Connecting the Creation Dots in the Larger Biblical Story
This is video from a class I taught back in June. Someone recently asked for more discussion on the 24 hours days of creation. If you zoom out a bit in order to read Genesis in its context and through its intended purpose and genre these things become consistent with an older earth approach to […]
The Resurrection of Abraham, Sarah and Isaac
God telling Abraham to sacrifice Isaac is a tough story. It brings up a lot of questions about God and a lot of questions about Abraham. We don’t get all of the answers but one of the answers we do get is found in Hebrews 11:17-19 in regard to what was going through Abraham’s mind […]
Noah: The First Second Adam?
In Romans 5:12-21 Paul talks about Jesus being the second Adam calling Adam “the pattern of the one to come.” Adam brought death and condemnation. Jesus brought grace and justification. In Adam, death reigned. In Christ, life reigns. Jesus truly is the second Adam…the one who came and this time “got it right” through his […]
The Flood: Forming and Deforming, Creating and Un-creating
There are is a word and a phrase tucked away into the flood story in Genesis 6 that escaped my attention until this morning. Here it is, “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was […]
Three Gardens
The opening scene of humanity is set in a garden..the perfect place. All is provided. Man and woman in perfect harmony. Naked and unashamed. God walking with man and woman…unhindered. Enter serpent, temptation, the desire to be like God…tranquility broken…unashamed no more. Sin had entered into the world starting in a garden and so…like all […]
The First Eight Greek Words in the Gospel of Matthew
I am fascinated by the opening line of the Gospel of Matthew, Βίβλος γενέσεως Ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ υἱοῦ Δαυὶδ υἱοῦ Ἀβραάμ. Biblos geneseos Jesus Christ son [of] David son [of] Abraham Matthew starts kicks off the New Testament with an echo of Genesis 1…that this is the Genesis of the story of Jesus who is of […]
One Thing More Fearful Than Our Fear of Death
Genesis 3:1-7, Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but […]
God Walked Through the Pieces
God made two big promises to Abraham in Genesis 12. God promised Abraham the promised land and descendents. Promise of the land Ever since God promised the land, the land has offered nothing but opposition to Abraham. In just three short chapters the opposition comes one after the other…First, a famine comes in the land […]
Vegetarians Before the Flood?
This from John Goldingay’s book “Genesis for Everyone (Part 1), Genesis was concerned about plants and trees as sources of food. God now gives the plants and the fruit trees to humanity to eat and also give to the rest of the animal world all the other plants, the ones human beings don’t eat. The […]
For Everyone Series Goes OT
Just noticed on Amazon that the For Everyone Series made popular by N.T. Wright’s series on the New Testament is starting on the Old Testament. I have no idea how I missed this as it looks like Genesis came out in 2010. John Goldingay is authoring this series. Here is what they have out so […]