Seriously, what is the deal with Genesis?

Question

I don't see how anyone could take this as the literal truth, much less find a spiritiual message in it. It's disturbing that people believe this nonsense, & even more disturbing that they think there's something to learn here. Genesis strikes me as nothing so much as what the world would be like if it had been created by a gluttonous moron with no self-esteem and a violent streak. There is no rhyme or reason to his rules or punishments.

Why, for example, is God constantly picking favorites based on who provides the tastiest meal? Why does He tolerate Lot's incest & Lamech's polygamy but throws a fit & punishes Abimelech merely for keeping Sarah in his house even though Abraham had lied about her being married? How can he grant magical powers to Isaac only to let him bless the wrong guy? Why did Isaac have to be an jerk about it & only bless the son who fixed the best meal in the first place? And why does drunk Noah throw a fit when his son covers his nakedness? It's madness!

To Who Cares: I've read Genesis front to back, and I'm telling you, I don't see any message. The only moral lesson I get out of these stories is that the guy with the magical powers gets to do whatever he wants for whatever reason he wants, and that if you don't want your offspring cursed for all eternity, you better hope you know how to cook up a good mutton dinner!

To Gwen: But why is it meaningful to people? What part of Genesis are they inspired by: the nobility of Lot who offers up his virgin daughters to a bunch of rapists so that the angels don't have to fend for themselves (even though they're completely capable of doing so)? Seriously, what is it that inspires people in this book of sick, twisted stories?

Answer 1

"And you wonder why we're f...d up as a race?" - Bill Hicks

Answer 2

Well me being a taoist, its kindof hard to say, but since i was raised catholic, i may be able to give you some answers, according to the christian faith, god created, and he knows what he is doing, well accorded to christianity, for my personal answer, there really is no god, we are just here for the time being, and we need to make the most of it that we can, but jut living a good life, many will ask, well why is there evil in the world? well when there is evil there is light, were there is pain, there is healing, strength, there is weakness, the world is pretty much split up into this, pro's and con's some can say, and well some people are going to belive in the bible, and some are not, its just the way things are.

Answer 3

first off you must realize that moses was first trained in eygptian magick and only later in hebrew(kabbalah) the 5 books of torah (which are the first 5 books of bible as well) are a secret code but to truely understand how it works and (im still in the process of correctly decoding it) you need to first realize that the tablet he broke on Mt siani is actually metaphore to tell you he hid the last 5 books to those he trusts with that knowledge. so if there are correctly 10 books and correctly 10 commandments then obviously moses left a clue in how to decode using the 10 commandments as a code key. but which commandment is the code key for which book is hard to decipher oh and sorry but your english books will not do this kabbalah and its codes work only in hebrew. a classic code found in this way was names to use to command a special group of 72 angels commonly associated with jacob's ladder and that is exodus chapter 19 and if you stack the hebrew letters so that there is a paragraph that is only 3 lines thick (and adding an eh(feminine) or el(masculine) to the 3 letters indicates which angel you have if you know what jacobs ladder means and the importance of each rung on the ladder you will know which angel has the power to do what. but study kabbalah intensly and if possible learn as much hebrew as you can. in this way you will be a good deal on your way to de codeing the bible and the torah.

forgive me for forgetting my source for the next part but i am pretty sure that many of the stories that moses used to create the first 5 books was copied from babylonian texts and only a few names were changed in the process.

Answer 4

Like someone else said..it would be unbelievable if it was full of warm fuzzes..as for God picking favorites..we are judging by what we can see...God sees the intents of the inner soul...that is why we are admonished not to judge...we can't read a persons mind and heart...God can. You have free will...so did these people..Lot, Isaac, etc. They were just regular people with good sides and bad sides....but God knew their inner soul and He also was bringing into existence a bloodline (tribe, family, person) who would birth HIS son...and to do that he had to choose those that provided the human DNA that would go into making Jesus Christ the fulfillment of His plan to redeem us from all that sin had done to the human race....

Answer 5

The world has always been full of chaos and misery, as well as beauty and happiness. This is the way of it. The goodness and badness, the right and the wrong. God's ways are not our ways and our ways are not God's ways. This a purpose in life, to learn of God's ways and also learn to embrace and live them. Yes, it is much easier to say it is all madness and dismiss it as nothing. This is what Satan wants you to do. God has never told us this life would be easy. He has told us it would be worth all the trouble.
Understanding comes of the spirit. It can only be acquired through faith. But how do I acquire faith, you ask? Faith has to begin somewhere. Just the desire for faith is enough. If you are willing to nourish this desire through study and prayer it will grow to fullness and you will know and understand things as they truly are, not as they seem to the unbeliever.

Answer 6

It is clear that you do not know the truth, neither are you truly christian. Everything God says does and creates is holy and perfect, and if you have a problem with it, then hey, ask him when your face to face with him after you die. Then you will know the truth, but I promise you, if you wait that long, there will be no hope for salvation for you. I dont know about you, but i would not want to be in hell for all of eternity.

Answer 7

I found the Noah part pretty weird. Instead of forgiving his son (as any father should forgive his son for himself getting wasted and expecting his son to not walk away in shame) he cursed him. Sounds like a nice guy

Noah should've been cursed for being drunk.

Answer 8

I do not think it is literal truth and the number of Christians who do in relation to the total number of Christians is relatively small. As far as the details you cite, they are all small parts of larger stories with lessons to be learned from each. To pull out specific details is to pull one line out of each Act of a Shakespere play and assume to know the entire story.

Answer 9

Well, real life is madness. The book wouldn't be believable if it was all puppies, kittens and warm fuzzies. You don't have to like God, but just because you don't understand him doesn't mean he isn't real and just because you don't believe Genesis, doesn't mean it isn't meaningful and valuable to a lot of people.

Answer 10

I wouldn't get too upset over it. Christians choose to believe it, that's okay. Have you looked at the silly stuff they are teaching in school about evolution. Have you tried to understand how nothing can create itself and here we are. Now that's something to get off on.

Answer 11

as you will find truth ,so shall it set you free, but beware of the dark creature of the nights he spreads evil in the hearts of the doubters ,so-mote-it-be. oh the bible is an interpretation of king James and his priest, of scrolls and eye wittiness accounts and documents but every man and woman, see it as there hearts open to the good or evil inside us, the creator supreme being alfa- and -the - omega dont beleive every thing you read, but it sure does make you wonder.....