This is old news, borrowed mainly from James Jordan, but maybe worth putting up. Genesis 2-3, like Genesis 1, is divided into seven main sections. For the most part, the divisions are marked by the name Yahweh God and by descriptions of Yahweh God’s actions. Thus: 1. No shrub, . . . . Continue Reading »
A friend, Paul Buckley, has this to add to my comments about the image of God: “This is coal to Newcastle, but: To your suggestion that what makes human making and speaking unique is their frequent gratuity, I’d add this (building on remarks from Sister Miriam Joseph’s The . . . . Continue Reading »
A former student, Stephen Long, writes the following in response to my post about the image of God and Adamic stoicheia: “You list two aspects of the image of God in Gen 1 — Making and Speaking. Perhaps you see it as implicit to Speaking, but might it be worth bringing out . . . . Continue Reading »
What does it mean for man to be in God’s image? It means that on a creaturely level, human beings do what God does and have capacities that imitate God’s infinite capacities. Can we unpack that? The best way, I submit, is (initially) to stay within the narrative of Genesis . . . . Continue Reading »
Was Adam created Son or Servant? Is the primary relationship of Yahweh to Adam Lord or Father? Recognizing that Adam was placed in a stoicheic situation from his creation cuts through the opposition. Adam is created a son. That’s what it means to be in the image and likeness of . . . . Continue Reading »
According to Paul, all human beings lived under the “elementary principles” ( stoicheia ) until the coming of the Son and Spirit. As he elaborates on this theme in Galatians 4 and Colossians 2, he identifies several features of stoicheic life: 1. Stoicheic life is the life of a . . . . Continue Reading »
A number of my students did papers on the robe motif in the Joseph narrative and came up with some fresh (to me) thoughts. Here are a few of them. 1. At the beginning of the Joseph narrative, Jacob the faterh bestows a robe on his favored son, Joseph. At the end of the narrative, . . . . Continue Reading »
John Sailhamer ( Pentateuch as Narrative, The ) suggests that, contrary to most interpretations, Genesis 1:14 does not describe the creation of the sun, moon, and stars. He argues instead that the heavenly lights existed from the moment “God created the heavens and the earth” . . . . Continue Reading »
Augustine defends Abraham in his fathering a child with Hagar on several grounds ( Contra Faustum 22). His intention was to father a child, not to satisfy lust. Since evil is in the will, and Abraham acted with good will, his action was not adultery. Sarah shows the same virtue: . . . . Continue Reading »
In Genesis 20, Abimelech takes Sarah. In chapter 21, Isaac is born and Hagar is sent away. At the end of chapter 21, though, Abimelech is back, and Abraham brings up a complaint against Abimelech about the seizure of his wells. As Larry Lyke notes, “Following the events of . . . . Continue Reading »
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