Unknown Speaker  0:00  
You.

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Welcome to modern mind, modern mind ancient book,

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where we

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explore one of the most important books in human history. Welcome to another modern mind ancient book we are reserving our survey. Today we are going to be discussing the book of Genesis. It's quite an interesting book it's one that holds great significance for the formation of what we would today call modern Israel. And indeed, for the religious worldview that we call Christianity. But why don't you give us an introduction to the book of Genesis, what does the title mean.

Unknown Speaker  1:01  
Well, it does mean, in the beginning. The Hebrew word bearer sheet is the alternative word that the Jews would use to describe the book, and it really does concern a lot of foundations in the Bible, which are carried forward from the beginning to the end of the book, he has a lot of important concepts.

Unknown Speaker  1:25  
Yes sir, in the beginning. So, this book starts with what we might consider a creation and I wanted to lightly broach on the subject that Genesis is not a scientific document. Doug you care to elaborate on that.

Unknown Speaker  1:49  
I'd be glad to Roger. So, this podcast is called modern mining, and the modern mind wants to think in terms of science, and that's really not was not what was in the minds of Moses when he wrote the book. It's really a polemic against the ideas that were prevalent in the Egyptian view of the world.

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And

Unknown Speaker  2:19  
while there are certainly ideas that that science might, might touch on. That's not the primary focus of the book.

Unknown Speaker  2:30  
That's the truth. There's not a hypothesis, there's not controls. There's not tests, that's not what this book is about the book of Genesis is compiled by Moses, just like you said, it was delivered to the Exodus generation. So while it is the first book in the series of the first five books that we call the law. It's a book that's meant to reprogram Israel. From there, 430 years, has Egyptian, let me explain what a polemic is. It's a big work. It's an argument. It's an argument contrary to the Egyptian framework of their religious expressions and beliefs. If you would like some further reading. You can look up. Her mom bolus Heliopolis, Memphis. Those are the three main Egyptian belief. There's also a creation tradition of connote kh. And you, we will get into that. But not today. The date, where do we put the date on.

Unknown Speaker  4:00  
Well the date that we look at this is certainly going to be after the book of Job, which we talked about in the earlier episode is probably the first book, and there is some discussion about certainty of date. Were you looking at 1800 BC, or 1800, BCE. Before Common Era, you know the date of the writing of the book is a 1445 BC or, or BCE. The distinction, meaning the time at which the migration of Jacob's family to Israel was in 1800, BC, and again the writing in 1445 BC, and this is a general estimate.

Unknown Speaker  4:48  
Yeah, so we have the book of Genesis, spanning from creation. In, Rashid. Rashid so receitas the word is sort of an unspecified time it's, it's not necessarily the very beginning, nothing to something instead. Again, it's an argument against the gods of Egypt, this is a very important framework to understand Genesis. Genesis is about the formation of the nation of Israel who at this point would be called the Hebrews. So Genesis goes from the creation to the migration of Jacob's family to Israel. In 1800, BC. The book then was created as an actual scroll or written on stone tablets or however it was first created in written form around 1445. Now, oral tradition would have carried this story through that time, ancient people didn't necessarily rely on writing in the same way that

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we do.

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So, who were the first people to receive this.

Unknown Speaker  6:13  
Well, it would have been the Israelites. Now there's those people groups that were coming out of Egypt, or earlier you had mentioned. What happened to the people how they had to be reprogrammed. And I think that's a good word because. While the story itself, talks about the creation of the world, the authorship took place in the context of someone who was in Egypt and left Egypt,

Unknown Speaker  6:41  
in the context of a people fleeing a nation to become a new nation.

Unknown Speaker  6:48  
So imagine for a second. You had lived your entire life. At War in America, if you had lived in Australia or you lived in China. Those people would be exposed to all those ideas for their entire life and even for generations.

