I've already read up through Exodus 30, and I don't plan on circling back, so here's what I remember from that:
Genesis
-I wonder why there's an assumption that the world is formed so quickly. It makes sense, given the assumption of an ultimate divine being, but everything in the world screams its age. Maybe not precisely, but surely longer than a few thousand years. I suppose that science hadn't gained ground yet, and writing hadn't been around for too long, so they may not have had a good sense of scale at all.
-The Serpent in the Garden was said to walk on legs, and it possessed the ability to speak. Did this have any roots in older mythologies?*
-People and primates seem to have evolved to be especially afraid of snakes, to
the point where we have a knack for spotting them on the ground. It seems
natural that the deceiver would be a serpent.
-There's no association between the serpent and Satan in Genesis itself. However, the association isn't far-fetched.
-Cain and Abel: Great short story. A man doesn't take responsibility for his own streak of bad luck, and takes his vengeance out on his ideal. Not so fundamentally different from today's brand of post-modern nihilists.
-Noah: Another golden nugget. The entire world became so narcissistic that it couldn't see a crisis right in front of it. When the disaster came, only the ones who prepared escaped from drowning. One of the basic lessons regarding wisdom.
-Tower of Babel: A jealous God indeed... One could interpret this as a "too big to fail" message.
-Abraham: The last man you'd expect, a typical working man is chosen for greatness. Typical hero archetype, he has an understanding of cause and effect, heaven and hell, and he uses his understanding to avoid detrimental futures.
-Lot: Intentionally moves South despite the inevitable consequences. (South=down, someone heading south usually signifies trouble.) Despite being a good man, Lot chose to abide in pits of evil. He survived by sheer luck, Abraham petitioned on his behalf, and he was saved because of it, though his lineage was forever defiled as a result.
-Obligatory note that Sodom's sin was not sodomy, funnily enough. Where did that come from?
-(God seems to be a stand-in for the future, or consequence, or something to that effect. Everything seems to fall into place this way. The flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the flood, were all tragedies wrought by the consequences of the men living there, and God himself is a personification of this reality)
-Issac and Ishmael: A clear allusion to the future tension between Jews/Christians and Muslims.
-Jacob and Esau: Esau, the fool, sells everything he has for a single meal. r-selected behavior at its finest, no concept of delayed gratification. Jacob doesn't get how genetics work. Interesting how this family is always more than eager to screw each other, including Jacob. A much happier ending to a relationship not unlike Cain and Abel, I liked it.
-Joseph: The meek shall inherit the Earth? A really cool story of how Abraham's line came to power. I feel that Joseph is the anti-Cain
Exodus
-I notice that many of the miracles used to attempt to persuade Pharaoh were performed by Aaron. When I was a child in Sunday School, it was all attributed to Moses, so it grabbed my interest.
-The beginning of Exodus is really engaging. I wish I didn't already know what was coming...
-Holy Mother of Mary! Why do I need to know how to fashion priestly robes? Can we just burn this entire section of the Bible at replace it with artist renditions of the alters and the clothes and all of this boring, now-irrelevant nonsense...
...and I haven't even reached Leviticus yet.
That's it for now. I absolutely dread this part of the Bible, and have only made it past once when I tried to read through as a young teenager. I'll be updating this every time I read and have any thoughts.
Genesis
-I wonder why there's an assumption that the world is formed so quickly. It makes sense, given the assumption of an ultimate divine being, but everything in the world screams its age. Maybe not precisely, but surely longer than a few thousand years. I suppose that science hadn't gained ground yet, and writing hadn't been around for too long, so they may not have had a good sense of scale at all.
-The Serpent in the Garden was said to walk on legs, and it possessed the ability to speak. Did this have any roots in older mythologies?*
-People and primates seem to have evolved to be especially afraid of snakes, to
the point where we have a knack for spotting them on the ground. It seems
natural that the deceiver would be a serpent.
-There's no association between the serpent and Satan in Genesis itself. However, the association isn't far-fetched.
-Cain and Abel: Great short story. A man doesn't take responsibility for his own streak of bad luck, and takes his vengeance out on his ideal. Not so fundamentally different from today's brand of post-modern nihilists.
-Noah: Another golden nugget. The entire world became so narcissistic that it couldn't see a crisis right in front of it. When the disaster came, only the ones who prepared escaped from drowning. One of the basic lessons regarding wisdom.
-Tower of Babel: A jealous God indeed... One could interpret this as a "too big to fail" message.
-Abraham: The last man you'd expect, a typical working man is chosen for greatness. Typical hero archetype, he has an understanding of cause and effect, heaven and hell, and he uses his understanding to avoid detrimental futures.
-Lot: Intentionally moves South despite the inevitable consequences. (South=down, someone heading south usually signifies trouble.) Despite being a good man, Lot chose to abide in pits of evil. He survived by sheer luck, Abraham petitioned on his behalf, and he was saved because of it, though his lineage was forever defiled as a result.
-Obligatory note that Sodom's sin was not sodomy, funnily enough. Where did that come from?
-(God seems to be a stand-in for the future, or consequence, or something to that effect. Everything seems to fall into place this way. The flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the flood, were all tragedies wrought by the consequences of the men living there, and God himself is a personification of this reality)
-Issac and Ishmael: A clear allusion to the future tension between Jews/Christians and Muslims.
-Jacob and Esau: Esau, the fool, sells everything he has for a single meal. r-selected behavior at its finest, no concept of delayed gratification. Jacob doesn't get how genetics work. Interesting how this family is always more than eager to screw each other, including Jacob. A much happier ending to a relationship not unlike Cain and Abel, I liked it.
-Joseph: The meek shall inherit the Earth? A really cool story of how Abraham's line came to power. I feel that Joseph is the anti-Cain
Exodus
-I notice that many of the miracles used to attempt to persuade Pharaoh were performed by Aaron. When I was a child in Sunday School, it was all attributed to Moses, so it grabbed my interest.
-The beginning of Exodus is really engaging. I wish I didn't already know what was coming...
-Holy Mother of Mary! Why do I need to know how to fashion priestly robes? Can we just burn this entire section of the Bible at replace it with artist renditions of the alters and the clothes and all of this boring, now-irrelevant nonsense...
...and I haven't even reached Leviticus yet.
That's it for now. I absolutely dread this part of the Bible, and have only made it past once when I tried to read through as a young teenager. I'll be updating this every time I read and have any thoughts.
