Questions tagged [genesis]
Genesis is the first book of the Old Testament, a narrative starting with creation.
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Doesn't the Trinitarian reading of Genesis 1:26 violate hermeneutical principles? [closed]
Why do Trinitarians rarely mention the hermeneutical principles which have led them to this belief? What are the hermeneutical principles that support the Trinitarian view? For example Genesis 1:26 &...
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Who was the Man Jacob wrestled with at Peniel? [migrated]
The Bible tells of a tale where Jacob wrestled with a Man and he prevailed. And because of this he was named Israel. Scripture refers to him as both Man and God respectively.
Genesis 32:24
And Jacob ...
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Catholic Sources Which Point to the Three Visitors to Abraham in Gen. 18 as The Holy Trinity?
Most of the commentary that I have read regarding the identities of the Three Visitors to Abraham in Genesis 18 have all agreed that God (without specifying which Person) was one of them. Many seem to ...
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Pertaining to Genesis 12:3 "I will curse those who curse you" is God referring only to unbelievers in Jesus?
Pertaining to Genesis 12:3 "I will curse those who curse you" is God referring only to unbelievers in Jesus?
Is God referring to any human regardless of religious belief when He says: I will ...
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Does any Christian denomination teach Genesis 3 as a description of human evolution from animals?
One could teach Genesis 3 as a description of human evolution from animals along the following lines:
Adam and Eve eating the fruit in Genesis 3:7 makes their eyes open and lets them know good and ...
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How Many Souls Have Ever Lived?
This question is related to How Did Ussher Determine That the World Began on "Sunday Evening, October 23, 4004 B.C."?
From a Christian perspective (i.e., beginning with the premise that the ...
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Was the Garden of Eden created on the third or sixth day of Creation?
I am having serious problems interpreting this passage from Genesis involving the Garden of Eden.
According to Genesis 2:8-17, where the creation of the Garden is described, it seems to say that the ...
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What insights can be derived from the Protoevangelium regarding God's plan of Salvation, specifically in relation to the concept of election?
The Protoevangelium, which can be found in Genesis 3:15, holds significant value in Christian theology as it serves as God's initial proclamation and a prophetic utterance. The concept of Redemption ...
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Did The Creator intend at first for Adam and Eve to have children?
We know that Adam and Eve had Cain and Abel and their 600 (I forgot the exact number) after Heaven was taken from them for consuming the fruit. But if hypothetically, if they hadn't sinned, would they ...
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What are reasons (scientific or otherwise) to reject a literal and historical take on Noah's Flood (Genesis 6:9-9:17)?
Some Christians (e.g., Young-Earth Creationists) believe in a literal interpretation of the Genesis account. In particular, they believe in the historical occurrence of a massive worldwide flood that ...
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How do those who understand Noah's Flood to be a global flood explain what the carnivorous animals ate after disembarking?
How do those who understand Noah's Flood to be a global flood explain what the carnivorous animals ate after disembarking, if there were only 2 of all the other species left? Eating 1 would stop those ...
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Does the creative "spoken word" of Jesus (e.g. Luke 18:42) demand a Young Earth Fiat Creation interpretation of Gen. 1:1?
Since Jesus could create living organs (eyes, legs, whole bodied such as that of Lazarus, etc.) and even bring food into existence, in a split moment of time, do these feats demand accepting the short ...
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Who are the "us" in Gen.1.26; And God said let us make man in our image and likeness.....? [closed]
Is this the Trinity, and if it is how do we know? I have read that the Jewish interpretation is that God is talking to angels, or Michel Heiser says it's the divine counsel. Is there any way to figure ...
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Besides Augustine and Origen, did any church fathers reject a literal interpretation of Genesis 1-2:4?
Augustine allegorically interpreted the first creation account in Genesis 1 - 2:4 but seems to have literally interpreted the second creation account in Genesis 2:5-3:24. Origen allegorically ...
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What is the scriptural basis for believing that animals talking was normal before the Fall?
In the book of Genesis, the serpent speaks to Eve at Genesis 3:1-5.
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the
LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really ...
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What is the Biblical basis for the idea of 'creation ex nihilo'?
