Studying Genesis

[friend of]

Hello and blessings to all. I chatted with a pastor friend a few weeks ago and he encouraged me to read Genesis. So now I'm thinking of doing an in depth study on the book. If anyone has any resources or can link me to a helpful teacher or YT videos, that would be much appreciated.

Thank you

 

[miamited]

Hi @friend of

Well, the writings we know as 'the beginning' or Genesis covers a long time of history in only a few dozen pages. My copy of the Scriptures assigns 66 pages to the account. I say that to just tell you that there is a lot that happened in all those 1500 years that aren't written about. However, the things that it does cover are, for me, absolutely true. This realm of God's creating created in 6 rotations of the earth to Joseph being taken into Egypt by a caravan and then becoming second in command over all of Egypt.

I certainly encourage every born again believer to study it. It does tell us a lot about God's plan for mankind.

God bless,
Ted

 

[friend of]

Thanks @miamited

 

[disciple Clint]

Hello and blessings to all. I chatted with a pastor friend a few weeks ago and he encouraged me to read Genesis. So now I'm thinking of doing an in depth study on the book. If anyone has any resources or can link me to a helpful teacher or YT videos, that would be much appreciated.

Thank you

The cover Genesis very well here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1qmb5wobxRIWfHZcgmG8bA

 

[Daniel9v9]

Hey, that's great!

For a free resource that isn't too dense, I can I recommend the Kretzmann commentary which you can access here:
Popular Commentary, by Paul E. Kretzmann

I like it so much I'm actually in the process of digitising and amplifying it for our church. It'll be a free resource as well.

I can also recommend a podcast called Issues Etc where they've interviewed many scholars and pastors from different church traditions over the years. Searching for "Genesis" will give you some interesting topics:
Search Results Genesis

 

[Tolworth John]

Hello and blessings to all. I chatted with a pastor friend a few weeks ago and he encouraged me to read Genesis. So now I'm thinking of doing an in depth study on the book. If anyone has any resources or can link me to a helpful teacher or YT videos, that would be much appreciated.

Thank you

Ask you pastor or this friend if they can lend or recomend a study guide.

you could take a look at this resource:-
Genesis Verse by Verse - creation.com

 

[Vap841]

Hello and blessings to all. I chatted with a pastor friend a few weeks ago and he encouraged me to read Genesis. So now I'm thinking of doing an in depth study on the book. If anyone has any resources or can link me to a helpful teacher or YT videos, that would be much appreciated.

Thank you

I picked up a commentary on Exodus awhile back by a Duane Garrett and I was pleasantly shocked, he was addressing several things (to my satisfaction) that had bothered me in the past, things that I didn’t have success getting satisfactory answers to in the past. He was very technical, yet not confusing! So needless to say I’m now a fan of him and I wanted more from him…he does have a book called Rethinking Genesis, and according to some reviews it sounds pretty similar to my experience with his Exodus commentary, people saying that he explains some things exceptionally well, better than they have heard those things articulated before, so I’d recommend that book. I did buy it but haven’t gotten around to reading it yet.

 

[Brian Mcnamee]

Hello and blessings to all. I chatted with a pastor friend a few weeks ago and he encouraged me to read Genesis. So now I'm thinking of doing an in depth study on the book. If anyone has any resources or can link me to a helpful teacher or YT videos, that would be much appreciated.

Thank you

Hi before you start perhaps look up Ken Ham from Answers in Genesis and find a lecture or sermon on the foundation of Genesis. You see there are some who hold Genesis as a literal history and these real events and promises of God are too believed and upheld. Now others hold they are fables and this idea is shows to undermine the foundations of Bible on every front. The lens you see this book will greatly effect your faith.

Hi this is a decent one he starts slow so you can skip to about 7 minute mark to get to the teaching.

 

[A_JAY]

Gleanings in Genesis by Arthur Walkington Pink.

A Spiritual Study of Genesis
Pointing to Christ

 

[Maria Billingsley]

Hello and blessings to all. I chatted with a pastor friend a few weeks ago and he encouraged me to read Genesis. So now I'm thinking of doing an in depth study on the book. If anyone has any resources or can link me to a helpful teacher or YT videos, that would be much appreciated.

Thank you

I like Steve Gregg. Here is the link to his verse by verse teachings on the entire bible.
Blessings

The Narrow Path | Verse by Verse

 

[BobRyan]

Should Genesis be taken literally - creation.com

"Chapters 12–50 of Genesis were very clearly written as authentic history, as they describe the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and his 12 sons who were the ancestral heads of the 12 tribes of Israel. The Jewish people, from earliest biblical times to the present day, have always regarded this portion of Genesis as the true record of their nation’s history."​

Next point in that article

"Are any of the first 11 chapters of Genesis poetry?

