Genesis Blog #2

Kelly Gilbert

HUMN 220

Professor B. Akmen 

1/29/13

Genesis

I actually found this reading to be quite interesting. Although I’ve only read the bible when I was a small child, by my mother, and small excerpts from attending church, I learned a lot and found many things very intriguing. The part I enjoyed reading the most was the very beginning of Genesis when it explained how God created the heaven and earth and all living things, how he created light and dark first and how he created man from his own image. I was a little unsure of that, however. Did God really create the first man to look just like him? What did this first human being look like? Over time, different depictions have been made of what God looked like but over several years, these depictions might have muddled what the original God looked like. I also wonder how much of this information is valid because it’s all been written by so many people and so many different times over the years, as we discussed in class. I’ve never really thought this in depth about the bible, which is probably because I’ve never read it with an open mind. I’ve never tried to make sense of it.

Something that was quite interesting to me was how the first woman was created. It’s crazy to think a person can be created from the rib of a male. Reading this made me a bit skeptical, but I’m open to the possibilities and if so many of these bibles were written by all these different people, it’s got to be true, unless all the people writing bibles have no idea and are just guessing what they think might’ve happened. It all seems so weird when you think about it though. The notion that a serpent told Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge just baffles me. I do find it interesting reading, however, almost like a novel with genres of drama and action and science fiction. I do consider the bible a kind of literature because in my opinion, it is a bunch of stories, those stories may or may not be true but there’s love and death and drama just like in an actual novel so I do think of it as a piece of literature.

I was quite intrigued reading until I got to around the 5^th chapter of Genesis explaining Adam’s line. It became pretty boring and too complicated, almost like a bunch of names were just being listed and I didn’t know who they were or how they related to Adam and Eve and that time period.

I realize that some people find the bible interesting and would prefer to read that over going to a sermon with an actual preacher, but for me, I personally feel that watching a preacher speak in a big open room is more interesting and I can much easily stay focused. When I’m reading from the book, it’s sometimes hard to focus and understand what I’m reading because it’s much less detailed and I have to read it myself rather than have a preacher yelling it to me.

Blog #2: Genesis

Humans and Their Compulsion to Disobey

Personally, I don't put much stock in the truthfulness, or accuracy of the Bible's rendition of history. I do, however, believe that the Bible acts as a very good demonstration as to the nature of humans. Genesis begins with God creating everything and everyone and all that jazz. I, though, would like to focus on Adam and Eve and the fact that they were unable to resist the temptation to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. It begins with God creating Adam and then specifically telling him to NOT eat from the Tree of Knowledge. God then creates the perfect compliment to man, woman. The woman's name was Eve, and together they lived in ignorant bliss. That is, until the serpent came along. The serpent was "more subtle" than any other creature created by God. The serpent asked Eve, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden'?" And to that, Eve replied, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, 'You  shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch, lest you die.'" (Real quick: the tree in the "midst of the garden" is the Tree of Knowledge) The serpent then suggested to Eve that she will not die should she eat of the forbidden fruit, for "God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Then, Eve cast her gaze upon the tree and saw that it was good for fruit, not only good for fruit, but a "delight to the eyes"as well. The tree would also make one wise, for those who so desired. Eve took the fruit, ate it, and finally, gave some to her husband Adam, who also ate it. Now, I would like to just take some time to recap/breakdown what has happened. The omnipotent and almighty God specifically instructed that neither Adam, nor Eve, was to eat of the Tree of Knowledge, LEST THEY DIE. The creator of EVERYTHING, gave clear and concise guidelines, as to what was permitted. Yet, for some reason, all it took was a little coaxing from a creature that was no more than a product of God, and therefore irrelevant in comparison, to get humans to disobey. It could be argued that the serpent was a sly, silver-tongued creature that was too much for Eve's inhibitions, but, I believe it was underlying desire for what was forbidden. Think back to the numerous times in life in which someone forbade from something. More oft than not, it increased your desire for whatever it was, even if the forbidder was right! After all, what grander scale could there be than simple humans disobeying their almighty creator. Regardless of whether you believe the historical accuracy of the Bible, you cannot dispute it's ability to convey the underlying characteristics of the human race.

