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Genesis

Lesson Aim To study the Christian understanding of the

Genesis creation account

6.2.12

Genesis = The Beginning

In threes…

What do you remember about the story of Genesis 1 and 2?

Make a list of all you can remember

(4 minutes)

Now, one member of the group should ‘stray’ and see what other groups have come up with.

(3 minutes)

Class discussion

Do people still believe in the creation story in Genesis?

What challenges might modern science present to these beliefs?

Now...

Take a look at Genesis 1 and 2 again.

Recap

What can you remember about the Genesis 1 and 2 creation account/s?

Search your mind for details as you enter...!

RE

There are actually two different creation stories present here.

Can you identify where the first one ends and the second one starts?

In threes...

First, make a list of all the similarities between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2

Then, make a list of all the differences between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2

12 minutes

Story 1

The first creation account is in a poetic form It is concerned with the creation of the whole

universe and gives the big picture

Story 1: Examples of Poetic Form

Repetition:

“Evening passed and morning came”

“He was pleased with what he saw”

“Then God commanded...”

Story 1: Examples of Poetic Form

Stanza: A stanza is a unit within a larger poem. Each of the 6 days of creation seem to be presented in this way and follow a similar pattern

Story 1: Examples of Poetic Form

Chiasmus: This is an ancient Hebrew literary device in which two or more clauses are repeated in reverse order

It can be read as...

Day 1 – made space

Day 2 – made water

Day 3 – made ground

Day 4 – Filled space

Day 5 – filled water

Day 6 – filled ground

Story 2

The second creation account is more of a narrative

The main emphasis is on the creation of the first human beings – Adam and Eve

Is it two stories, or one?

Compare...

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. An Imperial French army under the command of Emperor Napoleon was defeated by combined armies of the Seventh Coalition, an Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington combined with a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard von Blücher. It was the culminating battle of the Waterloo Campaign and Napoleon's last. The defeat at Waterloo put an end to Napoleon's rule as Emperor of the French and marked the end of his Hundred Days return from exile.

With this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVGSKVkkyhc&feature=related

Written Task

Write a paragraph summarising the first creation story

Write a paragraph summarising the second creation story

10 minutes

Cast your mind back...

Looking at Genesis 1, in what order was everything created?

Now, try and remember the order in which things occur in the scientific timeline...

Science

Big bang (13.7BYA) Earth forms (4.5BYA) Fish (500 MYA) Plants (475 MYA) Mammals (200 MYA) Birds (150 MYA) Humans (200,000)

Light (day 1) Water (day 2) Land (day 3) Plants (day 3) Fish (day 5) Birds (day 5) Mammals (day 6) Humans (day 6)

Genesis

Where Did it Come From?

Who was there anyway?

Where Did it Come From?

1. Divine Revelation

2. Oral Tradition

3. A Myth

Where Did it Come From?

1. Divine Revelation

2. Oral Tradition

3. A Myth

Where Did it Come From?

Divine Revelation is the view that the writer of Genesis was inspired by God.

This means that although a human being wrote it down, it was God working through that person.

This means that.....

Some Christians think that the story is an exact guide of how things happened – they take it literally.

Other Christians believe that this is a divine revelation, but that it is a story used to explain something else that is too complicated to understand. A sort of allegory.

Where Did it Come From?

1. Divine Revelation

2. Oral Tradition

3. A Myth

Where Did it Come From?

The story ends with the creation of mankind. The oral tradition presumes that Adam and Eve

passed on the story by word of mouth to their descendants.

Once writing was developed it was eventually recorded and found its way into the Bible

Where Did it Come From?

Some Christians are of the view that the story we have is unchanged from Adam and Eve

Others may argue that that the story has been distorted as it was embellished over time. It is therefore inaccurate

Where Did it Come From?

1. Divine Revelation

2. Oral Tradition

3. A Myth

Where Did it Come From?

For some Christians, Genesis is a myth In religious studies, a myth is a story that has a deeper

meaning – not intended to be historical These Christians don't believe that this is a divinely

inspired story, just an early human attempt to make sense of the world around them.

Some historians think that it is possible that the early Jews borrowed this myth from their neighbouring countries – and changed it to fit their own beliefs

If you hold to this view you don't have to believe any part of Genesis – but you can still hold to the notion that God is creator

Read and complete p57 of the purple book

Extension

Read p81 onwards from Belief and Science