There are two approaches to reading the Bible. The more familiar way is to emphasize the “High Road” – that is to point to the more encouraging stories. For example, the story of how God helped Abraham’s servant to find a wife for Isaac, or the incredible story of the “stairway …
Genesis 18-19: Sodom & Gomorah
It is perhaps the most terrifying story in the Bible. God is described as raining fire and sulfur onto a city and then turning a woman into a pillar of salt. A certain understanding of this story leads to this interpretation of our world: “Where was God? He was in …
Genesis 12-22: Strange Times
The stories surrounding Abraham in these chapters are difficult – perhaps impossible – to understand unless we are able to identify with the culture of this time. In this Bible study we focused on 2 main stories. First, why did God ask Abraham to cut animals in half when they …
Genesis 5-11: The Flood
In preparation for the bible studies this year, Dorothee and I are reading the NET translation of the bible which has an interesting translation (and footnotes)for Genesis 6:3. This seems to open a very reasonable explanation for taking the position that God did not send the flood, but that rather …
Genesis 3-4: Enmity
After Adam and Eve rebelled against God, He told them that he would create enmity (or hatred) between Satan’s “descendents” and humanity. Does this merely reflect the ongoing animosity that we see between good and evil? Perhaps this enmity refers to something much more significant – a divine intervention that was …
Genesis 3: What is Sin?
The conversation between Eve and Satan at the tree is the best place in the Bible to answer the question, “What is sin?” This story describes how “sin” first infected our planet. How we understand sin has important implications and is foundational for how we read the rest of the bible. …
Genesis 1 & 2: tohu wabohu
The book of Genesis opens with a number of allusions to a cosmic conflict that was already in full force when Eden was created. The earth was “formless and void” (“tohu wabohu”) which can be interpreted this way: “The forces that oppose Yahweh and his acts of creation – the …
Genesis (2007)
Part 1 How should we approach the evolution vs. creation debate? Did God create in 6 literal days or did God use the process of evolution? Why did God put a tree in the garden for Adam and Eve to avoid? But the ultimate question asked of this Bible study …