Genesis Blog

Is the creation of mankind really all that important, or was something bigger going on we might have missed?

When Eve was "beguiled" by the serpent and she and Adam ate the fruit of the tree their eyes opened and they "knew good and evil." Through lines 16-19 God metes out their individual punishments. Child labor will now be wrought with pain, but Adam will pleasure Eve so that she will desire him and want him. Adam must now work the lands hard for what he is to gain from them. I see the creation of free will in these lines. You don't need to read on and concern yourself with what comes next because we have just witnessed the creation of choice and with choice comes consequence. By casting Adam and Eve from the garden their eyes were less opened than the magic of immortality was erased. Maybe most have looked at this chapter at the wrong angle. Everyone wants to focus on the "inequality" of woman and how she is made from the bone of man. They are most concerned with how we have come onto this Earth, but is that really how we should live our lives? With their expulsion from the garden, Adam and Eve now faced their own mortality and were forced to recognize and accept it just as we as human beings on this Earth should do. To me, the message is clear, I must live my life accepting my own mortality and recognize that I was born with free will. What I do with my life, how I affect change on this Earthly plane, the choices I make for my path in life are all up to me. I have been given the reins to my carriage and where I steer myself can either be my doing or my UNdoing. The only thing I must fully and whole heartedly accept is that the consequences of my choices and actions are mine to bear.



Ask a person what stories they remember from the Bible and I guarantee you a large percentage will notably remember Noah and his Ark. It is remembered as a fun story with animals marching two-by-two so that they can go on to be in the "new world." Few remember the ACTUAL lines of the Bible story and how this gigantic flood came about.

Man multiplied on the Earth and the Lord "saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that ever imagination of the thougts of his heart was only evil continually," and the Lord said "I will blot out the man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I made them." God goes on to remember Noah and that he had shown he was righteous and worthy of God's love so he warned Noah to make the ark and save tw of each kind of creature - one male, one female. He asks Noah to load him and his family aboard with the animals - they are to become "the second chance."

So WHO is God? Is he the Father, who later creates a con in his image to die for the sins of mankind or is he a punitive, primal, and fiery God who decided he dislikes the poor attitudes of man and thus gives up on them entirely and decided to wipe them off the face of the Earth?  This early stuff points me in the direction of mythology. I see parallels between this fierce God and the almighty Zeus with his lightening bolts. So what are we to do with the Old testament - where do you separate the truth and fiction here? How much do we take literally? If we take it literally then why hasn't the world been destroyed by such a vengeful God? Certainly the sins of man have grown exponentially since the "beginning." We live in a world of corruption and evil, yet we are all still standing.  If you believe in this mythology then tell me who God is. Is he the fiery primal entity saying "obey me or perish" or is he the father of Jesus? We know Jesus lived. There is written record of him. We don't necessarily know that he had migical powers but he did walk the countryside teaching love and forgiveness. Who is God then? Jesus indeed lived on this Earth but was he the son of God? And if he was how can he have been born from a God who would end the lives of all men and women on earth simply because he believed their attitudes to be poor. How could he grow to be a man with the messages he carried, and come from such a vengeful entity?


Grasping further at the parallels between mythology and the Bible I see that Eve is Pandora's Box. She was told not to touch. Not to eat the fruit of the garden because there would be consequences. Well, try telling someone they can't do something and see how long they go without pushing their boundaries and doing the exact thing you swore them away from doing. The mythology behind Pandora's Box is the same thing. Pandora was told not to open the box. Once her curiosity got the better of her, she opened the box. Out flew disease, hate, envy, greed, etc. All the bad, never before experienced by the world. But she couldn't take it back. What was done, was done and the world changed forever. But out of box came one last thing - hope. Hope is what I see in free will. I have a hope that men and women can make good choices for themselves, that they can see the good in the world past all the ugly they face, that they can choose to live for a better tomorrow.

