Place of Stuff

Image by mharrsch via Flickr

But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

In the first part, we saw how God placed temptation in the way of Adam and Eve, and then punished them when they fell for it.  I think that this was the first “dick move” God perpetrated on mankind.  Over the coming books we will see how he refines this.

When I was at school, as soon as we knew the meaning of the word “knew” in the Bible, much hilarity ensued.  Especially if someone used the word innocently.  Simpler times.  Anyway, Genesis 4:1 Adam knows Eve and she has a son and they call him Cain.  He then knows her again and they have Abel.  Abel is a shepherd and Cain is a farmer.  They both work hard and present the Lord with their offerings: Abel gives a sheep because he is a sheep herder and Cain hands over the fruits of his work.  Two men giving honestly and without malice.  And the Lord, who apparently knows everything (including your inner most thoughts) goes absolutely crazy over Cain’s offering and, though I wasn’t there at the time, probably insults him.  Dick move number 2 really, if we only count the whole of the Garden of Eden story as one big dick move.  As God says:

4:6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. Continue reading ‘The Bible – What Adam Did Next’ »

Image via Wikipedia

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.

Bit of a secondary mission statement for these posts: I’m going to do some parts in a little detail and will skim over others.  As anyone who has read the Bible knows, lots of it is just filler; lists of people, lists of begettings and shopping lists for building things.  I have no desire to read them in detail and I’m sure you have no desire to read me reading them!  There is also going to be little rhyme or reason as to why I stop at different parts.

Genesis 1:1 starts with God doing his thing and putting together, well, everything.  So, he starts off by creating night and day.  Oddly though, since there is no world and the sun shines regardless, how would anyone know when sunset and sunrise occur?  Anyway, He then creates Heaven and everything underneath it.  Heaven and everything else appear to be separated by water.  By the end of the third day, we have a planet and lots of greenery. And then the very next day he creates stars and the sun and the moon – the sun is already a star, but He creates it separately.  The moon seems to get a star-like status too.  By Genesis 1:31 and the end of the sixth day it’s all done – sun, moon, stars, heaven, earth, greenery, animals and a man. Continue reading ‘The Bible – Let’s Begin’ »