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Carvaggio's Sacrifice of Isaac

Abraham 1:1, 5-20; Genesis 15-17; 21-22

February 20, 2022 /

I haven’t had time to update this post significantly .

This weeks’s chapters are difficult and socially significant like last week’s, which makes them difficult to write on. My approach, therefore, will be to come at it from a few disconnected directions in which I ask questions I don’t really have good answers to. Before moving on, I strongly recommend you read Robert Alter’s literary translation and commentary on chapter 22 as well as my post on why all the chapters leading up to Genesis 22 are important for Genesis 22.

What makes this chapter difficult and uncomfortable? (BTW, if it doesn’t make you uncomfortable, I’d suggest you’re either not paying attention, or haven’t really thought about it.) Continue reading

The Longer (and More Important?) Abraham Story

February 12, 2022 /

I want to clarify why Genesis 22 unrolls the way it does. Isaac isn’t the sacrifice there  just because “it’s the most horrific thing we can think of.” Abraham’s test goes far beyond that, but in order to grasp it, we have to start back in Genesis 12, and see how the events unfold, culminating with Isaac. Genesis 22 is thus intimately connected to the events of the preceding chapters, and if we ignore them, we misunderstand. This is one of those times we look so much at one tree that we miss the forest around it. Edit: As Ardis Parshall pointed out to me, all of this shows that the command to sacrifice Isaac in Genesis 22 was not arbitrary nor is it “out of the blue.”

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Via Logos Faithlife Study Bible, for educational purposes.

Implicit Contexts in the Scriptures, but especially Genesis

February 1, 2022 /

As my wife and I were studying tonight, we hit upon a useful analogy for understanding scripture. It could be adapted for a class, depending on the students and the teacher.

We recently finished a year studying the D&C, and had a lot of tools for understanding it. Some of these were built in to our scriptures, like chapter headings. Then there were free Church-provided electronic and paper resources, like Gospel Topics essays, Revelations in Context, maps, etc.1To say nothing of the cottage industry of books written to support the Gospel Doctrine year of study. But I want you to imagine that you are a new convert in, say, Taiwan or Russia, reading D&C 49 for the first time, with none of that stuff. Continue reading

My image.

Reading Genesis to Teach Genesis: a Short Guide for Latter-day Saints

December 20, 2021 /

On January 1, we hit Genesis like a brick wall, and stay in it through the week of March 20.1Then we’re in Exodus until May 8! What makes Genesis so hard? Well,  Genesis chapter 1 dumps us immediately into a maelstrom of issues and questions, and Church materials aren’t the most complete or up-to-date at helping us navigate those, or even be aware of the options and the history behind them.

What’s the relationship between Genesis, Moses, Abraham and the Temple? Why are there significant differences between them?  Does the translation matter? What’s the relationship between Genesis and science? What about dinosaurs and evolution? How old is the earth? What about the Flood? Is Genesis meant to be read as simple history? Is it literal or figurative? or is there some other way to approach Genesis, other than that binary?  Continue reading