Genesis Week 2 post

Reggie Jackson                                                                                                                                  Genesis

The Bible is the world’s bestselling book and most likely the worlds most referenced to.  There is a lot of controversy around how to interpret the bible, whether to take it literally or take it as a combination of stories. Both ways could be constructive towards learning, because it helps understand people’s ideals. When reading literature knowing biblical stories provides a greater understanding of what you are reading, and in some cases the reader may miss the whole point of the story without in background of the bible. The Bible has affected many aspects of life such as law, literature, and morality all over the world and without it, it would be much different.

When interpreting the Bible as a book of stories there are many different ideas that can arise from them. For instance the Bible has God creating everything. God is omniscient and is supposed to be all good. Yet God places a tree of knowledge of good and bad and bans Adam and Eve from eating from it. There is an obvious lesson that comes from this when God punishes Adam and Eve for defying him. It is bad to not listen to your superior and will result in consequences. This is a very clear lesson. But if you question the story more you may get a different story. Adam and Eve did not know of good and bad, because they had not partaken of the fruit yet and God had only told them not to and the consequences. So in essence were Adam and Eve still children? They are comparable to children in this story. They have everything provided to them by god the parent figure. They know nothing of good, or bad, or that they are even nude, which just like children they don’t mind until they learn. Adam and Eve are children and are not perfect, so why would God punish them so harshly. We can relate this to our own lives, how many times did our parents tell us not to do something when we were children yet we still did. What was our punishment? It surely wasn’t death or pain and suffering. Because our parents understood that we are children and we do not know better, therefore we cannot be held accountable for our actions. If we look at the story in this way God seems to be too strict with man.

Another side of the story of the forbidden fruit was that God did not want us to be burdened by knowledge.  After eating the fruit, life became harder for Adam and Eve. They lost their world of leisure and comfort to embrace the cold world. Some would say this is what God was trying to save them from. But ultimately God is omnipotent and can do anything “he” wants, so if God wanted to he could make Adam and Eves lives very easy regardless of the fruit.

Blog 2- Analyzing Genesis

Kelsey Davidson

Blog 2

When analyzing the Bible and Genesis, it is important to see this piece of literature through a critical eye and not so much a canonical eye. Growing up in a Catholic home, many of the stories were engrained in me, as I wasn’t to question any of the stories but believe they are true and to live my life by the lessons taught. It is somewhat difficult for me to take on a different perspective and view the Bible as literature. Looking at it this way, I find myself questioning this story and developing a precarious response to it. I do not believe I am being sacrilegious nor going against my religion with this new way of thinking; I feel there is a way one can bide by their religion yet still analyzing this piece as literature and discussing it as such.

When speaking of the creation of mankind, Adam and Eve, I find myself now having to depict the language and rethink some of the stories I was told. The concept of heaven doesn’t really exist in Genesis; it was never spoken of. In my mind, I assumed when Abraham dies, he goes to heaven however, such a concept was never mentioned. I have also heard stories that Adam ate an apple from the tree of knowledge however, no specific fruit was mentioned either. It is times such as these where I find myself questioning these stories; not to say I am questioning my faith, I just feel as though it would do no harm to evaluate such a piece of literature and develop a personal opinion about it.

Reading the Bible in such a critical way has made me think about what the Bible is trying to convey to the readers. To me, Genesis sounded like a horror story, with no escape. I kept questioning God’s motives and wondering why he was doing the things he was doing. I have grown up knowing that God is human and divine, he is all good and knows no evil, yet he created evil. Then I realized that one of the main points of the Old Testament is to demonstrate the power God has and what he can do with it. With blending a combination of a critical analysis and a religious background, one might be able to get a better sense of this part of the Bible.