Answer: No, because these chapters do not contain information or invocation in any of the forms of Hebrew poetry, in either overt or covert form, and because Hebrew scholars of substance are agreed that this is so (see below).

Note: There certainly is repetition in Genesis chapter 1, e.g. ‘And God said …’ occurs 10 times; ‘and God saw that it was good/very good’ seven times; ‘after his/their kind’ 10 times; ‘And the evening and the morning were the … day’ six times. However, these repetitions have none of the poetic forms discussed above; rather they are statements of fact and thus a record of what happened, and possibly for emphasis—to indicate the importance of the words repeated."​

========================

What is more the "legal code" we find in Ex 20 in the TEN Commandments is not allegory, or poetry or symbolism... and that is where we find the literal 7 day week of Gen 2:1-3 given as the origin for the 7 day week for mankind.

 

[The Liturgist]

Should Genesis be taken literally - creation.com

"Chapters 12–50 of Genesis were very clearly written as authentic history, as they describe the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and his 12 sons who were the ancestral heads of the 12 tribes of Israel. The Jewish people, from earliest biblical times to the present day, have always regarded this portion of Genesis as the true record of their nation’s history."​

Next point in that article

"Are any of the first 11 chapters of Genesis poetry?

Answer: No, because these chapters do not contain information or invocation in any of the forms of Hebrew poetry, in either overt or covert form, and because Hebrew scholars of substance are agreed that this is so (see below).

Note: There certainly is repetition in Genesis chapter 1, e.g. ‘And God said …’ occurs 10 times; ‘and God saw that it was good/very good’ seven times; ‘after his/their kind’ 10 times; ‘And the evening and the morning were the … day’ six times. However, these repetitions have none of the poetic forms discussed above; rather they are statements of fact and thus a record of what happened, and possibly for emphasis—to indicate the importance of the words repeated."​

========================

What is more the "legal code" we find in Ex 20 in the TEN Commandments is not allegory, or poetry or symbolism... and that is where we find the literal 7 day week of Gen 2:1-3 given as the origin for the 7 day week for mankind.

I reject an overly literal interpretation of Genesis 1, but regard it as the only description of creation in any religion which can be reconciled to what scientific discoveries have taught us about the formation of tje cosmos, the planet Earth, and the evolution of life, which is even more amazing. Indeed, it is a holy miracle, which validates the truth of the Christian faith. I have written a blog post explaining this position in detail: The Startling Accuracy Of Genesis

 

[BobRyan]

I reject an overly literal interpretation of Genesis 1,

I reject the overly symbolic interpretation of Genesis because it cannot be made to fit into the legal code that we find it in - in Ex 20:11 spoken by God directly to man at Sinai. Legal code in Ex 20 is by definition literal and it points to the very literal details in Gen 2:1-3 many people are inclined to dismiss.

 

[The Liturgist]

I reject the overly symbolic interpretation of Genesis because it cannot be made to fit into the legal code that we find it in - in Ex 20:11 spoken by God directly to man at Sinai. Legal code in Ex 20 is by definition literal and it points to the very literal details in Gen 2:1-3 many people are inclined to dismiss.

Well seeing as my blog post only addresses Genesis 1 and does not mention Genesis 2, this is irrelevant, which you would know if you had read it. I believe Adam and Eve were real people and that the events in Genesis 2 happened.

I would prefer it if people would read my writings before dismissing them for reasons that are inapplicable to them. I mean, I have read carefully the works of Ellen G. White, so it seems to me to be a good practice to read someones work before commenting on it.

Now, it is true, I do reject the SDA interpretation of the of Exodus based on the words spoken by God directly to Man during His incarnation, but that does not mean what I write is inherently wrong; that would be an ad hominem fallacy, just as the writings of someone you agree with are not infallibly correct, for that would be an Appeal to Authority.

 

[The Liturgist]

Hello and blessings to all. I chatted with a pastor friend a few weeks ago and he encouraged me to read Genesis. So now I'm thinking of doing an in depth study on the book. If anyone has any resources or can link me to a helpful teacher or YT videos, that would be much appreciated.

Thank you

I suggest downloading the Homilies on Genesis and Exodus by Origen, and the Homilies on Genesis by St. John Chrysostom in PDF form from scribd.com , which you can do for free either by uploading a public domain PDF or the PDF of a document you wrote or own the copyright to, or by doing a free trial. I have a paid account and can also send these to you as they are in the public domain, like most Patristic writings.

