Jumping into biblical analysis is extremely difficult without any direction; luckily that direction comes in the form of biblical analysis methods, chiefly the historical and theological methods. In Genesis 1-3 there are two different stories of creation, each written by a different author. Both methods examine the stories of the Bible with different assumptions. On one hand, the historical method assumes that there is cultural and historical information that can be found within the Bible, whereas the theological approach assumes that the Bible was written as a self-revelation of God. While reading the Bible in a historical approach, readers are interested in information such as, who wrote this story, when were they alive, why did they write this story, and where did this happen. Theological critics argue that …show more content…
the most important piece of information is answering the question, what does it mean?
The most important difference between the two methods is the theological approach looks for answers in the text of the Bible, while the historical method looks to find the historical context of the story or the culture of the time period (New American Bible, RG 8). Both the historical method and the theological method provide different viewpoints on the creation story, but The Catholic Church examines both viewpoints.
Genesis opens with the priestly story of creation. Interestingly, this version of creation is written after Genesis 2-3. The historical method can provide the reader with an explanation as to why there are two separate creation accounts in the Bible and how scholars know that they are, in fact, different texts. First, the key reason why these are two different text is that the verbs change from Genesis1-2. Genesis 2 seems to have a more human approach to creation, using verbs like, sent, formed, and built, whereas Genesis 1 verbs include, set, blessed, and created; in Genesis 1 God simply
thought the world into being by saying. Additionally, there is a definite moment when ‘God’ becomes ‘The Lord God’ in the text. This information gives scholars the knowledge that at least two different writers wrote Genesis. Further, scholars would want to know who the authors are. Today it is clear that priests write the Genesis 1 and Genesis 2-3 is the later Yahwistic account. After establishing this fact, scholars would look for pieces of information in the text that would lead them to information about the context of the time period. According to The New American Bible, Israelis wrote the first story of creation, Genesis 1, after they lost ten of their twelve tribes. They wrote this to show that God’s control is greater than human power, and their misfortunes did not mean that God had lost control (New American Bible, RG 52). Regarding the Yahwistic account, the introduction of sin and punishment in Genesis 3 could be a result of a culture that favored greed and not goodness. Another explanation for the two creation accounts is that ancient writers did not mind having two different creation accounts and focused on larger questions at hand (New American Bible, RG 52). It should be noted, however, that this hold little religious weight and is generally used when finding historical connections to the stories. Examining the creation stories in the theological method can provide the reader with answers to moral questions. Because the theological critics assume that God writes the Bible, or at least God inspired the writers, it can show the ‘correct’ way to respond to moral dilemmas; this is a foremost reason why The Church still does not support gay marriage. An example of this is Genesis 3. Adam and Eve fall into temptation from the snake and eat from The Tree of Knowledge. This first sin is seen in second creation story in Genesis 3:5 when the snake says, “God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like the gods, who know good and evil” (Catholic Bible, Gen 3:5). The Church views this as a sin because it puts other gods before their God. After this occurs, God punished all mankind for falling into temptation. In addition to finding answers to moral dilemmas, the theological method aims to explain the stories in a more literal, close reading approach. For example, some Catholics view the two separate creation stories not as contradictory, but as a single cohesive story. These theologians argue Genesis 1 explains the creation of earth through the six days and seventh day of rest, and argue that Genesis 2-3 is the complete story of the sixth day when God creates man. Theological critics would argue that these assumptions can be drawn because God inspired the writers of the Bible, and therefore it is the self-revelation of God. The Catholic Church examines the Bible with both historical analysis and theological analysis. The Church maintains this stance because using solely the historical or theological approach would leave gaps in understanding the Bible as a whole. The theological method provides The Church and its followers with most moral information. The Catholic Church believes that the Biblical text was at least in some way influenced by God, and should be viewed as sacred in this sense. However, it is said in the Dei Verbum that: “…God speaks in Sacred Scripture through men in human fashion… in order to see clearly what God wanted us to communicate to us, should carefully investigate what meaning the sacred writers really intended” (Dei Verbum 12). The Church acknowledges that humans are the actual writers of the bible; they are just inspired by God. Humans are expected to interject their own biases and it is for this reason that the bible must be read in both methods. The church uses the historical method to explain what the writers were experiencing during their lives and aims to explain a given period or culture. Although this cannot explain the sacred meaning of the text, it is important knowledge when analyzing the Bible.