Week Two: The Bible

 Mark Sledziewski

There are several things to be said about the Bible if you read it critically. First of all is the comparison of what the bible actually says, and what people think it says. Growing up, I was raised Catholic, and went to church, and Sunday school, the whole nine yards. There are many things that I feel like I learned purely because my church leaders believed it. The forbidden fruit was most defiantly an apple. The snake was most defiantly Satan (or something of the like). And Eve was the first female created by God. But going back, and actually reading this, I find no mention of an apple, or even of Satan. They aren’t introduced at all in the Bible. I find this interesting that things that I grew up thinking are in the bible, aren’t actually there. And without critically reading it, I highly doubt I would’ve picked up on these facts.

Throughout all of my life, I’ve always heard how merciful and forgiving God was, and how he loved everything. But the Old Testament God is quite the opposite. So far, just in Genesis he’s wiped out the entire world, and smote two cities. And in the name of God, Abraham led an army, and gained many slaves, because of his devotion to God. It was interesting to me to see the difference in what my Sunday school taught me, and what I’m seeing on my own, so many years later.

There is much choosing when it comes to the Bible. The pope chooses what books go in, and what stay out for a lot of the part. But it is interesting to see how certain ideas don’t fit the Christian ways. When I was looking around a year or so ago, I came across the name Lilith. Apparently, Lilith was the very first woman, even before Eve. But, she was made from the same dust as Adam, and there for thought she was equal to him. She ran away from Adam, because she did not want to be submissive to him, and allow him to know her. She was then known as a demon, and was forgotten, and God made Eve, to be submissive for Adam. This reflects the underlying masculinity in the Bible, which was very much ingrained in our society, and still is to an extent.

Genesis; The Many Ways to Make God Angry

What is the importance of naming the damning flora the "Tree of Knowledge"?

         

       The whole beginning of the Bible scares me. I always imagined God (the classic robed bearded man) cruising over a pristine landscapes like the flyover's of a Discovery channel documentary, seemingly high as a kite as he creates rivers and creatures. But what is the most frightening is the theme that can be pulled out of the majority of Genesis, which is to not seek knowledge. Analyzing the piece as a work of literature, the author's intent is evidently to inform the reader that procuring knowledge, from eating the fruit, to building the tower of Babel and so forth, only ends in original sin or disaster. These consequences are dealt out by God, the omniscient being who has always known the difference between good and evil, so his actions should be always perceived as just. Being the most well known book in the history of human existence, it is strange that the main message is to inhibit growth as a people. I am not a fan of the phrase "the opiate for the masses", but I do think the Bible's use as a tool for control is a big part of the reason it is so popular. When it comes down to it, it seems the message is don't question the world, don't question God, and be grateful, he worked on the weekend to make you.

What is the perceived role of women in life through the lens of Genesis?

        I cannot imagine reading this work through the eyes of a fiery feminist. Not identifying as a feminist myself, I still found myself enraged at the silliness that was abound in the lines of the book. God punishes Eve decidedly more for eating the forbidden fruit, even though Adam could have just as easily been beguiled by the serpent. Another case is Lot's wife, who is seemed to be personally smited by God just for looking back at her burning home. Furthermore, Lot's daughters then make Lot drunk, and commit incest on him to bear more children. The fact that they had to impair Lot implies that the act was foul, but they were curiously unsmited by God, making me feel he may be cool with incest. In summary women in Genesis were gullible, yet conniving, and the were the sex that damned humanity to a lesser existence. Their role would consist of being skeptical in the face of God's truth (being stupid) and bearing the painful yet "deserved" pain of childbirth. Seems like women should be totally down with Genesis.

What is Genesis' purpose as the first book of the Bible?

