This book offers a historical-materialist reading of the opening chapters of the book of Genesis in an attempt to revive their potential to engage people in truthful discussions about power and pleasure. For the past two millennia, biblical stories have been told and discussed in countless settings; whether one lives in Europe or in a country that was colonized by Europeans, the biblical symbolic universe remains present. This book offers a method to explore the social and political meanings of its most theological content by visiting two historical settings in which biblical modes of expression intersected with the demands of an economic-political process: Jerusalem and its province during the Persian period (5th–4th centuries bce) and Brazil of the early colonial period (16th century ce). Though distant in time and space, both were moments of comparable transformation: individuals with financial resources and military power arrived from the East to seize control over lands and means of production, subjugating the population to a distant king. By turning to these two historical settings, Ron Naiweld examines how the narratives of Genesis resonated in these environments, how they were used to legitimize imperial power structures, and how they opened these structures to scrutiny. The volume is part of a larger trend of reading the Bible with a historical-materialist approach that allows us to grasp the power of its symbolic universe to inspire both utopia and barbarism, especially in colonial contexts. This book is suitable for students and scholars interested in the biblical symbolic universe and Jewish and Christian history. It is also of interest to those working on the history of Brazil, comparative literature, and the intersection of religion, economy, and politics.

This book offers a historical-materialist reading of the opening chapters of the book of Genesis, in an attempt to revive their potential to engage people in truthful discussions about power and pleasure in two historical settings: Jerusalem in the 5th-4th centuries BCE and Brazil in the early colonial period (16th century CE).

One of this book’s main themes is how God’s ‘Book of Nature’ is concordant with His ‘Book of Scripture’. In their writings, many of the pioneers of the Scientific Revolution often referred to God’s two ‘Books’. These brilliant naturalists were also devout Christians. But that was back then. Is modern science actually compatible with Scripture? More to the point, are the findings of 21st-century science concordant with the Genesis creation story? What else does the text of Genesis 1-2 have to say? While making an honest effort to answer those questions, some vitally-important theological concepts (which were introduced by Moses in the first two chapters of Genesis) are also examined and discussed in this volume. This comprehensive study (on how modern science is concordant with the intended meaning of the text of Genesis 1-2) has many useful features, including the following: Much of the first two parts of the book consists of background material on: (1) logic, (2) history and philosophy of science, and (3) ‘scientific method’, as well as (4) basic geological principles, (5) descriptions of Plate Tectonic theory, and (6) the principles and methods of radiometric dating. This background material is designed to help the reader to understand the implications of the empirical evidence presented in Part Two: God’s Book of Nature. Similarly, there is also extensive material on: (1) Biblical interpretation and hermeneutics, (2) textual criticism, (3) the history of ancient Israel, (4) development of the Hebrew language, and (5) some of the basic elements of Biblical Hebrew. This material is given prior to looking at the literary structure and genre of the Genesis 1-2 text, and then conducting thorough and complete exegetical analyses of the various textual units of Genesis 1-2 in Part Four: God’s Book of Scripture. Prior to the exegetical analyses for each of the textual units of Genesis 1-2, (1) the Biblical Hebrew text, (2) a standard English translation, and (3) an Interlinear version of the text of that unit are provided. The Interlinear version consists of (a) the Hebrew text, with (b) SBL transliterations and (c) English glosses below each one of the Hebrew words. Color coding and other types of annotations/highlighting are used throughout Part Four: God’s Book of Scripture, in order to help the reader identify important Biblical Hebrew elements, including recurring phrases, important BH words, and key BHVS verb forms. There are more than 2000 detailed footnotes. Many of these footnotes also cross-reference other topics in the book to make it easier for the reader to refer back to a discussion of some important theme or concept. Excerpts from the entries of reputable Hebrew and Greek lexicons (for words written in the original languages of the Biblical text) are also footnoted. An Appendix is included with a Key to Transliteration and Pronunciation for Biblical Hebrew graphemes; it also has a short section on Biblical Hebrew Accent Markings. Numerous detailed, colored figures are sprinkled throughout the text. In many of these figures, the artwork itself is worth the inexpensive price of the digital edition of this book. Part Six: The Good News is worth reading as a stand-alone exposition of God’s Grace, but it also helps put the rest of the book in context. Although the most common (and logical) way to read A Fresh Look at Genesis 1-2 is from start to finish, this 1100-page book was also intended to be used as a reference work. Footnotes direct the reader back to pertinent material in preceding chapters that might not have been read already (or that readers might want to revisit, in order to refresh their memory on some topic). More information is available at https://a-fresh-look-at-genesis.org

