Quotes from Gary A Anderson

Our own conceptions of creation are far more scientific in outlook, and we expect creation stories merely to disclose the rudiments of nature's origins. Not so the ancients. They told creation stories with the primary purpose of providing a cosmic foundation for the meaning and purpose of human life.

Thomas Hieke puts the matter: "This dramatic narrative dispels the misunderstanding that one can compel God to behave in a certain way through human—or more exactly—ritual action.

The preference for Abel over Cain, like that of Jacob over Esau, is grounded in the mystery of election, a domain of divine activity that is closed off to full human comprehension.

What is striking here is that we see what happens when our appointed Mosaic prophet does not rise to the accepted standard of his office. It is not the case that all bets are off and that God's rage will now burst forth unchecked. In fact, God had the system rigged from the beginning. He was going to get Jonah to Nineveh no matter what.

For Ephrem, the one who makes a loan to God through almsgiving is not simply doing a human work—he is making a public testimony to his faith. On this view, alms are not so much a human work as they are an index of one's underlying faith.