St. John Chrysostom interprets the whole work in a predominantly literal manner following the Antiochene school of thought, although unlike his best friend and fellow priest at Antioch Theodore of Mopsuestia, St. Chrysostom does not totally exclude Alexandrian typological exegesis. Origen uses the Alexandrian typological-prophetic-Christological exegesis, but also does not totally discount an Antiochene literal exegesis.

Neither of these works contain or reflect my own interpretation of Genesis 1, which is based on recent scientific discoveries.

 

[BobRyan]

Well seeing as my blog post only addresses Genesis 1 and does not mention Genesis 2, this is irrelevant,

There are no chapter division in the source text. Gen 2:1-3 the 7th day of Genesis 1 so it cannot be cut off from Genesis 1 and still have a 7 day "something" in Genesis 1.

My statement below explains why I reject the overly symbolic interpretation of Gen 2:1-3

I reject the overly symbolic interpretation of Genesis because it cannot be made to fit into the legal code that we find it in - in Ex 20:11 spoken by God directly to man at Sinai. Legal code in Ex 20 is by definition literal and it points to the very literal details in Gen 2:1-3 many people are inclined to dismiss.

Ex 20:11 and Gen 2:1-3 are specifically using the same units of time describe creation week

Gen 2:
And so the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their heavenly lights. 2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Ex 20:11
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Now, it is true, I do reject the SDA interpretation of the of Exodus based on the words spoken by God directly to Man during His incarnation,

Jesus never spoke a single word about the unit of time found in Genesis for the 7 day creation week.

 

[The Liturgist]

There are no chapter division in the source text. Gen 2:1-3 the 7th day of Genesis 1 so it cannot be cut off from Genesis 1 and still have a 7 day "something" in Genesis 1.

How about you read my article and then comment?

 

[BobRyan]

How about you read my article and then comment?

ok read it.

I did not find a single reference to any text in your article showing that the unit of time in Ex 20 and Gen for the 7 day week are different than 7 days as stated in the text. You do write a lot of opinion about what you think which is helpful in letting us know your POV -- but you don't spend any time at all showing that the author did not accept his own 7 day statement or that some verse in the Bible shows another rendering for the 7 day fact found in Genesis and in Ex 20:11 legal code speaking of the same event.

As I have always said in the past - everyone has free will and you of course welcomed to your POV.

 

[The Liturgist]

ok read it.

I did not find a single reference to any text in your article showing that the unit of time in Ex 20 and Gen for the 7 day week are different than 7 days as stated in the text. You do write a lot of opinion about what you think which is helpful in letting us know your POV -- but you don't spend any time at all showing that the author did not accept his own 7 day statement or that some verse in the Bible shows another rendering for the 7 day fact found in Genesis and in Ex 20:11 legal code speaking of the same event.

As I have always said in the past - everyone has free will and you of course welcomed to your POV.

Very good. My response to that objection would be that a day is a subjective unit of time, dependent on the existence of the Sun and the rest of the universe, and a day specifically is not 24 hours but the length of time it takes a planet, any planet, to rotate on its axis. It can also be used to refer to an unspecified block of time, for example, a work day.

Since we now know how old the Earth and the Universe are with extremely high certainty, and likewise how long certain plant and animal species have existed, Genesis, and potentially Exodus, must be interpreted in a manner that corresponds with that, which is extremely easy. In contrast, every other religion has what I call a “creation myth” rather than a creation narrative, because its obviously bogus. For example, in Islam, the creation of the world involved a giant camel. It involved a snake or dragon in Aztec religion. The Finns before converting from Paganism, and several other cultures, believed the world originated in an egg that hatched. These stories are absurd and fanciful, but Genesis alone can be reconciled to science with extreme ease.

This is a holy miracle which provides yet more validation for the Christian religion.

There is on the other hand a compelling reason to ignore an extremely literal, forensic, legalistic interpretation of the Mosaic Law, because our Lord did just that.

 

[BobRyan]

Very good. My response to that objection would be that a day is a subjective unit of time, dependent on the existence of the Sun and the rest of the universe, and a day specifically is not 24 hours but the length of time it takes a planet, any planet, to rotate on its axis.

we can see the same "evening and morning" formula for each day in Gen 1 - even for the days that come after the creation of the Sun. So it is clear that the author is claiming the same unit of time for days before vs after the Sun was created. Even evolutionists do not suppose earth was changing its rotational speed between the time that plants came about vs the time that fish came about. So in any case it is consistent to accept that the rotational speed was the same when plants were on Earth as when fish were on Earth. (Creationist or not).

As for how God can have evening and morning with a rotating planet - all it takes a single-sided source of light and most people would not argue that God is not aware of how He might use/access any source of light for Earth -- other than the Sun.