Dr. Dan McClellan in a recent video says
"[T]he doctrine of creation ex nihilo is not found anywhere in the
Bible. The academic consensus is that it is a creation of 2nd century
Christianity ...
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According to Genesis, did all land animals come before humans, or were some created after?
According to Genesis 1:25,
God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds
on the 6th day. It then says at Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let Us make man
According to Young Earth ...
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Did any early church fathers view the Creation account in Genesis as being allegorical?
In the first chapter of Genesis, it gives us a description of God creating the heavens and earth and it says that on the seventh day he had finished his word and had rested (Genesis 2:2-3), but did ...
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I'm Looking for a Well Sourced Article on this Argument About Old Testament Genealogy
I remember reading a while back about how the ages in the Old Testaments first genealogy (leading up to Noah) were not representative of the actual ages of the individuals, but rather that this ...
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What is the earliest known argument that 1 John 1:1's 'beginning' refers to a new beginning?
1 John 1:1's 'beginning' is often linked to John 1:1's 'beginning'. What is the earliest known argument that 1 John 1:1's use of 'beginning' refers not to a Genesis beginning but a new beginning, ...
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What is the earliest known argument that John 1:1's 'beginning' refers to a new beginning?
Laelius Socinus argued in Brevis explicatio in primum Johannis caput that the "beginning" (arche) in John 1:1 refers not to a Genesis beginning, but rather a new beginning related to Jesus' ...
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Was God dishonest about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? [closed]
We know a couple of things from the account in Genesis:
There are two trees, the tree that grants eternal life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Adam and Eve were apparently mortal ...
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How do holders of a literal interpretation of Genesis 1 interpret the word "rule" in verse 16 in light of its apparent contradiction to observation?
Genesis 1:16, King James Version, reads:
And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
I am specifically asking ...
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Why does the author of Hebrews picture Esau as an immoral and godless person?
We read in Hebrews 12:16 :
See to it that no one becomes like Esau, an immoral and godless person, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
Gen 25:29-34 tells us how Jacob "bought" the ...
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Reconciling Genesis 1 with Science: Order of Creation
Let's go through it and number the issues with the order of creation. Some issues are with science (I mark with an S), but others are actually apparent even to an ancient reader, within the text ...
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When interpreting the Genesis Creation LITERALLY, does there EXIST a better cosmological explanation then a geocentric earth?
The Genesis account of creation tells of YHWH creating the earth and heavens on the first day. Then 3 days later He created the luminaries.
From a literal interpretation, is there an alternative ...
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How do those who hold to a literal interpretation of the flood account respond to the criticism that Noah building the ark would be unfeasible?
In Longman and Walton's book The Lost World of the Flood (2018) they argue that the account of Noah's flood in the book of Genesis, although based on an historical event, employs rhetorical devices ...
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Was Adam really "alone" if God took 'Woman out of Man'? Is a woman alone if out of her womb 'a new one' comes? [closed]
Texts (from the Complete Jewish Bible translation):
Genesis 2:18 (CJB):
ADONAI, God, said, “It isn’t good that the person should be alone. I will make for him a companion suitable for helping him.”
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How do those who hold Genesis is in a mythic genre but the Gospels historical genre reconcile Luke 3's genealogy which matches Genesis?
There are some Christians who hold that genre is highly relevant in Biblical exegesis, and resolve the incompatibility of the, for examples, Genesis creation account, the start of humanity with Adam ...
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To what extent do those who hold to a 'literal' account of Genesis 1-11, such as YECs, hold there are symbolic elements in Genesis 1-3?
YECs (Young Earth Creationists) often hold their views because of a 'literal' view of Genesis, and in particular the use of 'day' in the Genesis creation account.
Are there aspects of Genesis that '...
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The concept of nakedness: Is being naked an evil in and out of itself?
The Bible tells us that Adam and Eve, before their fall, were naked and were not ashamed of that (Gen. 2:25). However, right after their fall, that is, after they partook of the tree of knowledge of ...
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How does LDS creation doctrine explain so many different words for the creation process in Isaiah 45:18?
This comment below from an answer to this question
The very, very short answer is YES, all spirit/intelligence (and matter) is self-existent, and the act of creation is forming them, not creating ...
