The Universe Next Door By James W. Sire: Chapter Analysis

Genesis 1-3 contains the creation story, so the origin of the earth. Describing events before human existence it cannot be a report of historical events. By definition, the creation story is a myth, as its topic is “beyond anyone’s experience or total understanding” (Ralph & Walters, 2001). To fully understand the story, one must consider the ancient context of the time Genesis was written. Documented after the Babylonian exile, the first creation story aims to re-establish the beliefs of the Israelites. While being held captive in Babylon, Judahites were confronted with beliefs opposing to their own. For instance, Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation story, displays the faith in a good spirit, but bad matter. On the contrary, Israelites believed in the goodness of all. Furthermore, Babylonians assumed that humans were, at their core, not good. Genesis was therefore written as a contrast to Enuma Elish, emphasising and reaffirming the Israelites’ believe of humans being good, because they were created in the image of God (Ralph & Walters, 2001). A fundamentalist point of view does not take the beliefs of the time into account. It is impossible to fully appreciate the distinct theology of Genesis without considering Enuma Elish and other ancient narratives. Another major distinction between a fundamentalist and contextualist interpretation of the first creation story is how the cultural setting of the author determines the narrative. Contextualists correctly understand that the origin of Sabbath is due to the workweek structure of the author’s society. Contrasting, fundamentalists presume that because the story presents God’s point of view, Sabbath must originate from God resting on the seventh day. Misinterpreting these details leads to misunderstanding the relationship between God and humans. God had to work through human authors to pass on knowledge and insight

In Genesis one and 2, it provides a full understanding of God’s creations and wisdom of human nature because it is free from evil. God created everything from nothing; to be perfect from his perspective. Human nature is revealed from Genesis one with God creating the Earth and the Heavens and creating the man of his likeness. The Bible explains how God created the man named Adam from the dust and was placed in the Eden’s Garden (Genesis 2:7). Adam helped God to take care of the land and all his creation. The Bible explains, Humanity was created to work and serve, keep the garden (Genesis 2:15). Subsequently, Eve was created; “God had created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). Adam and Eve would help God because He wanted them to multiply the Earth by taking care of his creations (Hiles & Smith, 2014). God is the sovereign ruler which he created humanity as how he should have wanted. The Bible explains about human nature that God created everything to be distinct from animals and all His creation. Humankind is able to show on our nature because we are capable of reasoning. God created all differently and we were all born naked and pure as Adam and Eve were. God created in his own image that why we all look different; we are unique in His eyes. Also, God created us to be good because we are born innocent of all evil and loving God.

The first foundational aspect of the worldview is found in who God is. The Christian’s worldview of God is that God is part of the Trinity, which is made up of three persons: The Father, the Son (who is fully God and man), and the Holy Spirit, but they are all one God (Diffey, 2014). God is the sovereign creator of all things, “All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together,” (Colossians 1: 16-17, English Standard Version). Love was the defining factor for God creating the world, “God’s act of creation is an act of love of the purest sort” (Dodds & Dodds, 2011, p. 210). God created the world and is still actively involved in it because, “If God’s creative activity is needed to account for the first existence of the world, there is every reason to think that it would be needed to account

In Genesis one and two, it provides a full understanding of God’s creations and wisdom of human nature because it is free from evil. Human nature is revealed from Genesis one with God creating the Earth and the Heavens and creating the man of his likeness. The Bible explains how God created Adam, from dust and was placed in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:7). The Bible explains humanity was created to work and serve (Genesis 2:15). Subsequently, Eve was created; “God had created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). Adam and Eve would help God because He wanted them to multiply the Earth by taking care of all of his creation (Hiles & Smith, 2014). God is the sovereign ruler, he created humanity as how he should have wanted. The Bible explains about human nature that God created everything to be distinct from animals and all of His creation. God created us in his own image, which is why we all look different; we are unique in His eyes. Also, God created us to be good because we are born innocent of all evil and loving of God. In addition, we were all born pure as Adam and Eve were. The Bible explains that God was pleased with his creations, “God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:10-21).

In Genesis 1:1 – 2:4a, God is named simply as God. There is nothing but God at first and so there is no reason to call him anything but God. It isn’t until Genesis 1:27 that God is first referred to as a male, a detail that seems intentional considering how God is mentioned almost every verse and yet isn’t assigned gender until pretty far into the story. Even the verse before has God saying “ Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness”(Genesis 1:26). This could refer to God as being more than one person, as in older times when people in the area were likely polytheists, or it could represent a reluctance to assign

The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. As the book’s name suggests, (transliterated from Greek, meaning “origin”), Genesis details the creation narrative for both Judaism and Christianity. The book also contains several stories that detail the subsequent development of the world, including the fall of man, the gradual corruption of the world due to sin, Noah, and the great flood, and the story and genealogy of Abraham and his descendants. Due to the nature of the inception of the Book of Genesis, the various stories contained within differ in theme and textual traditions in the creation narrative and subsequent stories. One such instance is the Jahwist source to the creation and the subsequent

