Bereshit (The Book of Genesis)

Topical Outline of Genesis Chapters 1-25

Genesis 1-2 Creation of the World

Genesis 3-5 The Fall from Innocence

Genesis 6-10 Noah and the Great Flood

Genesis 11-25The Life of Abraham

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)

Creation

Creation Account Genesis Chapter 1

• Creation in Six Days– God spoke and x came into existence– Every x was good

• Humans Created on the Sixth Day in the Image of God

• Humans Given a Creation Mandate

“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and conquer it, and hold sway over the

fish of the sea and he fowl of the heavens and every beast that crawls upon the face

of the earth” (Genesis 1: 28)

Image of God: Exercise of creative powers and lordship?

Creation AccountGenesis Chapter 2

• Focuses on the Creation of Humans and the creation of the woman from the man’s rib.

• God is described using more anthropomorphic language

• God is called Yahweh Elohim, rather than Elohim (Genesis 1)

The Names of God

Elohim (Genesis 1)• Derivation:

– el, mighty or strong one, or– alah, to be struck with fear• Elohim is used in the P-Source

• Elohim is a plural word– Plural of majesty?– Angelic host or some assembly of divine beings?– Early intimation of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity?

Yahweh Elohim (Chapter 2)

• Yahweh (YHWH) is the sacred name of God (not to be uttered), ha shem, the name

• Signifies God’s self-existence and immutability

• Signifies God as deliverer, E.g., Exodus 3• Used in the J-Source

The Two Creation Accounts

• Genesis 1: Elohim creates (bara) and makes (asah) things by the agency of speech.

• Genesis 2: Yahweh fashions (yatsar) humans and builds (banah) the woman from Adam’s rib. God depicted as a craftsman.

Garden of Eden

• God brings forth trees from the earth as a source of food for the human (Genesis 2:9)

• The human is given stewardship over the garden. (Genesis 2:15-16)

• The human is permitted to eat from all the trees, except the tree of knowledge, good and evil. (Genesis 2:16-17)

The Tree of Knowledge

The Prohibition: The human is commanded by God not to eat from the fruit of the tree of knowledge, good and

evil.

The account indicates the human’s moral relationship with God

The Consequence: Death is the consequence of violating God’s command.

Creation of Woman

• God creates the animals for the human, to be a “sustainer beside him” (Genesis 2:18)

• The human names each of the animals (Genesis 2:19)

• No animal was sufficient as a sustainer beside the human (Genesis 2:20)

• From the rib of the human, God builds the woman to be a sustainer beside the human (Genesis 2:21-23

Genesis and ScienceLiteral reading of Genesis conflicts with

Darwinian evolution.

Darwinism: complex life forms evolved from simpler forms of life by a purely natural process called natural selection.

Random genetic variations introduced by nature were conducive to survival.

Resolution?

Reject the idea that God is creator or adopt a non-literal interpretation of Genesis.

Humans and other life forms evolved according to natural processes, but God is responsible for initially bringing the

universe into existence (and perhaps for sustaining it in existence).

Theistic Evolution

God is thus responsible for bringing into existence the physical laws that make biological evolution possible.

Distinguishing the Doctrine of Divine Creation and Creationism.

The doctrine of divine creation affirms that God created and sustains the universe.

Creationism affirms that God created the universe and living beings in a particular

way, specified by a literal interpretation of Genesis.

Divine creation is logically compatible with evolutionary models of human life

and the cosmos.

The Intelligent Design Movement

Negative: Purely naturalistic models are incapable of providing an adequate explanation of certain

features of the cosmos and living things.

Positive: The hypothesis of intelligent design must be invoked to explain these features of the

cosmos and living things.

Intelligent Design is not creationism.

Basic Message of Genesis 1 and 2

• Everything ultimately originates from God and is sustained in existence by Him

• God is powerful, good, and wise• Humans are unique and have a moral

relationship to God.

Abraham’s Journey