Unknown Speaker  7:09  
The Chinese one is a very good example because they do believe show very differently than we do. If you were to then give Christianity as a national identity that would be a challenging prospect for them a different idea. And that's what you see here. So let's get into kind of the general overview of this and, and we can spend a fair amount of time in this. It's important that we get this book right this is the frame that sets the whole Old Testament and indeed the New Testament, in its context.

Unknown Speaker  8:00  
Why don't we just talk a little bit about the authorship. Now traditionally, the author his book of Moses. In a lot of modern scholarship. There is a debate on whether there are different sources for the book of Genesis, and it has to do with the idea that there was an editor and a compilation of the books. I don't want to go into too much detail, but I did want the readers, and the heroes to know that there is this controversy that's out there.

Unknown Speaker  8:36  
But we can actually accept that there isn't matter, and that it was compiled because Moses, traditionally is the editor and he's the one who compiled it just like he did Joe, presumably because of Jethro. And this book, presumably because of his Egyptian upbringing, he was very familiar with the Egyptian religious world, and she compiled this book as like he shot an argument against it. We can totally accept that, without any reservation. So what more do we want to talk about the book. Well, we wanted to get into the content now so you have, in the beginning of this book, the creation account. There are basically two you have Genesis one, and you have chosen to nojo this is one I'm going to place in the creation narrative of the creation of all of the universe, in our mind. But, in the ancient mind just the creation of, like, say, the earth, the waters above the waters below the dry land. Then you have Genesis two, which deals with sort of the creation of human beings plants and animals and this actually follows. If the listener cares to look into the three creation myths of the Egyptians that I spoke about the Genesis account is not presented as a myth. In contrast to the Egyptian accounts which are presented as myths and I think that's a very important point.

Unknown Speaker  10:25  
That's really interesting, that Roger. So, so what happens after the creation of the world what what happens next after the introduction of Adam.

Unknown Speaker  10:38  
Well, we have the fall. So it's an interesting play, were in the garden, which is a separate place. Specially Designated where Adam and Eve, the first creations were set. Then they accept the Word of the adversary of the one who comes in and says, Well, God didn't really tell you the truth, you can be like him. That's the gist of it. They accept that the fruit. They fall suddenly or they're aware that they're naked, and they're afraid. If you've ever seen that show. So they get kicked out of the garden. Then they have sons, one of their sons murders the other one. He gets outcast, there's other people out there, which is a strange thing. Then you have Noah and the flood that according to the Bible and in states the whole earth. And many people die, and many animals die. But Noah found favor in God's sight now enters, one of the most important frameworks in the Bible that we must understand to properly read the Old Testament. And that has to do with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, don't take it from here.

Unknown Speaker  12:10  
The idea of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the people of Israel. And there's a story of how God chooses one family. And to that family. He's going to reconcile the world and humanity back to himself back to Eden where Adam and Eve originally walk with God until they were expelled.

Unknown Speaker  12:49  
Yeah so, God tells Abraham that he's going to have to send as many as the sand on the seashore. Now meanwhile, opera, can't even have children. Now he does some things and we'll eventually get into the stories a little bit deeper but the important thing is exactly what you said is that these are the forefathers. These are the people from whom came, the nation of Israel, and now, Genesis is all about the formation of the nation of Israel so it's absolutely imperative that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob be listed. This narrative takes us through to Joseph, and Joseph Egypt enters the picture again. So, Egypt became because of Joseph's being taken down there. Thus, the people are now in Egypt and we're on our way to Exodus.

Unknown Speaker  13:52  
That's why, and in fact the next episode is going to be about the book of Exodus, and we have really covered a lot of territory. And this is a survey, there are lots and lots of details that we have not covered, and the telling of the of the story here. And as always, we hope that we've given you enough information that you would want to dig into the details on this, and I promise you. To do so, as you get further into the story. You can be enriched on a much greater level, because of the effort that you made to go beyond the surface level that we're introducing right now.

Unknown Speaker  14:38  
That's right and we'll eventually get to the deeper level, so we just want to thank you for joining us today, and we wish you all the best. See you next time. Don't say goodbye. Goodbye, everybody.

Unknown Speaker  14:51  
You