Throughout history, it is clear that men are usually seen to be advantaged by the logic of domination while females tend to be disadvantaged. Whether it be in the workplace, household, or even the bible men have always been inferior to women. Through history, cultural norms and stereotypes gender roles were created and have been present throughout society. Although it is believed that males are more advantaged than females the texts Eve and Adam: Genesis 2-3 Reread by Phyllis Trible and The Creation and Fall of Man and Woman explain how men and woman are in fact equal and maybe even disadvantaged by these cultural arrangements. Therefore, throughout history it is clear that gender discourses would allow one to believe that men are advantaged
Because of the appeal of the forbidden fruit mentioned in genesis 3:6(And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her, and he did eat.) that the serpent used to tempt Eve compared to the appeal of the world or more specifically the lust of the eyes the lust of the flesh and the pride of life described in 1 John 2:16 (For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.) if you were to take a look in the text of 1 John chapter 2 verse 16 you will find that the lust of the eyes that is mention there correlates perfectly with the temptation of Eve that is mentioned in Genesis 3 is a perfect example of that, moreover when you compare that to Jesus being temped in the wilderness in the account of Luke 4:1-7 (And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being Forty days tempted of the
The most apparent difference, is how the Earth was created. In How the World Was Made and The Sky Tree, the earth is created by animals. “The Sky Tree” describes how a group of animals, “Beaver, Mink, Muskrat, and Otter each brought up pawfuls of wet soil and placed the soil on Turtle’s back until they had made an island of great size.” Then it describes “the great tree” falling on the earth and taking root, creating the plants. And How the Earth Was Made tells how a water beetle dove to the bottom of the ocean and brought the mud up where it then “began to grow and to spread out on every side until it became the island we call earth.” That earth was then “fastened to the sky with four cords.” While these two stories are vaguely similar, the book of Genesis differs extremely. In Genesis an omnipotent being commands the earth to appear. It states that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” and that “On the seventh day, God finished his work which he had made.” Another example of the many differences of these stories, is why the earth was made. For example, in The Sky Tree, Turtle sees a woman falling from the sky and has his friends “bring soil up and place it on Turtle’s back,” so that the woman would have something to land on. They created the earth to save the woman’s life. In How the World Was Made, the story stated that the sky world that the
The Book of Genesis has served as a work of literature to the western civilization for the past two-thousand years. The word Genesis simply means “origins” or “beginnings”. This book sets the stage for the bible, telling us of God’s ultimate plan for humanity. It also speaks about the nature of God as creator and redeemer as well as the value of human life. Consequences for disobedience and sin are shown; separating man from God. We will also see the promise of salvation and forgiveness of man due to God’s grace. However, what does the book of Genesis say about the portrayal of women?
“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). This section of a verse from the NRSV started the grand story of the bible. In the beginning the Bible brings two things to focus. The two things that are focused on is the setting and the main characters of the Bible (Professor Smallbones). The Bible opens in Genesis 1 with God creating. God creates light, the earth, the sun, living creatures, and many other things, but most importantly God creates humans. As God is the main character in the grand story he immediately forms a personal relationship with man and woman. God created Adam the first man and Eve the first woman. In the book, The Unfolding Drama of The Bible, Anderson says, “The
The Old Testament of the Bible, which includes the Book of Genesis, was also passed down through oral tradition before the Hebrews wrote it down from 1000-300 B.C. Both of these documents express the religious attitudes of these people as their story of the creation of the world and of humankind unfolds.
Though the two Creation stories are supposedly intended to be connected - even interchangeable - the only similarity they share is the presence of the omnipotent God and His role in the creation of the earth. Where the first creation describes a detailed, six-day process in which God first delineates day and night, establishes the physical world, and then finally creates man, the second creation is a much simpler process, one almost contradictory to the first story's strict schedule.