The Days of Creation examines the history of Christian interpretation of the seven-day framework of Genesis 1:1–2:3 in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament from the post-apostolic era to the debates surrounding Essays and Reviews (1860). Included in the survey are patristic, medieval, Renaissance/Reformation, eighteenth-century Enlightenment and finally early to mid-nineteenth-century interpretations of the days of creation. This study enables an insight into the mighty career of a biblical text of seminal importance, and fills a significant niche in reception-historical research.

Many today find the Old Testament a closed book. The cultural issues seem insurmountable and we are easily baffled by that which seems obscure. Furthermore, without knowledge of the ancient culture we can easily impose our own culture on the text, potentially distorting it. This series invites you to enter the Old Testament with a company of guides, experts that will give new insights into these cherished writings. Features include • Over 2000 photographs, drawings, maps, diagrams and charts provide a visual feast that breathes fresh life into the text. • Passage-by-passage commentary presents archaeological findings, historical explanations, geographic insights, notes on manners and customs, and more. • Analysis into the literature of the ancient Near East will open your eyes to new depths of understanding both familiar and unfamiliar passages. • Written by an international team of 30 specialists, all top scholars in background studies.

Addressing the intense debate in science and religion in light of evolutionary population genetics, Andrew Ter Ern Loke argues that the theory of evolution as understood by mainstream scientists is compatible with Scripture. Loke asserts that resolving this area of perceived conflict would greatly benefit both scientific and religious communities, and contribute to the spiritual quest of humankind. Whilst affirming that the Bible should be interpreted according to proper hermeneutical principles such as considering the literary genre, literary context, meaning of words, grammatical relationship, and the background and concerns of the ancient authors, this book also assesses the scientific data according to proper mainstream scientific methodology. Having accomplished these tasks, it proposes a model which argues that all humans today have Adam as common ancestor even though this ancestor is not our sole ancestor.

The Beginning of the World is an in-depth Bible study of Genesis revealing the scientific proof of Creation. Sadly the unproven theory of evolution is now widely accepted among Christians. Faith in this philosophy subtly, yet assuredly undermines faith in the authority and infallibility of Scripture. In this Bible study resource, Dr. Henry Morris shines a bright light on the synchronicity between the Bible and modern science. If the first eleven chapters of the Bible are considered allegory or myth, how will new and immature Christians relate to the Ten Commandments? Dr. Morris, the founder of the Institute for Creation Research, recognizes the attack on the foundational message of the Bible as Satan’s long war against God. His professional scientific and biblical research is aimed at defeating the lies of evolution and defending the Bible. The New Testament directly quotes or alludes to the Book of Genesis no less than 200 times, with half of these referring to the first 11 chapters of Genesis. Jesus Christ quoted or referred to each of the first 7 chapters of Genesis alone. All of these references show that both Christ and the apostles accepted Genesis not only as fully historical but also as divinely inspired. The Beginning of the World offers careful analysis of following topics and many more revealing their relevance and/or application to our 21st century lives. The fallacies of Evolution The Meaning of Marriage The Giants in the earth The Geological Implications of the Flood The Noahic Covenant The Table of Nations Nimrod and the Tower of Babel If you love the Bible but experience difficulty in defending it against intellectual arguments, you will find this Bible study resource extremely helpful. Perhaps Dr. Morris writes to help you and your church withstand the academic attack and ridicule of the Christian faith by supplying a solid and intelligent knowledge of the complete integrity of Genesis. This book is an excellent study aid for Bible teachers, Bible study groups, and individual study by both scholars and laymen. Discussion questions are offered at the end of each chapter.