Opening Prayer
As we began to pray I wanted to point out that something different happens inside of us when we pray. The Spirit of God can be present to us, inside of us, working with us and yet we don’t know it. Not knowing doesn’t mean that the Spirit is not there for discerning the Spirit is a delicate matter.
Background – Resources
Last week I passed a handout, The History of Ancient Israel and its Book http://rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com/?p=94; if you are interested in learning more, visit http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/bibles-buried-secrets.html. This 2 year old Nova show presents an archeological detective story that traces the origins of the Hebrew Bible. Another resource is the book by Richard Friedman’s Who Wrote the Bible, http://amzn.to/nhvr3F.
For much of Western civilization, the Bible was, for all practical purposes, the one and only account of ancient times. All of that has changed over the past two hundred years or so. To state the obvious, the earlier we go back in to time the less evidence we have for the biblical account of things. Investigators have still not found extra biblical evidence for the Ancient Israelite’s Slavery in Egypt, Moses and the Exodus, and Joshua’s military campaigns to seize the Promised Land. It is also worth keeping in mind that the composition of the bible in its final form and the known historical events are separated by 300 to 500 hundred years; longer than the entire history of the United States.
Are the ideas expressed above new to you? Do you have any questions, comments, observations?
Background – Contemporary Issues
The study group also identified some of the issues, questions, concerns that Genesis stories have given rise to in our times. The apparent conflicts they identified were
1. Between the creation account of the beginning and the account of modern science.
2. Between the time frame of the Bible – Seven Days – and the billions of years of modern cosmology.
3. Between the theory of Evolution and Intelligent Design
4. The social / political / cultural “wars” that swirl around these topics.
Do you have any other ideas to add to this list? We hope to discuss these and other questions in our study.
Background – The Passage Itself
Let’s open the bible to Genesis 1:1. In bold print as a title are the words, First Story of Creation, and it begins with chapter 1 verse 1 but it continues into chapter 2 and stops at verse 4a. Then we note a second title again in bold print, Second Story of Creation. The two titles are obviously not part of the original composition, nor are the verse numbering. From the very beginning, therefore, we have evidence of editing of the text and that editing is based on modern textual research.
As we begin to listen / read, here are a few questions that might guide us, prompt our thinking.
1. See if you can identify certain phrases that are repeated throughout the telling of this the first story of creation.
2. Identify what happens on each day of creation [it might be helpful to actually write them down]; then we will know the order in which the author presents God’s creation of everything.
3. A final question, why are they telling this story of beginnings?
If you have a bible available, please open it and with these questions in mind, read the passage for study.
As you read this passage what was going through your mind? What were you feeling or thinking? What questions might have arisen? What comments might you want to make?
By recording them in the comment section below, we can begin our study on line.
Study Group Responses
Jody: What jumped out at me … it’s around verse 26. Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Is this like Greek mythology, a bunch of gods up there? Its kind like there was more than one person doing all this.
We actually spent nearly 20 minutes discussing Jody’s question. Tim suggested that the “us” is like the use of the royal we. The idea that we were made in God’s image though seems central to this verse. In a latter gathering we will spend more time on what is the biblical message expressed in us being created in the image of God. What do you think that means? How are we an image of God?
Rosemarie: What jumped out at me was the fourth day. I’ll tell you way. I’ve always been intrigued by the stars in the sky. That fascinates me since I was a little girl. … many times on a summer night I sat on the steps of my porch or on the porch and looked up and just looked at the stars. And each one of those stars … there’s thousands of them. … it takes my breath away. … well personally I see God there. I do. I just think God … just made everything so wonderful. It’s such a … well he’s divine to me.
Ken told us of a video Cosmic Voyage, now on You Tube, there are three separate links to view the entire video:
Viewing this for Ken was a very moving experience and provided convincing evidence for the existence of God. While for another viewer it was clear evidence that God did not exist. These apparent conflicting points of view raised a question, why do some people see God in the majesty and awesomeness of our ever expanding universe while for others the very same universe is evidence that there is no God. What would your comment on this fact be? It wouldn’t be until the following session that the group tackled this question.
At this point I passed out the Biblical Cosmology handout http://rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com/?p=148 . This picture depicts the image ancient people had of their world.
Tina: I have a comment on this … model. I’m flashing back to my philosophy class … the people want to understand … so they’re not afraid as to what’s out there
Carol: So like two hundred years from now somebody in the solar system is going to be saying … I was out there searching the solar system and I found this digitally recorded … It could happen. And we’re here discussing what happened so many thousands of years ago. Two hundred years from now, somebody is going to pop on the site that you are putting on the web and say look what I found while searching the solar system. And we’re here discussing what happened and they will be discussing this.
Tim: Going back, what did the scriptural authors want to convey? And what I’m hearing around … from you guys … is the awesomeness of God. And that’s what I’m kind of feeling here is that the author was trying to convey the awesomeness of God to everybody who he was trying to reach.
Your questions, comments, observations are welcomed.