Genesis

Started by bstratton, 02/22/2003 01:45PM
Posted 02/22/2003 01:45PM Opening Post
Genesis is a book that in it's creation account at the start of the book, is compact, precise, and uses simple terms. Some see that in a bad light, since scientific details are not explored in detail, so they assume that it was a fabrication, or not a reliable account.

Here are some points to consider, though: The book was inspired by God's spirit, as was the rest of the Bible. It was stated in terms people in ancient times could understand, and those time periods were pre-telescope, pre-microscope, ect.

The book was also meant to be for the future, for everyone in the world to benefit from, a universal book. The book really shows it's value here, as it can be translated much easier with it's simple terms into languages of the world, since some languages are simpler than other languages. This helps those translators to be able to translate into their mother tongue.

Also, not everyone are scholars, or scientific types, they are simple folk, country folk, labourers, children. Having a book that could be understood by everyone, yet have enough details to be logical shows the wisdom of the Creator.

Science writers today are valued in the community today if they can explain complex science matters so laymen can understand. Here, explaining complex matters in precise terms, with brevity, is highly valued. God can be compared to a Carl Sagan, Feynman, ect.

For all these criteria, I think the book of Genesis has accomplished its goals, and is also a literary masterpiece.

Brien




Posted 02/22/2003 04:16PM #1
"Also, not everyone are scholars, or scientific types, they are simple folk, country folk, labourers, children. Having a book that could be understood by everyone, yet have enough details to be logical shows the wisdom of the Creator"

That might be true for Genesis, but certainly not the rest of the Old Testament. It isn't simple - duplicative, non-linear and confusing to the average reader, to say the least. The best and most simple part of the whole Bible, IMO, is the Sermon on the Mount.