       As I said before, Genesis scares me, but I think that was the point. While I know that I am reading a work of fiction, to those who heard the stories as historical fact the book must have been the most fear-inducing thing to hear, just shy of actually hearing the biblical flood roll in. While the narrative was blunt and choppy, a majority of the reading was captivating. Seeing the world come into fruition was exciting, it was almost like being taken on a ride with God. I think the purpose of the book was to pull in a possible believer with grandiose tales of creation, destruction, and everything in between. They are quick, and separate stories begin and conclude quickly, usually with a great life lesson at the end like a Saturday morning cartoon, the most common one being, do not piss off God.

        

       

         

Genesis Blog#2

Nicole Pfister

Blog #2

 In the Bible, the chapters on Genesis have several controversial topics through out them. One topic that is very controversial is the creation of life. The beginning chapters illustrate how God created life in just seven days.  Some people do not believe that God just magically created people in seven days. These people most likely believe that life was created through evolution. On the other hand, there are people who believe that God created life in seven days is true, because it is in the Bible and they don’t want to question it. The truth is that, no one on the earth today was alive when life first came about. So the fact that people argue so strongly about this issue I find to be ridiculous. People should have respect for other individual’s beliefs and opinions and not fight about it.

Another topic in the chapters of Genesis is punishing the human race. In just about every chapter someone does something to anger God and then he decides to destroy them or give them a serve punishment. The first story where God punishes someone is, the story of Adam and Eve. God tells Adam and Eve that they can eat from any tree in the Garden of Eden expect for the tree of knowledge. One day a snake tricks Eve into eating fruit from the tree. After taking a bite she gives it to Adam to eat. God finds out punishes them. His punishments included making childbirth painful, a mortal life, and being banished from the Garden of Eden.  I really don’t think that it was necessary for God to punish them so harshly. I understand that there should be negative consequences for them breaking the only rule, but punishments such as making childbirth more painful is a little extreme. Humans are bound to make mistakes and they mistakes are made everyday. If people were punished so severely as Adam and Eve were, they would be too scared to do anything.  

Interpreting Parts of Genesis

Colin Moore

HUMN 220

1/29/13

Interpreting Parts of Genesis

            The Bible is a book that I have always planned on reading at some point in my life. I am not a religious person in any sense and I have always thought that it would be interesting to read a book that was so influential yet I know very little about. I was not raised in a religious home, I have never attended church and I know very little about what is actually said in the Bible. The Bible began with God creating the heavens, the Earth, the animals, and everything else in 6 days while he rested on the seventh day, which relates to Sunday which is supposed to be a day for rest. So according to the Bible, God created everything, and most importantly he created man in his image. This was said in the Bible in the first chapter of Genesis in verse 26, “Then God said, “’Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’” (Genesis 1:26) I find this verse interesting for a couple of reasons. First of all, taken literally, this verse might mean that God made humans look like him, but this is not what I personally believe. I believe that this verse meant that God created humans in what he believed to be a perfect image, unless God does not believe that he himself is perfect. While God made humans, “in his image,” he also determined that they would rule over all of the land, sea, and air, which is convenient, since humans pretty much rule over all the land. Another thing that interested me about this quote was that God said “Let us make man in OUR image….” Well the question that this raises is about whom god is referring to. I am fairly certain that he is referring to himself but it sounds like he is either talking to multiple people or he is talking to himself in the third person which would be kind of strange. When he says “our image” it leads me to think that he is talking to someone else. Why wouldn’t he just say “my image?” However, this may just be an accidental slip that was made when the bible was being translated into English. I suppose this is not the most important question yet it bothers me because it is a very unnatural thing to say.

