Today, I’ve got a bit of writing about these chapters in General, an article I wrote in the past on Genesis 38, and some useful tidbits Continue reading
Category: Genesis
Genesis 24-29
One of the aspects of scripture study as commonly practiced by LDS is the idea of applying the texts to ourselves. Although we use Nephi’s term “likening” (1 Nephi 19:3 7) to refer to this, we haven’t really understood what Nephi means by it.1And I’m not going to analyze it here. What we do instead, typically, is to approach scripture expecting to find one of two things:
Abraham 1:1, 5-20; Genesis 15-17; 21-22
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
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.”
Implicit Context Revisited: Genesis and Sports Analogies!
I got this note from a friend, and am posting it with permission. I’ve edited slightly for identity and readability. I don’t really do sports analogies. While I am very active in several things, I don’t follow any teams or watch any sports. Everything below is from my friend, until the very end.
Implicit Contexts in the Scriptures, but especially Genesis
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
Let’s talk about the flood. A lot.
I want to break this post into a few distinct parts, and other parts I will offload to links instead of reprinting massive amounts of text. There’s a lot to explore here, and a lot to talk about. Continue reading
Reading Genesis to Teach Genesis: a Short Guide for Latter-day Saints
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
The 1980 Old Testament Institute Manual: Why You Should Ignore it for Teaching Genesis
Today’s take-away is simple: Don’t use the Old Testament Institute manual for Genesis. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk…
“Are not these conclusions reasonable?”: Premises, Faith, and Argument
We begin interpreting scripture before we even crack open the cover, through the assumptions and premises that we bring to scripture.
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