Book 1 is complete. I knew that this would be an experience, but I'm not sure I was prepared for what I've committed to. I knew that I would read things that would make modern-day people cringe, but I didn't expect to hit them all in the same book.
The good:
There isn't any here. I tried, but the book of Genesis contains absolutely nothing of value. There is no lesson here that should be passed on to future generations, nor any values or virtues that add to the quality of human life.
The bad:
Where to begin? The stories contained in Genesis are teeming with all of humanity's worst qualities. They're not even presented in a way that displeases God - the terrible actions in this book are committed, rewarded, or otherwise encouraged by the Almighty himself.
As far as the creation portion of this book, I can only say this: If the world was indeed created by God, it most certainly wasn't done in the ways described here. Every claim made in this book is demonstrably false.
Rating: 0/10
Lifespans over 900 years. Jealousy. Murder. Sexism. Genocide. Ritual sacrifice. Incest. Rape. Incestuous rape. Slavery. Racism. Deception. Nepotism. Vengeance. Prostitution. Polygamy. There are no lessons here. No examples to pass to our children. In fact, if the book of Genesis was made into a movie, the MPAA wouldn't give it any less than an NC-17 rating. And we think that the word "nigger" in Huck Finn is bad?
Open questions:
Adam is created from the ground. Eve is created from Adam. Adam and Eve have two sons, Cain and Abel. Suddenly, we hear of Cain's wife. Where did his wife come from?
Next up: Exodus 1
I've *always* wondered that same thing about Cain and Abel. I finally assumed that there were women who weren't valued enough to be mentioned and that we're all the product of incest.
ReplyDeleteIf you keep reading past the flood, we run into the same problem. The world is wiped out, and Noah's three sons are left to repopulate the world. Interestingly enough, when Jews refer to being God's "chosen" people, it's really just God's arbitrary selection of one of Noah's son's descendants.
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