Theogony, is the personification of things and ideas the ancient Greek, whereas Genesis is conflict between the hu8man like god and the mystical formless god. . Theogony, when compared to Genesis is radically different. Theogony starts from chaos and end up in order. In Genesis, creation is done by command alone. God says "water" and water appears. There is no conflict of interests or bloody battle. Genesis has the pattern of nothing to everything. Theogony has the pattern of chaos and powerful rulers to set order and gods with magical powers who use thought instead of raw power. There is a god of the sun, of wheat and of war. In Genesis there is one god of everything.
Is the book of Genesis 1-4 an ancient or modern interpretation? To answer this, one might find it useful to know what was happening in the stories. Gen:1 explains how God created the heavens, the earth, and everything that lives. Gen:2 talks about how God created a man and he was lonely so he made a woman as his partner. Gen:3 tells the story of the snake deceiving the woman and how she ate from the tree of evil. God then sent Adam and Eve out of the garden. Gen:4 is about how Eve’s son made offerings to the Lord and Cain killed Abel so God sent him away. A helpful source one might want to obtain knowledge from is James Kugel. Kugel, a professor of Hebrew at Harvard University, wrote a book called “How to Read the Bible.” His book explains how you can look at the Bible rationally
Throughout history many civilizations and cultures have had their own ways of explaining the world and its creation. Each of these civilizations has created unique descriptions and accounts of such events. However, when comparing them to each other, are they really different? Look at the ancient Greco - Roman creation myths as told by Hesiod in his Theogony and Works and Days and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, when compared to the creation myths as seen in the Old Testament’s book of Genesis they may not be as different as one would think. Taking a more in-depth look at both Genesis and Hesiod’s and Ovid’s work more closely, the reader can see that on multiple occasions the myths have almost identical similarities which reflect their views in society. The similarities in particular are the myths of the creation of man, women with their subsequent role of evil in ancient times, and the great floods. These similarities prove that even though these two scriptures were centuries apart, the concepts presented in each myth were almost identical to one another.
There are more than two different levels of biblical interpretation; however in this paper I am going to be focus in two of them which are historical-literal and theological-spiritual. In Genesis 3: 1-7, "The Fall of Man" shows something happen that forever changes our world. Before the beginning of chapter 3, the end of chapter 2 explains the relationship between the Lord, Adam, and his wife Eve. In contrast, in Genesis 3, there was a sin that changed the world we live in recently. Religious scholars and theologians have debated over whether it is the devil or a choice to guilt that led all humans to be sinful on
The ancient reading, “The Epic of Creation/Enuma Elish” and the beginning of the Holy Bible Old Testament, Genesis are two distinct passages that share many different qualities. Ranging from how the universe was ever created, to the origin of power and rule over others, both stories reveal persistence, strength, and honor. Genesis 1:1-2:4, Genesis 2:4-3:34 from the Holy Bible, and “The Epic of Creation”, have similar beginnings that determine the endings of both stories.
There many differences between the account from Genesis 1 and then in Genesis 2. Although, the accounts may be different they share common similarities. The text appears to be written by different people on what happened or what they believed to have happened perhaps by the families or just simply in the religious teachings. Genesis 1 goes through the order of creation chronologically ending after God created male and female and declared they have dominion over all other that was created. Genesis 2 starts with Gods day of rest, the seventh day, and then back tracks telling about how the earth was created and the creation of man, plants, and birds. Genesis 1 says that God created the all the heavens and earth in six days but in Genesis 2 God
Genesis is the first creation story. God creates, establishes, and puts everything into motion. After putting all of this in motion he then rests. He creates everything on earth in just seven days. Before creation Gods breath was hovering over a formless void. God made earth and all of the living creatures on earth out of nothing. There was not any pre-existent matter out of which the world was produced. Reading Genesis 1 discusses where living creatures came from and how the earth was formed. It’s fascinating to know how the world began and who created it all. In Genesis 1 God is the mighty Lord and has such strong power that he can create and banish whatever he would like. His powers are unlike any others. The beginning was created from one man only, God.
Genesis in the Old Testament is a book of new beginnings. Each story tells something new that has yet to be told because the world was in a state of infancy. When God created man, woman, and all living things, He did so to what he created pleased him. The creation of woman was brought upon so that man would not be alone; woman was man's partner for a lifetime in God's perspective.