources. Or James E. Faulconer it is conceivable that there was no individual Brigham Young University redactor or set of redactors, but only the egin thinking about human community solidifying of an oral tradition. For our B and its possibility at the beginning, or purposes, it does not matter. In either case it almost at the beginning, one step after the is too much to assume that the final text is immemorial beginning.1 The biblical story merely contradictory. There may be of the creation of Man (’adam) and Woman contradictions within the text, but the more (’isha) and their expulsion from the garden obvious those contradictions are, the less places humans in the world in a particular likely it is that they are contradictions that way; it creates a habitation for human life so undo the text. It is too much to assume that that the history shared by humans and the the redaction of Genesis was a product of story that manifests community includes the blindness. A considerable amount of “cut possibility of gathering together all humans and paste” work was surely involved in the as unique individuals rather than simply as creation of the Genesis story, but unless we members of a collective. -
Adam, Eve, and the New and Everlasting Covenant
Adam, Eve, and the New and Everlasting Covenant Jeffrey M. Bradshaw While the importance of account of the Creation and the Fall in Moses 1-4 cannot be overstated, a careful reading of Moses 5-8 is required to see the prior material in its overall context.1 Reeves observes: Most modern students of Bible fail to discern the pivotal significance which [the tale of Cain and Abel] plays in the present narrative structure of Genesis because of the enormous religious significance with which ancient, medieval, and modern Christian interpreters have invested the immediately preceding story of Adam and Eve in the Garden… I would like to suggest that while admittedly the episode of disobedience in the Garden was not a good thing, the story of Cain and Abel introduces something far worse into the created order… It represents a critical turning point in antediluvian history, and is… the key crime which leads ineluctably to the Flood.2 Foreseeing the similar rise of alluring wickedness in our own time, the Savior warned that “as it was in the days of Noah, so it shall be also at the coming of the Son of Man.”3 The illustration above is taken from Stephen Vincent Benét’s 1936 story The Devil and Daniel Webster, made into a popular film in 1941. Piazza characterizes the latter as “a fascinating allegory, filmed on the eve of World War II, of a society gone mad with materialism, a premonition of the opportunities and dangers awaiting the United States as it recovered from the Great Depression.”4 Old Scratch is portrayed as polite, refined, and soft-spoken—and as usual, he “gets the best lines” as he preaches his gospel of cold cash to a down-on-his-luck New Hampshire farmer. -
God's Rejection of Cain Outside the Garden of Eden (Genesis 4:1-16)
Concordia Seminary - Saint Louis Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary Master of Sacred Theology Thesis Concordia Seminary Scholarship Spring 5-18-2018 Falling Far from the Tree? God's Rejection of Cain outside the Garden of Eden (Genesis 4:1-16) Mark Remington Squire Concordia Seminary - St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.csl.edu/stm Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, History of Christianity Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Squire, Mark Remington, "Falling Far from the Tree? God's Rejection of Cain outside the Garden of Eden (Genesis 4:1-16)" (2018). Master of Sacred Theology Thesis. 395. https://scholar.csl.edu/stm/395 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Concordia Seminary Scholarship at Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Sacred Theology Thesis by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FALLING FAR FROM THE TREE? GOD’S REJECTION OF CAIN OUTSIDE THE GARDEN OF EDEN (GENESIS 4:1–16) A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Department of Exegetical Theology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Sacred Theology By Mark Remington Squire April 2018 Approved by Dr. David L. Adams Advisor Rev. Thomas J. Egger Reader Dr. Joel C. Elowsky Reader © 2018 by Mark Remington Squire. All rights reserved. ii CONTENTS PREFACE ...................................................................................................................................... v ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................................................... vi ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... -
Science & Mormonism Series 1: Cosmos, Earth, And
Science & Mormonism Series 1: Cosmos, Earth, and Man Chapter Title: Science and Genesis: A Personal View Chapter Author: Jeffrey M. Bradshaw This book from which this chapter is excerpted is available through Eborn Books: https://ebornbooks.com/shop/non-fiction/mormon-lds/mormon-science/science-and- mormonism-1-cosmos-earth-and-man-hardbound-jeffrey-m-bradshaw/ Recommended Citation Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, "Science and Genesis: A Personal View" in Science & Mormonism Series 1: Cosmos, Earth, and Man, edited by David H. Bailey, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, John S. Lewis, Gregory L. Smith, and Michael R. Stark (Orem, UT, and Salt Lake City: The Interpreter Foundation and Eborn Books, 2016), https://interpreterfoundation.org/reprints/science-and-mormonism/SM1Chap06.pdf. SCIENCE AND MORMONISM 1: COSMOS, EARTH, AND MAN David H. Bailey, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, John S. Lewis, Gregory L. Smith, and Michael R. Stark The Interpreter Foundation Eborn Books 2016 © 2016 The Interpreter Foundation. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The goal of The Interpreter Foundation is to increase understanding of scripture through careful scholarly investigation and analysis of the insights provided by a wide range of ancillary disciplines. We hope to illuminate, by study and faith, the eternal spiritual message of the scriptures — that Jesus is the Christ. Although the Board fully supports the goals and teachings of the Church, the Interpreter Foundation is an independent entity and is not owned, controlled by, or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or with Brigham Young University. All research and opinions provided are the sole responsibility of their respective authors, and should not be interpreted as the opinions of the Board, nor as official statements of LDS doctrine, belief, or practice. -
