Introduction to "A study of the ancient relationships found in Genesis"

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to take a deeper look at the ancient relationships of Genesis.

Sometimes when we read something so many times we become numb to the details.

My hope is that we use a magnifying glass and a flashlight and see if there is more to find in these ancient relationships than we have seen before.

As we read we apply our human reasoning

As we take our BIbles we know that this is a book.

And we know there are many kinds of books, many, many kinds

And somehow we recognize this is a book, and if it were something all together different it would not be a book.

So, it’s kind of hard to say exactly what we do see and the fact we can use the common noun book is the operation according to the classics of human reason.

It’s this reasoning that we can do that the other creatures can not do.

And if you think about that for a minute it opens up a rich world for us.

In my life, I have raised children and I have raised Labradors.

I have actually raised more labradors than children if you can believe that...

For the first 2 years, we raise them the same.

At first they stay where you put them

they eat each other’s food, but they always prefer yours

They act badly in their own way...

But when the children get to be about 1 and a half or 2, they start talking... and the dogs never do.

They’ve heard all the same things…

Why do the dogs not talk?

Why did the children talk?

They just hear it and they pick up something that the dogs or other creatures don’t

And yet when we realize that about ourselves and look inside ourselves we see that whatever it is about us that makes us different

That thing too is imperfect.

First of all, it is located in a perishable body.

Secondly, we have this thing that is about us, about the way we learn and the way we think

Thats the reason why students have dark circles under their eyes during final exams.

We go from one thing to the next thing to the next thing and we have to piece them together while we go we don't know everything at once we can't really see anything except what we can see

Aristotle says “there's nothing in the soul that doesn't get there through the senses”

so that's a kind of a limit, well once you see what those problems are you can imagine a being that learns all at once also a being that learns all the time or knows everything doesn't learn knows everything knows everything in an instant sees everything in an instant you see we're on our way up through angels toward God and that means city implications of God are in the hierarchy of things including us and in the imperfection even of the highest things that we see and that means that the humanities raise the question of God

and so you need to be thinking about that but then think about this how are you going to know about God because if you imagine a perfect being it would be omnipotent

that means it could do anything and then on the other hand to be omnipotent it would need to be omniscient it wouldn't mean to know everything and if it was the origin of things it would be the Creator

now I will tell you that in Greek philosophy they don't imagine a creator because they stick with what they see and they say that the planners are always there and they always move in the patterns they move and baby dogs give a grown-up dogs give rise to baby dogs and acorns produce oak trees and so the implication is that it's gone on forever but on the other hand they did I asked the question you know did all this start somewhere and if so where and if there actually was a creator then he would actually have to be outside nature he wouldn't be just that dense lump at the beginning of things he'd have to be something outside that thing to be the source of it and hewould need to be an eternal thing a thing that didn't start in order to be perfect I'm saying and so then you start drawing a picture of God and that picture is supported by the traditions of learning that come to us especially through Judaism and Christianity

in Christianity Jesus is the word that's what God has to say just like we say use words and only we use them and so there's an invitation in the faith to think and try to explain understanding that we're unlikely to be able to explain everything at once including especially the thing of which we could have no sensory evidence the creator of everything and that's why in the tradition the study of God theology has always been part of the Canon of the liberal arts and fits in the Canon understanding that it's that the faithful part of it the revealed part of it but that part is a different kind of knowing than the kind that we undertake when we observe and think and record andcalculate and in the Natural Sciences experiment and it doesn't mean that they're not both valuable but they are different and so to call yourself a holy thoughtful people as far as a human being could be person wholly thoughtful person you'd have to do some thinking about God

