Deus Misereatur

Adam as Israel: Genesis 1-3 as the Introduction to the Torah and Tanakh by Seth D. Postell My rating: 5 of 5 stars There are a passel of approaches to Genesis 1-3 that come to disparate conclusions. There’s young earth or old earth; theistic evolution or punctiliar creation; divine guidance to order out of disorder or creatio ex nihilo . There is also the perspective that Genesis chapters 1-3 are strictly poetry, or an adaption of Ancient Near Eastern mythology, or an affirmation of creatio ex nihilo retold with a theological and literary structure rather than chronological specificity. A passel of approaches, indeed! Seth D. Postell, Lecturer in Biblical Studies at Israel College of the Bible in Netanya, Israel, has put forward his own analysis in “Adam as Israel: Genesis 1-3 as the Introduction to the Torah and Tanakh”. To get the most out of this insightful and involved 204 page paperback will require some working knowledge of Hebrew, though the book can be managed without it by...

Sunday morning: Thus says the LORD: “‘ See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand ” (Deuteronomy 32.39). Therefore we adore you, the only God; we worship you, God over life and death, hurt and health! Have mercy, we pray, on all who have turned their backs to you and not their faces….give them to your Son that he may never lose them but raise them up on the last day. Have mercy, we pray, on all who are beat up, badgered, beleaguered, broke and brittle…grant them the specific aid they need – whether monetary, medical, medicinal or mending – and raise them up to rejoice in your goodness, and lift their hearts and voices in thanksgiving. Have mercy, we pray, on those women who feel pressured and oppressed to the point that they have contemplated abortion, and those misguided and misled by tricky managers. Have mercy on children in the womb. Give mother and ch...