Paradoxes in Paradise
Paradoxes in Paradise Julie M. Smith In the last few decades, two very different interpretive communities, each presumably unacquainted with the other’s work, cast aside the millennia-old interpretation1 of Genesis 3 that found fault with Eve’s actions. They adopted the same innovative reading: Eve’s choice to eat from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was wise—an idea that I will call the Wise Choice Theory. No one would be surprised that one of these groups consists of feminist biblical scholars;2 what may be a bit of a shock is that the other group is composed of members and leaders of the LDS Church.3 Obstacles to the Wise Choice Theory While the appeal of the Wise Choice Theory is obvious in an age of anxiety over women’s4 nature and roles,5 there are many problems associated with this reading. I will explore these difculties and then consider some other ways in which we might approach this most enigmatic of texts. I nd nine major obstacles to the Wise Choice Theory. Reactions Note the reactions to eating 6 the fruit: Adam and Eve hide from God (Genesis 3:8), they are afraid (v. 10),7 they are ashamed,8 and, most importantly, instead of proudly announcing their act when questioned, 9 they try to deect blame (vv. 12–13). Further, when asked why she had eaten, Eve states that she had been tricked (v. 13).10 These are not the responses of people who think they have just done something wise. -
Righteous Abel, Wicked Cain: Genesis 4:1-16 in the Masoretic Text, the Septuagint, and the New Testament Joel N
University of the Pacific Scholarly Commons Benerd School of Education Faculty Articles Gladys L. Benerd School of Education 7-1-2009 Righteous Abel, Wicked Cain: Genesis 4:1-16 in the Masoretic Text, the Septuagint, and the New Testament Joel N. Lohr University of the Pacific, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/ed-facarticles Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Lohr, J. N. (2009). Righteous Abel, Wicked Cain: Genesis 4:1-16 in the Masoretic Text, the Septuagint, and the New Testament. Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 71(3), 485–496. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/ed-facarticles/23 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Gladys L. Benerd School of Education at Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Benerd School of Education Faculty Articles by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Righteous Abel, Wicked Cain: Genesis 4:1-16 in the Masoretic Text, the Septuagint, and the New Testament JOEL N. LOHR Trinity Western University Langley, BC V2Y 1Y1, Canada THERE APPEARS TO BE a long-standing interpretive crux in the story of Cain and Abel (Gen 4:1-16) regarding why God looks with favor on Abel but not on Cain. The interpretive instinct to determine the reasons for God's favor is perhaps quite natural: religiously speaking, a deity who favors or disfavors without reason could appear arbitrary or unjust, an issue to resolve. The Old Greek (LXX) translation of the story also seems to explain God's favor toward Abel and not Cain in a partic ular way, perhaps providing one of the earliest extant examples of this interpretive practice.1 Through what might be called a theological translation, the LXX paints a negative portrait of Cain (in his offering and in other ways), one that has left an indelible mark on later tradition. -
Sea-Monsters in the Hebrew Bible Associated with Leviathan
i ABSTRACT Leviathan and the other sea-monsters in the Hebrew Bible have been a source of dissension amongst biblical scholars. Evidently, no consensus exists amongst them on how to translate the Hebrew words referring to these mythical monsters. Therefore, a tendency developed amongst exegetes to transfigure these mythical beasts into ordinary animals, to translate them in a vague and general way or to interpret them as mere symbols. This study, therefore, investigates ways in which the assumed existence of mythical creatures in the OT are denied, identified, or rejected. To gain a better understanding of the nature and function of these mythical creatures in the OT, similar creatures in the Ancient Near East (ANE) have been examined with a focus on sea-monsters and dragons associated with the primeval sea. These findings propose not only a more distinct epitome of Leviathan, but also of other monsters associated with the primeval waters as דָ ג גָד֔ ֹול tanninim), behemoth and the) תַּ נִּינִּ ִ֖ם ,depicted in the OT. These are Rahab (Jonah’s big fish). It was concluded that when these beasts are interpreted in the light of the magico-mythical cosmology of the ANE and the OT, they should be seen as mythical creatures, assumed to be real by the ancient audience of the biblical text. When striving for fidelity to and loyalty with regard to both the text and the current reader, any translation should, therefore, present the foreignness of these monsters or dragons to the contemporary reader. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 – THE PROBLEM OF SEAMONSTERS IN THE OT ......................