Let’s say you owned an independent bookstore...
“That’s easy, in the Religion section, beside books written by the Dali Lama, which is right beside the Self-help/New Age section which has books written by Dr. Phil and Madonna.” Now, you’re an independent bookstore owner, playing by your own rules. So let’s say you have chosen not to have a Religion section. Where would you put it?
I think you could put it into a lot of different places. You could put it into the History section. Well over half is written as history. It could go in the Poetry or the Literature section – almost a third of the Bible is written as poetry. We have Philosophy. There are entire books in here that are just philosophical ponderings. Fiction – Jesus was never without a story…even Biography: the story of Abraham, the story of Moses, David…we have four biographies of Jesus. A lot of published Letters…
It’s a uniquely popular book. Since the building of the Gutenberg Press, it has been the biggest-selling book every year.
It’s a remarkable book. It was written in three different languages over the span of 1500 years by at least 40 authors including kings, philosophers, warriors, fishermen, poets, lawyers and doctors.
I don’t think you need to have a degree in order to read the Bible. In fact, this is one of the more remarkable things about it. The over-arching story is remarkably consistent. And there’s a whole lot you can get by just picking it up and reading it. There are some sections that are super easy the read.
But that being said, there are also parts of the Bible are perplexing, strange and even brutal. Someone was once asked if he had ever read anything that would undermine his faith? “Yeah,” he said, “The Bible.”
So you have to be patient with yourself. And through our time together, you will be given some tools to help you understand and hopefully you will be able to ask questions when you get stumped.
Is it a hard book to read? Yes, sometimes. But pieces of it are so simple and beautiful they take your breath away.
Tonight we begin our journey. And we are going to begin at the beginning. Many stories begin with “once upon a time”; this story simply begins with “in the beginning”. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”.
When most people open the book of Genesis and read the first few chapters, the temptation is to get all tied up on whether or not it is scientifically viable or not. For the time being, let’s not concern ourselves with whether or not this is science. Let’s read some the story and see how it plays into our understanding of things as they are today.
GE 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
GE 1:3 And God said… let there be light …
So, in the beginning we have God speaking creation into existence. Over fixed time periods he creates the whole cosmos: star-fields, oceans, vegetation, sea life, and animals. And after these things are created, he says, “this is good.”
If we are going to begin to understand Christian spirituality, we have to begin by understanding that the universe and everything in it isn’t a mistake. Also … otherworldly? The universe was intentional, beautiful, good and rich.
Then on the sixth day – these regulated time periods – he creates humanity.
Like the rest of the universe they are made up of the stuff of life. But they are unique in all of creation. Men and women are created in His image … He breaths life into their lungs.
AND they are to be the stewards of creation.
GE 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
It doesn’t say destroy…but subdue … tame… soften… cultivate … more of a sense of stewardship than ownership.
Then it says that God says in verse 18, “it is not good for a man to be alone…”
Great narrative… Beyond the erotica, we have community between Adam and Eve…
So we have harmony between Creator and humanity, creation and humanity, humanity and humanity. And finally humanity with him or herself. 2:25 says that “they were naked in the garden and felt no shame.”
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