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What is the "violence" (Gen 6:11) that prompted God to bring on the Great Flood during the time of Noah?
In Gen 6:11, the narrator says, "The earth was filled with violence." It is this "violence" that moves God to plan the Great Flood.
The 2014 movie, "Noah," dramatizes ...
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Were angels with God in the beginning?
The Book of Job indicates that angels were with God in the beginning, when the heavens and the earth were created
Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you
understand. Who ...
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Taking into account the ambiguity of Genesis 6:4, how can we know the origin of Nephilim?
Some preliminary notes:
No, this is not a hermeneutical question, as what I’m interested in
are answers from theological perspectives who advance/defend the
notion which states that the Nephilim ...
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For those who hold that John 1:1 is about a Genesis beginning, how do they explain the light coming after life?
In Genesis 1, light is first (1:3), then there is life (1:11).
In John 1, life seems to come first (1:4a), but that life then is the light of men (1:4b).
How do those who hold to a Genesis beginning ...
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If the account of creation in Genesis 1 can be shown to strongly correlate with science, would that prove the divine inspiration of the Bible?
This question is made from the perspective of Old Earth Creationism (OEC), especially that espoused by Hugh Ross at reasons.org. I have also created a website at big.bible to explore these questions ...
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What is an overview of the main arguments that angels do or do not already exist at Genesis 1:1?
Genesis 1:1 is
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
But there's no mention of God creating angels. What are the main arguments that angels were or were not already ...
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What are the arguments in favour of the 'beginning' at John 1:1 being the old beginning?
The standard reading of John 1:1
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
is that the beginning - ἀρχῇ (archē) - refers to the old beginning, i.e., ...
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According to YEC, were the days of Genesis 1 all 24 hour periods?
A day is generally understood to be the time is takes for a certain process of events to happen. The sun 'rises' and then 'sets' and then 'rises' again. The time attributed to 1 'day' is generally ...
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According to Protestant Old Testament Scholars, why did God charge Adam & Eve to multiply during creation week if they didn’t until after the fall?
Q: According to Protestant Old Testament Scholars, why did God charge Adam & Eve to multiply during creation week if they didn’t until after the fall?
It would appear that as soon as God made ...
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How long did Adam stay in Eden?
Are there hints in the Bible or are there any hypotheses about the period of time Adam and Eve sojourned in Eden after their creation?
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Is St Paul referring to physical appearance of man and woman when he speaks of creation in God's image , in 1 Cor 11: 7?
St Paul, while referring to the need for a women to cover her head during worship says in 1 Cor 11:7 (NSRVCE):
For a man ought not to have his head veiled, since he is the image and reflection of ...
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How do proponents of the “Framework hypothesis” hold to their view when God used the word “Yom” instead of “Olam” in Genesis 1? [closed]
Knowing that the Hebrew word generally used for day is yom, and the word for eternal/ or Age (Olam) isn’t used, how do the proponents of the framework hypothesis hold their view?
Is God too slow for 6 ...
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According to Catholic scholars, does Gen. 1:27b ("male and female he created them") follow from Gen. 1:27a ("God created man to his own image")?
Gen. 1:27 (NRSV-CE) says:
So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
See that the author of Genesis puts two accounts: one, on the ...
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How many, if any, denominations hold that Adam and Eve were perfect before the fall?
This question asks how Adam and Eve could choose to sin if they were perfect, and in a personal conversation recently someone stated "They were a little bit depraved. Even 'very good' is not ...
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Has anybody ever seen God? [duplicate]
My friend is a very strong Atheist and has been now for nearly three and a half years and one of the contradictions he gives are between 1 John 4:12 where it says that no man has seen God but in ...
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What is Christian scholars' take on the `chicken-or-egg-first' riddle?
We read in Gen 1: 20-21 (NRSVCE):
And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” So God created the great sea ...
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Why do Christians call the Sabbath Jewish when God was the one who started it?
In Gen. 2:2,3 we read:
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
And God blessed the seventh day, and ...
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What were pre-Islam interpretations of Ishmael?
He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward
all his brothers.”
There is the notion now that the sons of ...
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