As with Genesis 1, here’s my attempt to gather together some resources for understanding Genesis 2-3 and common questions.
Page 2 of 42
What’s Going On in Genesis 1?
A few years ago, I made a guided set of readings about science and religion, which many have found helpful. This is my attempt to do something similar but much more compact for Genesis 1.
Elohim, Jehovah, the Father, the Son, AND The Trinity, AND John’s Logos: Getting Some Things Clear
As we begin to study the Old Testament again, this time with multiple translations, we Latter-day Saints tend to ask some of the same questions over and over. “Is it the Father or the Son speaking here? How can I tell them apart? Isn’t Jehovah the premortal Jesus, and so LORD or Jehovah always means Jesus?” Yes. But also… no. And to understand both why we keep asking those question and what the answers really are, we need to start with… the Nicene Creed.
Part 2— Church Resources, and Why Scholarship Can’t Be Separated from Doctrine or Discipleship
(See Part 1 here. )
We cannot separate our understanding of scripture, history, or doctrine from human scholarship. The image here is the gateway into the BYU Jerusalem center, where I really had my eyes opened to this idea; I first read a Study Bible through from beginning to end while learning about history and religion, touring archaeological sites. Scripture was much more than words on paper.
Again, we cannot separate our understanding of scripture, history, or doctrine from human scholarship. This is demonstrated in Church history as well as anything else; note the recent changes, including “factual corrections,” to our chapter headings in D&C based on better data and understandings from the Joseph Smith Papers.
To stave off the critics, this does NOT mean Church classes ought to be focused on trivial or tertiary matters, Greek grammar, or Assyrian pottery typology; discipleship certainly does not require a MA in Semitics or even basic literacy, for that matter. While doctrine and history matter, discipleship “that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
But those who are—as I suspect my audience to be— literate and college-educated ought to be studying scripture along with “the best books,” to use the phrase from D&C. In my mind, those “best books” help us see scripture’s implicit contexts, their meanings which were evident to their original audiences of two-hundred or two-thousand years ago, but are opaque to us. They get us beyond the words alone, because the words alone, however good a translation, are insufficient to communicate scripture’s meaning.
Let me relate three personal stories of how and why scholarship matters.
Part 1— Church Resources, and Why Scholarship Can’t Be Separated from Doctrine or Discipleship
I sometimes hear criticism of my work or approach which seeks to shunt it aside by labeling it as “scholarly,” “academic,” or “educational.” These critics imply that to make use of such materials in preparing lessons inappropriately turns Seminary or Come Follow Me into an “academic” setting instead of a “doctrinal” or “discipleship” setting. They argue that discipleship has no need of any scholarship. I find this false dichotomy somewhat frustrating, and I’ll address it more in part 2. Continue reading
A Personal Paean for President Holland
Like many others, I felt an ominous shadow in the announcement that Elder Holland had gone back into the hospital and heartbroken at his death. It feels selfish to want him to remain alive but in pain and without his wife, and yet. Elder Holland made an impact on my life in ways others have not.
Bibles and Translation part 2: Family, Seminary, Institute, and Missionaries
Just in time for Old Testament, the Church has reshaped its policy around Bible translations. While the KJV remains the official Bible of the English-speaking Church, Latter-day Saints are now strongly encouraged, it seems, to use other translations as well. This has the effect of making scripture more accessible and understandable, and increases the joy and enthusiasm of scripture study. It helps us communicate better with our Christian neighbors, who are unlikely to use the KJV, and helps us avoid the problems that come from only reading the KJV. (See this article in Religious Educator.)
Let’s Talk about the Bible and Translation
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re aware of an announcement of changes to the Church Handbook about use of (and attitudes towards) non-KJV translations. I’m thrilled about this; I’ve also been on planes and deprived of sleep for the last two days, but finally had a good night’s sleep, so let’s try this while it’s still timely. Caveat: written quickly, unrevised, and under sleep deprivation.
And for anyone new here, I read daily in Greek and Hebrew, and have published on Bible translation.
Much of the conversation around translations can be sidestepped by making sure we’re all operating with the conceptual understanding, which is this:
There’s no such thing as THE Bible.
FOUR new videos!
It’s been a busy semester, visiting here at BYU. I have not accomplished everything I wanted, and as usual, the end of the semester sees everything collide. That has left less time for writing about Old Testament prep than I’d intended. But in good news, I have four new videos of different kinds!
Black Friday and Boston reports
Logos has two sets of study Bible notes I recommend on sale. I don’t know how long these will last: the Jewish Study Bible notes, and the Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible notes, both of which I highly recommend. Per the demo video on this post, you can link these (or others) together to whatever translation(s) you want for your daily reading.
As it turns out, you can legitimately download the former for free in PDF now, though the price is offset by the format. Go here and click on PDF.
Recent Comments