            The Bible then went on to discuss the story of Adam and Eve. What interested me was about why Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden. They were kicked out of the Garden of Eden because they ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge. Adam and Eve were told by God to not eat the fruit off of the tree of knowledge or else they would die. Eve was eventually convinced by the serpent to eat from the tree so she would gain knowledge. So she and Adam ate from the trees and gained knowledge. They gained knowledge such as being self-aware. This is shown when Adam and Eve decided to cover themselves up from their nakedness after they ate the fruit. This also shows that they most likely gained certain things like shame, since it seems like they were ashamed of their nakedness. I am somewhat curious as to why God would blatantly lie to Adam and Eve about the tree. They did not die when they ate the fruit and instead they gained some form of knowledge. Maybe the serpent was actually trying to help Adam and Eve gain knowledge so they did not live some life where they would be oblivious to the world. Although I’m not very religious I do not believe that a god would lie to people that trusted him/her/it. Lying is an unmoral act and it seems like a just god would be a god who is perfectly moral. I am trying to approach the Bible with a critical mind and I am not just trying to take everything that is said in the Bible in a literal sense and some parts that I have read so far just do not make complete sense to make and need some explaining. However, I understand that the bible is not a perfect representation of what actually happened in the past, it is just full of insights and stories from the past.

Strange Power #2

Jessica Bourdage                                                                                                                          Week 2

Strange Power

Why is the bible so repetitive?  When reading the bible I couldn’t help but notice how much phrases are repeated. In class we talked about how translations can change the meaning of the work. The bible happens to be one of the most translated pieces and has many different authors. Perhaps this is why things happen to repeat themselves. Or perhaps it adds emphasis to the work. In the first part of Genesis, God creates things and for each day the author repeats “there was evening and there was a morning” to show the passing of time. In many different sections it seems to just list a whole bunch of names of people who were the sons of this person. It goes on until you have a whole family tree. In part 5 of Genesis, it just lists the generations of Adam. It lists how long they lived and their sons and says “he died.” I feel that the repetition and the info is unnecessary. Background is always good for any story but every small detail doesn’t have to be included. I felt that it was a bit too much info on all of these different people and their sons that wasn’t really relevant to the story. It might have been more effective to have simplified it in order to get from Seth to Noah.

How is the Lord portrayed? The Lord creates man and woman in his image. He talks to Abraham about making Abraham the father of a multitude of nations. The Lord seems to favor the people who are part of his covenant. It’s almost like an exclusive club. In order to be a part of his “club” you have to adhere to his rules. He says, “Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” (pg. 13) The Lord also seems to be bias in the Exodus. He favors the Israelis over the Egyptians. He recruits Moses to help free his people yet the Lord also hardens the heart of the Pharaoh, making him refuse the Israelis from leaving. The Lord makes a statement with the Pharaoh and his men to show his power when he drowns them in the Red Sea. He also decides to kill all the first borns. The people sing “terror and dread fall upon them because of the greatness of thy arm.” (pg. 61) He does these acts to make people believe and show his power but does that justify killing people to make his point? Does he have the right to kill since he is the one who has created man? In the story of the flood, the Lord sees that the people he has created have become wicked and evil so he decides to create the flood. He wants to “blot out man” because he’s “sorry that he made them” (pg. 5) He succeeds in creating the flood whether it be wrong or right it’s in his power.

 Is the bible all positive? The stories in Genesis are not all delightful. Some deal with some strange events. Instead of letting the men of Sodom use the men that came to him, Lot instead tells them that he “has two daughters who have not known man; let me bring them out to you and do to them as you please.” (pg. 14) Lot was willing to protect the men than his own flesh and blood. This shows a bit of sexism like in other parts such as with Adam and Eve when the Lord says “In pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” (pg. 3)There is even more disturbing parts when Lot and his family flees to a cave. His eldest daughter comes up with a plan to sleep with their father in order to produce offspring. She tells the younger, “Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring through our father.” (pg. 15) In Genesis, fathers seem to be willing to do horrible things to their children for the Lord. The previous example of Lot giving up his daughters instead of the men shows this. Another example is when Abraham brings his son, Isaac, up a mountain and plans to use him as a sacrifice before God stops him and instead produces a ram for the sacrifice.

