Essay on The Holy Bible - The Nature of God in Genesis

In Genesis, we are engaged with an omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent God. The Lord saw all the evil upon the earth and devised a plan to cleanse it and start anew with a righteous man named Noah and his family. The Lord’s plan consisted of a flood to destroy the earth and all the evil in and on it. He instructed Noah how to build an ark, so his family and two of each animal, male

Along with providing information on the origins of the natural world, Genesis also provides insight into how the world was originally intended to function. After God was finished with his creative work, He declared that everything was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). At this point in time, all of creation was living in perfect harmony—until Adam and Eve sinned. After Adam and Eve gave into Satan’s temptation, sin entered the world and changed how the natural world functioned. Genesis chapters 3-11 show continuous examples of how sin infected the natural world. Animals had to be killed (Genesis 3:21 and 4:4), death entered the human race (as can be implied from Genesis

God lets mankind fail through their own choices. At the start of the epic, Milton asserts that Paradise Lost will display “Man’s first disobedience” (1.1). Right from the get-go, Milton claims that the fall is mankind’s fault, so we know that Man must have made their ill-fated decision on their own free will. Jumping forward to Book Three, God discusses the future of mankind with the Son. Being all-knowing, God can see the choice Adam and Eve will make: “Man will hearken to [Satan’s] glozing lies… [and] will fall” (3.93-95). Despite knowing what is to come for the pair, God recognizes that mankind’s fall is a result of their own choices. God could have easily intervened and made the right choice for them, but he wants Adam and Eve to have the free will to make their own choices. In

God’s guidance often comes in violent forms, punishing humanity for going astray of his wishes or attempting to raise themselves up to god-like status. First, in the beginning of Genesis he attempted to control Adam and Eve by withholding knowledge, telling them that

In Genesis, God interacts with Adam by speaking to him face to face. Whether God was giving out instructions or punishment to Adam and Eve, he was always doing it on a personal level. The usual portrayal of God as an omniscient being is instead replaced as mentor to Adam and Eve who is trying to help them understand their existence. This close relationship is shown even when man does something wrong. The only rule that God gives to Adam is that he must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve go on to break the singular rule and be punished; but not to the extent most would think. Before partaking of the fruit God says that, "the day that you eat of it you shall die"(Genesis). Instead of dying, Adam and Eve are removed from the garden and go begin their lives. God punishes them for their actions, but also gives clothes and allows them to take the knowledge they have gained from the tree. Even after breaking the one rule that he has set for them, God allowed them to keep the knowledge they gained to begin mankind. This grace towards humanity is shown once again with Adam and Eve's children, Cain and Abel. Cain kills Abel after God accepts Abel's offering and not his own. Even with Cain having killed his own brother, God still does not punish Cain severally; "you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth"(Genesis). This punishment is especially seen as inadequate as Cain goes on to settle in Nod and have his own family. This mercy by God shows that he was unable to punish humanity even for the most serious of offenses. This lack of punishment shows God's sympathy for mankind because of his close relationship with them. This close relationship stems from God's close bond with mankind because of their similar image and knowledge. This relationship that began as two very similar beings, has further blossomed as God has given great responsibility to

What are really God’s intentions allowing abominably dreadful things to occur on this Earth on a daily basis? There could be a mass shooting one day and the death of a child another. Does he do this to show us his many capabilities or is it even his decision? The book Night by Eliezer Wiesel is a great example of this. If God knows everything before it happens, why did he allow the Holocaust take place?

In “Genesis”, God has a fatherly relationship with the humans and as a result he chooses to bring a flood to destroy all of mankind for a specific reason. God chooses to kill all of humankind because they are noxious beings and need to be destroyed to rid the world of poisonous beings. “When the Lord saw that man had done much evil and that his thoughts and inclinations were always evil, he was sorry that he had made man on earth,”(6:5-7). God created humankind and because of the way their perilous acts he decided to destroy his

accept his offering for it was all that he had and did not know how to

God does not hold Himself distant from His creation, but He embraces it; He walks with it. He engages with that which He created. The story of Creation shows that the author of it all is personal, intimate, and cares about what He created. Act one gives us a glimpse of how the world was supposed to be; a beautiful, intimate, God –in –the –midst life of perfect satisfaction with the absence of sin. However, this all crumbled in Act two when Adam and Eve decided to disobey God and take their lives into

As Genesis is the first book of the bible and verses 1:1-2:3 are the first accounts, it is essential that the story that proceeds be examined. What is then discovered is another account about creation. This creation story is similar to the first account but it can be seen that God ‘is not working to a pre-planned strategy’ , this then ‘hints at a measure of vulnerability in the Creator’ in the second creation account which is a stark difference to the first story of creation where God is viewed as ‘is a king who does all things well: in his own judgement, it is 'very good'. He alone is responsible for creation: his voice alone is heard; he consults no one for wisdom or advice’ . Incorporating the world behind the text and the world of the text we are able to get a more cohesive experience about what the story is telling us, in this case what Genesis 1:1-2:3 is actually referring to. The tools used to analyse the text allows the audience to develop greater insight about the purpose of the text, it also allows the audience to change their previous viewpoint with integrated gained depth and

Defining God’s plan is hard to do, because it is different for everybody. Some people question if a plan actually exists, because why would anybody be put on this Earth just to die? I have found that because I was brought up in a western Christian society, I have always just believed that everybody was put here for a purpose and we just need to trust in that. Portier describes these as the “deep questions about the human condition” (Portier, 17). Reflecting on my personal experience, I can confirm that during those

Genesis is the first book of the Bible.  It begins with the story of God’s creation of the universe.    The Lord is the Almighty Creator of the world, skies, heavens, seas, animals, man, and woman.  He governs the universe and develops relationships with man.  Throughout Genesis, God acknowledges the fact that human beings make mistakes, and accepts their imperfection.  Throughout Genesis, God changes from one who does not tolerate disobedience, to one who shows clemency.  Early on in Genesis, God punishes Adam and Eve for disobedience.  After making the mistake of flooding the world, the Lord realizes that even He is not perfect, and does not allow Jacob’s deceit of his father to taint his future.

God’s role in the Bible is characterized in several different ways, with dramatically competing attributes. He takes on many functions and, as literary characters are, he is dynamic and changes over time. The portrayal of God is unique in separate books throughout the Bible. This flexibility of role and character is exemplified by the discrepancy in the depiction of God in the book of Genesis in comparison to the depiction of God in the book of Job. On the larger scale, God creates with intention in Genesis in contrast to destroying without reason in Job. However, as the scale gets smaller, God’s creative authority can be seen in both books, yet this creative authority is manifested in entirely distinctive manners. In Genesis, God as

Mankind has experienced countless disasters, often with widespread and devastating consequences. Natural disasters proliferate when earthquakes, droughts, storms, floods, volcanic eruptions, and lightning fires ravage wide areas. If that isn't enough, we find ways to make things worse through genocide, war, oil spills, and self-inflicted economic crashes. The effects grow even more widespread when one such event becomes the tipping point for others in their wake. The bible records many instances when such events are actually triggered by God's judgment and subsequent disaster follows. Throughout history God has been moved to action by a wide range of man's rebellious and evil acts. God has, at times, used these judgments to try and purge man of his folly and restore the relationship He intends we have.

In the past I had looked at God in the manner of this Omnipotent being, who loves us but also who is very mysterious. It's true that God works in mysterious ways, that much has been made known since the beginning. And we know this through the accounts of the prophets of old, from Adam down to Moroni. Each of these great prophets show us, time and time again that God does things accordingly to his own will.