Theology of Genesis 111
Pentateuch is considered to be the most important part in the Old Testament. It recorded the account of creation, the fall of man, the Law Code as well as the experience of the Ancient Israel. Among them Genesis is the first book recorded incidents happened from the creation of the world to Joseph's time. In chapter one to eleven, the origin of the world and human race are introduced and in chapter twelve onwards are the stories of the Ancestors. In this passage, we will concentrate in discussing the theology of chapter one to eleven which contained much valuable and important message for the readers who were probably Israelites in post-exilic period (which would be discussed later). In order to understand the text it is important to have some knowledge about the background of the readers as the author should compose his work under their background so that they may understand easily. Hence brief introduction of the background of Ancient Israelites and Genesis as well as its authorship would be given before we go into discussing its theology. The discussion will be within four topics ---(a) Yahweh has supreme authority and power, (b) Man---as image of God, (c) Mankind's failure and God's reaction a . . .
Other examples included El Elyon who was known as the sun god , Yamm who was the god of the sea and Mot who was the god of death . The author was trying to defense for Yahweh and correct the wrong concept of the Israelites about God. Moreover, attitude of God towards human being was also presented which differed to those in Canaanites and Babylonia religions. For example, Moses named his son Gershom which mean he was an alien in a foreign land, Gideon named one of his sons Abimelech meaning his father was king in certain degree revealing his hope to become a king. The message is clear that God is the one who owned power and authority and he loves and concerns and waiting us to return. For instant, when a believer turned away from God nowadays, usually he would just believe in himself or simply not believe any religion. Another function of Baal was related to fertility. For instance, in the creation story of Canaan, "imperfection" of man was because of El Elyon who was drunk during his creation and creating some people who were blind, deaf and lame. One interesting point must be noted was that the record in the Gilgamesh was in a large extent similar to that in the Biblical account. (G) Mankind's Failure and God's Reaction Throughout the history one may find that human being would try to explain the "imperfection" and suffering of man. It was strange that Abraham would know the name "Yahweh" in Haran in the North East of Canaan. More than that it contains much valuable message that reminded and encouraged the Israelites in the post-exilic period. We are going to discuss the religion in Canaan and Babylon as examples. However, Baal victor over Yam and seized his royal power.
Common topics in this essay:
Near East, God Yahweh, Baal Yam, El Elyon, Genesis God, Genesis Yahwists, Genesis Bible, Process God, Testament God, Abel God's, ancient near, ancient near east, creation story, near east, image god, seventh day, creation god, post-exilic period, ancient israelites, man's failure, god's creation, due man's failure, israelites post-exilic period, religions ancient near, canaanites babylonia religions, |
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