We were created Imago Dei, which is Latin for the image of God. The fact that we were created in the image of God shows God’s relationship with humanity and God’s role for humanity. God created everything, yet humans are the only things that He created in His image (Diffey). Genesis 2:7 states, “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being’ (Zondervan Study Bible NIV, Genesis 2:7). As time went on, we became sinful by nature. The problem with humanity was that all wisdom had been lost. People of the Earth become more in tune with selfishness and completely throw away their selflessness. We began to disobey God and idolize other objects over him. Due to the overwhelming consequences of our sins, humanity is at a constant battle to exemplify that we are made in the image of

Genesis 1:26 make a clear claim that God made mankind in His image. The “Let us” phrase is referring to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Many people who do not believe in God have found it hard to believe that man was made in the image of God. There are those who believe we came from apes. When I look at the human anatomy make-up and how God made no one person the same out of all billions of people he has created, it is hard for me not to believe that God didn’t create humankind. In many ways, we are made in God’s image, God obviously did not create us exactly like himself because God has no physical body. Instead, we are reflections of God’s glory. Some feel that our reasons, creativity, speech or self-determination in

The first Act from the text is called “Act one, God establishes His kingdom.” Genesis 1 describes how God, or Yahweh as the title He selects as the savior is the one that brings the whole world into being, with in mind a unique relationship with humans, the last of His creations. He alone is the only one that was already in existence with unrestricted capabilities, and is eternal (30). Genesis 1 describes how God is focused on people’s relationship with the world, and His creation of the earth, the sky and the sea (33). Genesis 2 is more focused on man and woman and Gods relationship with each other (33). Once God formed new creatures, He would then name each showing his supremacy over each that He created (31). The last formed creatures God created is humans and we are to have a special relationship with God, and we as humans are responsible for special care of the world, as caretakers of His creation we will be held accountable (33-34). Men and women are the only creatures to enter into a special relationship with the creator and as creatures of the almighty God, the one way for each person to fill the longing for peace in their hearts is through a relationship with God (32). God formed humans in his image and in his likeness as humans our life on earth is limited, and we know that God is unlimited as ruler over all that walks, crawls, breaths and all that exists (33). Each person must acknowledge that we as men and women

People that view the world as Gods creation know that being human comes with great responsibility. Genesis 1:26 is the perfect verse to refer to on the topic of human identity. The hardships faced by Adam and Eve is a relevant example of the responsibility to heed and obey the word of God as he gave man control over all in the land provided. Psalms 8:6 is best for the issue of man’s status over animals. God gifted humans with the ability to have a broad range of thoughts and feels in addition to a soul.

I have come to realize this debate only leads to endless and meaningless conversations that miss the point. Even more, after this week’s readings, my eyes have been opened even wider to the wonder of the creation account. What stands out most vividly is God spoke the world into existence. The power of his voice and the obedience of the cosmos are incredible. Yet even more amazing is that God did not speak man into existence, rather he formed him with his hands and then breathed life into him. I knew that is what happened, but I had never picked up on the delicate and closeness of God creating humanity. Also, it should be noted that man is the only thing that did not obey what God spoke to him, which led to the Fall. All in all, Genesis 1 and 2 set the stage for all of Genesis by describing God’s relationship with humanity and his desire to dwell among them, which will one day be complete again with the return of

After reading Genesis chapters 1-11 I think that the dominate impression of God was that he was a creator. The entire first chapter of Genesis describes how God had created the entire world. While I was reading this first chapter I had noticed that God had created humankind in his image, but humankind was the last thing God had created. God had developed a fantastic world from mostly darkness into a beautiful world full of life (Gen 1:1-2). This is a perfect example of how God is a creator because he was able to take nothing and generate a fantastic world. I believe that the author’s aim when they had written Genesis was to show how God is a creator, there are many examples in the stories of Genesis that support this aim.

God had created the origin of life and showed how powerful, and creative he was. He had created materialistic things out of nonmaterial things. He just spoke and created with his powerful voice. In my opinion, Genesis focused on power and patriarchy as well as sin and failure presented by Adam and Eve’s original sin. Man had alienated themselves due their failures, which is also presented in the book of Genesis. God created us for blessings and chose us to be a blessing to the world. Genesis reveals how a man’s sins are met by the intervention and redemption of God himself.

Every human being was made in the image of God the Creator (Genesis 1:27) but man sinned against God. (Genesis 1:28) Paul reminds

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth” (The Holy Bible, Genesis 1.1). While humans cannot see God with their eyes, His existence is evident through all creation. Because God exists, the seven main worldview questions can be answered through Him. The God of Israel, who created and upholds His universe, shows His nature in every part of His creation.