Blog 2 (Genesis)

Mike Gole

Humn 220

Professor Akman

January 29, 2013

Blog Entry 2

Why is the Bible such an important work in Western Humanities?

I would be shocked to find a many people in America who are unfamiliar with the Bible. Regardless of how much of it they have read, the vast majority of Americans have at least heard of the Bible, and many are likely familiar with some of its stories.  This makes the Bible a logical place to start when teaching Western humanities. Regardless of whether or not one believes the Bible to be a holy text, one cannot deny the impact that the Bible has had on Western civilizations. In an area dominated by Christianity, the Bible is undoubtedly one of the most influential books in the entire history of what we consider to be “western civilizations.” As such, I believe it is important for even non-believers to read the Bible as a piece of literature with significant historical importance.

What meaning does the Bible hold to those who do not consider it a Holy text?

As stated above, there are few “non-believers” who would argue that the Bible has not had a massive impact on world history, specifically the history of western civilizations. Therefore, I believe that, to gain a better understanding of many of the events that have transpired in history, one should familiarize oneself with the Bible, regardless of whether or not they believe. Especially when one goes on to study poetry, Shakespeare, or various other fields, an understanding of the Bible will be key to understanding allusions frequently made in these works.

If God was attempting to keep mankind ignorant, was this truly for the best?

In class, someone asked why God forbid Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge.  I found this to be an interesting question, and one that, as someone who was raised in a fairly strong Christian environment, I would honestly rather ignore than answer.  However, when looked at objectively, it becomes clear that there are several possibilities behind God’s rationale. The first consideration is that God seems to be very big on having control. Again, as someone mentioned in class, he turned Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt for disobeying him in what seemed to be a very trivial way. Perhaps, in a way similar to this, God was attempting to exert his dominance over man by keeping them from eating from the Tree of Knowledge. The other possibility to consider is that God may have been trying to save mankind from having to deal with the burden of knowledge, and the burden of fully understanding the nature of good and evil.( 

The Bible as Literature

Whether or not you are Christian, you have most likely heard at least one story from the Bible. The Bible is one of the best selling and most referenced texts of all time and is important in studying the humanities. I had never read the Bible before and reading Genesis was an interesting experience. If we read the Bible as literature from a critical perspective, we can uncover symbolism as well as analyze the characters the genres in the text.

            One topic of interest from Genesis is the tree of good and evil. In class we discussed whether or not God assumed that humans would ever eat fruit from the tree. If God didn’t want any humans to eat from this tree, what was the purpose of him putting it there in the first place? If Adam and Eve had never eaten the forbidden fruit, then it appears their lives would be very easy. Adam and Eve may not have been intended to eat the fruit but perhaps God had anticipated that someone would eventually eat from the tree of knowledge. I personally think it is the latter option. God seems to lose some control over humanity as the offspring of Adam and Eve grow up. First, there is the Cain and Able story and then God chooses to “make an end of all flesh” (p.5) because the Earth was too corrupt and violent. If this corruptness and violence were in fact caused by the original sin of eating the forbidden fruit, then it seems that God was not prepared for the consequences.

            Another interesting discussion from class was about the different genres in the Bible. Genesis clearly contains elements of many varieties of contemporary styles such as horror stories and dramas. The drama between Abraham, Sarah and Hagar is sure to come up in many modern movies, shows and probably quite frequently in reality as well. I think that drawing modern day parallels is a useful tool in reading the Bible as literature. If the Bible is read from a literary standpoint as opposed to a religious perspective, then we can critically analyze all the characters, including God. Even God exhibits characteristics seen in dramas and horror stories. Vengeance, wrath, jealously are a few examples. In Genesis, God nearly wipes out the entire planet yet then tells Noah to repopulate the Earth. God is still the supreme power of all but the character of God is not always in complete control. In this way, reading the Bible from a critical literary view opens the door for a lot of new questions and angles for analysis.