Regardless, I think that reading and understanding the belief systems of the many different religions is a good idea. An idea that I had never actually followed up on after being raised a non-practicing catholic. So after being dumped at the end of last year, I decided that I should keep occupied and try to take up activities I had been putting off. In other words, I went to church. I was surprised, I had been to a few churches in my youth and none of them were like this one. The church I attended, while obviously christian, had a more inviting feel. Straight off the bat, I was encouraged to participate as much or as little as I was comfortable, they were just glad I showed up. Through this church I met some awesome people that are fun to hang out with. But most of all, one of them encouraged me to take on my primary mission of reading The Bible.
So here we are, I actually have read through the first 20 chapters of Genesis to get a general feel for how this is going to go. My verdict is: slowly. It is a tough read, I have a hard enough time keeping track of the main character in a novel and Genesis pops out a new name every few verses. So my hope is by making this blog, I will make notes of what I think is the most important and can review it later in another pass through the bible.
I recommend Google Dictionary, I have a terrible vocabulary and I find it to be helpful to double check subtleties in words.
I plan to follow along with Bible Critical. It seems to be a similar experiment to my own, so it will be interesting to see what he says. It sounds like his posts will be less filled with opinion on content and more a critique on the writing itself. I have printed out a 90 day schedule, I don't know if I will follow it but we shall see.
I am using primarily the New International Version, but will occasionally also compare it to the New American Standard, King James, and just for kicks the Jehovah’s Witnesses version.
Critiques on my grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation are welcome. This is supposed to be a learning exercise, so if I can squeeze some writing lessons in too then all the better. Though I still reserve the right to disagree and "do it my way" in some cases.
So here we are, I actually have read through the first 20 chapters of Genesis to get a general feel for how this is going to go. My verdict is: slowly. It is a tough read, I have a hard enough time keeping track of the main character in a novel and Genesis pops out a new name every few verses. So my hope is by making this blog, I will make notes of what I think is the most important and can review it later in another pass through the bible.
Comments on format
I plan on mostly making small comments as I read through. Some of these may not be "PG", though apparently neither is Genesis. I expect at most a paragraph per chapter.I recommend Google Dictionary, I have a terrible vocabulary and I find it to be helpful to double check subtleties in words.
I plan to follow along with Bible Critical. It seems to be a similar experiment to my own, so it will be interesting to see what he says. It sounds like his posts will be less filled with opinion on content and more a critique on the writing itself. I have printed out a 90 day schedule, I don't know if I will follow it but we shall see.
I am using primarily the New International Version, but will occasionally also compare it to the New American Standard, King James, and just for kicks the Jehovah’s Witnesses version.
Critiques on my grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation are welcome. This is supposed to be a learning exercise, so if I can squeeze some writing lessons in too then all the better. Though I still reserve the right to disagree and "do it my way" in some cases.
Getting on with it
Genesis 1
So basically, this is the part everyone seems to know and was basically the extent I knew. It is the classic creation story of the Earth, Sun, Moon, Animals, Humans, Plants. The world was also good, at this point it seems like an odd thing to say. Almost like a passive aggressive God is saying "Yeah. I made earth, it was really nice. We won't talk about what happened to it when I turned my back."
It is worth noting that there is a passage
6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.”This describes what many call "the dome theory." An environment where above the sky is water, but based on our travel to space, no such water exists. It may be lost in translation, it could be an error, who knows.
Genesis 2
The seventh day is for rest. I kinda wish it was the third day, wouldn't that be nice?
We take a step back and now describe the creation of Adam and Eve and naming all the animals. They were nudists... good for them... Oh, and don't eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge.
Genesis 3
Women suck. People with knowledge don't like naked people (It is a miracle you were even born). God gave out punishment, including banishment from the tree of life which would have given immortality. This is also the first indication of the male ruling over the female, that or they were into kinky sex.
Bible Critical
Interesting, he points out a continuity error in Genesis 2 about the order of creation. He also points out how Adam and Eve are pretty much just doing whatever they are told and the serpent had seemingly just as much authority as God.
Closing thoughts
I'm tired. I got 3 hours of sleep last night, so making it to Genesis 16 isn't happening today. If you have any feedback, drop a comment.
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