A concise, foundational introduction to Genesis. The author explains key points about major characters, revealing crucial links with the New Testament – above all, in the person of Jesus.Text is taken from the video series Unlocking the Bible. This book includes colour illustrations of visual aids used in the video presentations.

Imagine that you could really understand the Bible...that you could read, analyze, and discuss the book of Genesis not as a compositional mystery, a cultural relic, or a linguistic puzzle palace, or even as religious doctrine, but as a philosophical classic, precisely in the same way that a truth-seeking reader would study Plato or Nietzsche. Imagine that you could be led in your study by one of America's preeminent intellectuals and that he would help you to an understanding of the book that is deeper than you'd ever dreamed possible, that he would reveal line by line, verse by verse the incredible riches of this illuminating text -- one of the very few that actually deserve to be called seminal. Imagine that you could get, from Genesis, the beginning of wisdom. The Beginning of Wisdom is a hugely learned book that, like Genesis itself, falls naturally into two sections. The first shows how the universal history described in the first eleven chapters of Genesis, from creation to the tower of Babel, conveys, in the words of Leon Kass, "a coherent anthropology" -- a general teaching about human nature -- that "rivals anything produced by the great philosophers." Serving also as a mirror for the reader's self-discovery, these stories offer profound insights into the problematic character of human reason, speech, freedom, sexual desire, the love of the beautiful, pride, shame, anger, guilt, and death. Something as seemingly innocuous as the monotonous recounting of the ten generations from Adam to Noah yields a powerful lesson in the way in which humanity encounters its own mortality. In the story of the tower of Babel are deep understandings of the ambiguous power of speech, reason, and the arts; the hazards of unity and aloneness; the meaning of the city and its quest for self-sufficiency; and man's desire for fame, immortality, and apotheosis -- and the disasters these necessarily cause. Against this background of human failure, Part Two of The Beginning of Wisdom explores the struggles to launch a new human way, informed by the special Abrahamic covenant with the divine, that might address the problems and avoid the disasters of humankind's natural propensities. Close, eloquent, and brilliant readings of the lives and educations of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob's sons reveal eternal wisdom about marriage, parenting, brotherhood, education, justice, political and moral leadership, and of course the ultimate question: How to live a good life? Connecting the two "parts" is the book's overarching philosophical and pedagogical structure: how understanding the dangers and accepting the limits of human powers can open the door to a superior way of life, not only for a solitary man of virtue but for an entire community -- a life devoted to righteousness and holiness. This extraordinary book finally shows Genesis as a coherent whole, beginning with the creation of the natural world and ending with the creation of a nation that hearkens to the awe-inspiring summons to godliness. A unique and ambitious commentary, a remarkably readable literary exegesis and philosophical companion, The Beginning of Wisdom is one of the most important books in decades on perhaps the most important -- and surely the most frequently read -- book of all time.

Exalting Jesus in Genesis is part of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series. Edited by David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, this commentary series takes a Christ-centered approach to expositing each book of the Bible. Each chapter explains and applies key passages, providing helpful outlines for study and teaching. This practical and easy-to-read commentary is designed to help the reader see Christ in Genesis. More devotional than academic, the expositions are presented as sermons and divided into chapters that conclude with a “Reflect & Discuss” section, making this series ideal for small group study, personal devotion, and even sermon preparation. The CCE series will include 47 volumes when complete; this volume is written by Phillip Bethancourt.

Beginning with the serpent in the Garden of Eden and ending with O.J. Simpson, author George Anastaplo offers an exploration of justice and the rule of law through well-known trials both ancient and modern, real and fictional. On Trial is a detailed and fascinating discussion of legal reason, moral judgment, political life, and the events that give them meaning.

No one is able to keep all of the laws of the Old Testament - all of the time, not even the holy men of the Old Testament - Moses, King David and others. Jesus himself said that even if you only look at a woman lustfully you have already committed adultery in your heart. Priests and those in leadership within the Church have often been guilty of misusing the laws of Moses by teaching and demanding strict, literal or even excessive conformity to the Old Testament Law. Such practice puts one under the law, and even places the law above the gospel. In his letter to the Galatians Paul teaches that to be a Christian you do not need to be circumcised and that an over emphasis on keeping the laws, including keeping the Sabbath results in legalism and ultimately brings God's Wrath. The opposite of legalism is license - doing whatever you want whenever you want and that you are only responsible to yourself rather than a higher authority. This also brings God's wrath. In this book David Pawson explains how through Christ's death and resurrection, we have been released from the legalism of the Old Testament Laws (which no one is able to keep all of the time), not to do the opposite which will result in sin by doing whatever we please, whenever we want, but through Christ we have been given true liberty ...the liberty to choose not to sin, by walking in the Spirit.

"In the beginning..." This phrase is often wrongly read as "Once upon a time", as in the opening of a pleasant story or fairy tale, but David Pawson views it as a radical statement indicating that "our universe has not been around forever". Yet despite this, "most people in our world, and most men in history, have believed the opposite, that the universe is eternal". If Genesis was written to provide understanding of our origins and the consequences of the Fall, then why has this book of the Bible in particular inspired so much debate and controversy? And does it conflict with a scientific understanding of the origins of the universe? If God is a God of truth, why do science and Scripture sometimes seem to disagree? For instance, how can we reconcile the problem of references to the days of creation in Genesis with the estimates of billions of years? Can these apparent discrepancies and disagreements be explained? And in a world beset with troubles and threats of pandemics, hunger, inflation, recession, and nuclear war, why is it necessary to consider the origins of the universe and the human race? In this ambitious book, David Pawson tackles these and other challenging questions within the context of the creation versus evolution debate. In arguing that both God's Word and science are compatible, he points out that "the battles are battles of fact, but the warfare is a warfare of faith".

Get an in-depth look into the first five books of the Bible with this accessible introduction to their content, significance, and themes.

In this book, the author addresses a number of key (but widely neglected) topics: The Return of Christ to this Earth; the Punishment of Hell; The Reward of heaven. Ministers, preachers and believers throughout the world will find this a profoundly challenging and informative study of what the Bible actually teaches on these vital matters, and many will discover some surprising truths.