Genesis

One of my new years resolutions is to finish the bible, cover to cover. I do not find any of the guides interesting because they want me to skip around, and I think cover to cover will be way more satisfying. I am on a Christianity kick, why? A lot of reasons. The people around me, the fascination I have with the stories, my love of linguistics, my spiritual search for meaning. I have started Genesis four times in my life, most of them during my childhood years, with little understanding of what was going on.

Genesis is a very beautiful story. The first few chapters move at a pace that I was not expecting. Everything happens so fast. I find the Cain and Abel dispute (not using spoiler tags, by the way, because it's literally the bible) show more to be absolutely fascinating. The "Am I my brothers keeper?" line holds in it so much cheekiness, I think that it is absolutely hilarious. I think there is an intended humor in the situation as a whole. Beyond the opening, I got more confused. I am reading a King James copy that also phonetic text for each proper noun, and the flowery language combined with the phonetics can be a handful. Separating the direct divinity of the words (just for this example) I think that this is a really fascinating generational tale. I think there are a lot of really captivating dynamics and I think that it shines a lot of light on the function and conflicts of humanity. The divinity is actually very pleasant. In the past, I have both heard and felt that Old Testament God was incredibly wrathful, somewhat unjust, and overall very difficult to understand on a logical level. Reading through though, I found a lot of the devotion held and the meanings derived from him to make more sense. The symbolic beacon through Abraham.

3am biblical rambling aside, I really enjoyed it and recommend it highly. I am really excited for exodus because I adored The Ten Commandments. show less

Old Testament Library