I should mention an interesting feature of the college because I said these four things allact and react upon each other and theyform an integrity and here's the funny thingjust as the articles of association saythe teaching of the Christian faith by precept and example shall remain a conspicuous aim at the college it alsosays that we are grateful to God to God mind you for the inestimable blessingsof civil and religious freedom thatmeans everybody's got a right to worshipas he pleases and that is why althoughthis has been a seriously Christian college from its first day soon nextfall 175 years ago until today it's alsotrue that we've never caught required aface statement to attend here and that'sfor the same reason that we don't askanybody if we don't demand that anybodyexcept conclusions here you have tothink of 3 for yourself and you oweeverybody else the best arguments youcan make about them why because we'veall agreed about the grounds of ourcooperation which is a travel of portsso that's why how you sort of arbitratebetween these elements of our missionbut in a minute I say that wordarbitrate I take it back because theyactually form an integrity an attempt tounderstand how and to be excellent humanbeings creatures of God given with aknowing mind and the students all commit to themselves to undertake to know thosethings to learn those things to makethem their ownso Genesis comes up a tremendous amountit's also in the majors several majorshave extensive time devoted to this onebook of the Bible and maybe Shakespeareand Plato and Aristotle get that much attention among things and thehumanities but I can't think of anythingelse so it's important here and then thebook of Genesis which is the first bookin the Bible isprofound serious and mysterious and I'llmention a few things about it that makeit so first of all the first line is uhin the beginning God created the heavens and the earth I think I quote thataccurately who's speakingthat's an interesting question isn't itbecause it would need to be God he wouldbe the only one there but on the otherhand later all through Genesis

God is often quoted introduced by and then Godsaid so here the first thing is left alittle unclear where does it come fromand that interesting and you can seeright now already this is an account ofthe origins of things which is as I haveargued in both the natural sciences andin the humanities a natural questionpresented to the human being when hebegins to learn and this begins with Goddid it and we don't know who tells usthe first eleven chapters there are 50 chapters in Genesis and the first eleven chapters are like each other and the last 39 are like each other the first eleven are mysterious and general youknow there's the creation there's the garden there's expulsion from the Garden there's Noah and the floodthere's the growth of humanity there's the Tower of Babel and the deprivation of language and it ends there and then on chapter 12 right at the beginning begins a particular story and it's about particular named people who live in particular places and who are given particular responsibilities by God

Chapter 12 of Genesis begins with God said to Abraham and I'm paraphrasing now paraphrasing now Justin loves by the waythe translation of Jews by Robert altar and I commend it to you it's very serious and lovely piece of work both and that altar him I don't know him but he must be a deeply learned man ifyou read the preface and introduction to that book you'll see what I mean and in rough language God says get yourself up and go to another place where you never men take your familyleave your place there's a farming timeyou leave your land and I'll make you agreat people and then this language andthis will be a blessing to all of thepeople on the face of the earth that means in Genesis with chapter 12 it's not just a story of the creation of everything including us our ancestors it's always also a story meant for thebenefit of all of us this will be ablessing to all the peoples on the earthit's about the rest of Genesis that 39 chapters are about the choosing of the Jewish people which turns out to be a very hard duty

Abraham we've got to gohe's got a almost sacrifice his son you know the Sun and other offspring areexactly what's been promised to Abrahamthere's a meaning in that story and ittakes pondering to figure out what it isbecause of course it's confusing toobecause you're not supposed to besacrificing your children this is not a god like some of the pagan gods whodemands child sacrifice for propitiation and then on it goes from there you knowsoon enough you get Jacob born and he gets renamed Israel and he has 12 sonsand these twelve sons become the headsof the 12 tribes and one of them Joseph is the favored and he gets sold into slavery and all that's part of a great drama that ends with thee because you know a Genesis ends with the point that Jacob Israel has died and gone back hometobe buried and then they all returned and they're all still living in Egypt and Joseph the one who founded their position in Egypt

Joseph speculates that we're gonna get to go back home one ofthese days but that's going to be hardand so we need Moses and of course Moses is the great figure in the wonderful book of Exodus and Genesis sets thestage for him so I hope you enjoy thatI'll tell you about Justin Justin's oneof the best teachers I've ever met one of the best teachers here and that'ssaying something he has a great thingabout him and that is he's one of thehardest graders in the college and oneof the most popular teachers in thecollege and if you think about that for a minute that would be a reason for usto be proud of our college becausethat's not uncommon here he's a litter he knows medieval stuff hewent to Purdue got a PhD there he's atremendous teacher of writing he knowshow to do that they have a famous Writing Center at Purdue and he was agraduate of it he made a deal with usthat when we hired him he wanted to teach middle English and Dostoyevsky and Genesis and he didn't want to run a Writing Center and so what we did wesnuck at himwe organized a way for him to organize the Writing Center but not have to spenda lot of time on it and it's great theway he did it I guess I'd say the onlycomplaint that I have about Justin isthat I cannot get him to trim his beardapart from that he's awesome and I envy you the privilege of meeting him for thefirst time thank you for watching you