A different take on the book of Genesis

I would like to start this article with a brief explanation of my history and upbringing. I was raised strict Jehovah’s Witness so I didn’t celebrate birthdays, Christmas, Easter and if I had a serious injury, no blood. Although I am no longer connected with the religion, like any other belief system, I fully respect others freedom to believe what they wish.

I  must have read the new translation of the holy scriptures around 3 times, cover to cover, as well as various  in depth Bible studies. Although I learnt a lot, the Bible always seemed in pieces to me and I never truly saw what it was trying to say, except possible theories taught to me by the religion.  The biggest problem I found as a free thinking individual, was that the Bible created more questions than it answered.

I soon realised that no one seemed to have definite answers, only the traditional, rehearsed explanations that  either didn’t really answer the question or just made no sense altogether. The Bible is often used out of context to suit a certain theme which can be very misleading.

Through my experience of preaching about the Bible to others, even though  I was never qualified to do so as it was always scripted, some of the most common questions that were asked were about death, pain, suffering and why [the God of love] allowed these everyday monstrosities to occur. Is there a real answer to this and can it be found in the Bible?

With technology advancing rapidly, I believe that the Bible needs to be looked at with a modern outlook and see if the events told in its pages are actually possible.

After researching other religious beliefs and their history, you soon discover that nearly all  modern day religions are splinters of much older teachings. Simply believing in God because you were told to is not enough and to truly understand your own beliefs you have to know where they originated from. In fact, many of the ancient stories of great gods and their mystical powers hold more connections to main stream religion than you would ever know.

Assuming that the Bible is indeed the word of God and was his gift to man to help him understand his origin and future and to teach him how to live along the way, most of you will at least know the basic stories from the book of Genesis. The creation story, the first man and woman, the first sin and Noah and the great flood. There is actually a great deal more to this book than the average person will know.

(751)Luke

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