April 9, 2018 - Day 1 - Genesis 1

I’ve received some criticism because I haven’t read the Bible cover to cover. Okay then. Lets go!

My take on Genesis 1:

Let’s try to read this as a first time viewer.

It seems pretty obvious that this is some type of story or poem. God is introduced right away with no explanation.

The original text is in Hebrew. The word for create is “bara.” Interestingly, this word is only used together with God, suggesting that only God can “bara” or create. This reminds me of graduate school when I wrote the word “create” in a scientific context. My advisor reminded me that we don’t create. Scholars have suggested that this word ”bara” doesn’t mean “create” in a modern sense, but is more of a differentiation and allocation of roles. The word for God here is Elohim.

This is a story about the beginning. It doesn’t tell us much, but seems to reiterate that it is all “good.” There’s a discussion of days, but written thousands of years ago, there’s nothing to suggest that these are 24 hour days like we know. After all, a day on earth isn’t even equivalent to a day on Venus.

Given how long ago this was written, it’s hard to know the original intent of the author. I do think we can infer that creation (life) is a good thing. 

Let’s celebrate life today.

“How rare and beautiful it is to even exist.” - Sleeping at Last