The Book

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

The Road to Purgation

Next session: Sunday, Nov 4th, 6:15
Reading: Genesis 12-22

Starting at Genesis 12, we move from stories of the early formation of the world, to extended stories about specific people. These stories illustrate specific people working out what it means to be in covenant relationship with God. The power of these stories is in the examples of personal transformation that happen to the people. In this first story we follow Abram, from his first call, through the end of his life.

In studying the story of Abraham, it's important to note that there is a structure at work in this story to help us even more. It follows a chiastic structure, which provides even more depth to what is already a complex story. Next session we will explore the Abraham story, look for footprints of its chiasm, and explore what meaning that structure expresses about the story overall.

Footprints of God's Covenant

Last time in the book, we looked at several stories which on the surface may seem disjointed, but have very much in common. Through the first 11 chapters of Genesis, we encounter a repeated pattern:

• God creates a space for mankind
• God warns mankind about the danger of their decisions
• Mankind makes a decision (sometimes a poor one)
• God creates a space for repentance
• Consequences happen
• God does not abandon mankind

This pattern is not an accident. It happens around the story of the apple, around the story of Cain, and around the story of Noah. This pattern is a pattern for Covenant making. God is demonstrating Covenant making for us in these early stories. Not only that, but God is revealing something about himself: God honors his Covenants.

We also talked about how the story of Noah can be read as both a historical story, and an analogical story. In the second case, there are some interesting details to take note of. First, the hebrew word for "pitch" can also be translated as "atonement". Second, water washes the earth. With just a small step, it's easy to see the Noah story as a baptismal story for the entire world. It then becomes important to note that God says "Never again will I wash the world clean."

Schedule Update

Below is the book class schedule for the next few weeks:

• Oct 14th: Genesis 3-11
• Oct 21st: no class
• Oct 28th: no class
• Nov 4th: Genesis 12-24
• Nov 11th: Genesis 25-36
• Nov 18th: Genesis 37-50

Mankind's First Decisions

Next session: Sunday, Oct 14th, 6:15
Reading: Genesis 3-11


Infused with the "breath of life", mankind is unique on the Earth. We create cities, art, tools, and many other wonders. We also create violence against each other and our world. This capacity to make decisions (both "good" and "bad") is what makes mankind so special. Without the ability to choose, one cannot truly love. These early stories in Genesis 3-11 are not heroic stories. They are stories of warning. They display the danger of free will and teach basic lessons about responsibility to God, others, and ourselves. Join us as we explore how these stories transcend any specific time or place to inform each of us as individuals about the power of choice.

Last Time: Creation

Last session in the book class we explored and compared the two creation stories presented in Genesis 1 and 2. Although it's easy to get caught up in inconsistencies between these stories, or between the stories and our scientific understanding of the world, there are some things that stand out clearly:

• Our world was not created as an act of conflict, but of divine love
• Creation was an intentional act of God, not an accident
• Everything is under God's dominion

It's helpful to keep the big picture in mind. The creation stories present details that are easy to fixate on as problems. Although wrestling with the details is important, it is equally vital to appreciate the big picture.

More Info Coming!

Woops! I'm a little behind and I just noticed this link in the announcements. Please check back again tomorrow when I will have schedule and planning updates on here.

The First Faith Experience: Creation

Next session: Sunday, Oct 7th, 6:30
Reading: Genesis 1-2

The creation stories of Genesis provide us with a number of unique insights into the early Hebrew faith experience. It also brings up a number of questions. Why are there 2 stories? Why are they different? Why is there no expressed purpose for creation? Who wrote this story if no one was there to witness creation except God? In this session we'll explore these questions, as well as compare this early Hebrew vision of creation to the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation story. In the exploration of these stories, we'll see how the roots of the Jewish faith are prismatically expressed in a very supple way in these first 2 chapters of Genesis. In the classic tradition of the Talmud, we'll explore and question these stories from both an objective and personal perspective.

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