Week 6: Abraham, the Chosen People, and the Binding of Isaac

Reading

Genesis 12–24 (Abraham, the Chosen People, and the Binding of Isaac)

Questions

Why must faith be tested to be believed?

From Isaac to Christ — why is child sacrifice such a theme?

Circumcision. What’s the deal?

Belial challenged us to consider the testing of faith alongside the implications of the Abraham narrative regarding circumcision, gender, naming/transformation, and the idea of the “chosen people.” Along the way we dove into nakedness, the miracle of life, and the fickleness of God. Are we moving from physical memes to abstract memes? Does the nation of Israel have a founding trauma, as Michael suggests? Is God “fleshy,” as Gabriel asks? And what are we to make of the fact that Abraham doesn’t hesitate for a moment when he’s called upon to draw blood? It’s gnarly.

Read on… or skip to the Takeaway and/or Gems from the Chat.

Week 5: Noah, the Flood, and the Tower of Babel

Reading

Genesis 6–11 (Noah, the Flood, the Noahic Covenant, and the Tower of Babel)

Questions

How close are we allowed to get to God? (What’s the ideal human-divine boundary, and how do we know we’ve crossed it?)

What is a covenant?

This week, Mephistopheles led us on a voyage of self-discovery. Why did God flood the earth, and why was Noah saved? Was Noah all that great? Or was he just not evil all the time? Phanuel introduced us to “the smelling Lord”; Michael and Anael “vibed” about blood; we discussed sperm and mini-me’s, sexy angel-giants and the etymology of “baby.” And finally, was Yahweh a union buster? Find out this week.

Week 4: Cain and Abel

Reading

Genesis 4–5 (Cain and Abel, and some very old people)

Questions

Why does God prefer Abel’s sacrifice over Cain’s?

Is it more of a punishment to die, or to live?

This picture is ClipArt that I, Lucifer, found online. Mostly I include it because I find it hilarious. But it’s also oddly disturbing. We have our key players: two little boys, wearing some tasteful hides, holding up sacrifices to God. They’re instantly recognizable—on the left, Abel’s little sheep is in for a snooze, and Cain’s corn on the cob is honestly looking pretty good. So why doesn’t God like them equally?

Because God is thirsty for blood.

Or… maybe not?

Week 3: The Fall

Reading

Genesis 2–3 (The Creation of Eve, and the Garden of Eden)

Questions

How does the Garden of Eden narrative contribute to Western ideas about gender?

What is “sin”?

Was the Fall of Man all part of God’s Plan? It rhymes, but it’s also kind of disturbing.

The entire chapter brings to mind larger questions about being, judging and seeing. In Genesis 1, God saw that things He made were good, which both made them good, and judged them good. In Genesis 3 we encounter the first “sin” (according to later Christian interpreters, such as St. Augustine). It’s the first thing in the universe that is not good. Does that mean, though, that it’s evil? Or is that just centuries of Christian theologians whispering in our ears?

Week 2: The Creation

Reading

Genesis 1

Question

What is the Word? (continued)

What is a sabbath?

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Genesis 1 is a doozy. It’s hard to get more epic than “In the beginning…”, i.e., Bereshit, the first words of the Hebrew text.

Week 1: The Word

Reading

Genesis 1:1–5
and John 1:1–5

Questions

Is a “secular” reading of the Bible even possible?

What is the Word?

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^{The first page of Papyrus 66, P. Bodmer II, showing the first verses of the Gospel of John, c. AD 200.}

In the beginning…

We all had faith in Teams, called in, and got this Bible ball rolling.