Quotes About Biblical

Seeing the similarities between these two stories should discourage us from expecting the Adam story to contribute to contemporary scientific debates about human origins (let alone guide those debates). Likewise, the similarities between Genesis and Atrahasis suggest that the biblical account cannot be labeled "historical," at least not in any conventional sense of the word.

And taking seriously the historically shaped biblical portrayal of a violent God drives us to ask for ourselves, "Is this what God is like?

Watching how the biblical writers looked at faith as trust rather than certainty helps us through our inevitable uh-oh moments from a different perspective. These moments are not proof that faith doesn't work, but only that a certain kind of faith doesn't work—one that needs correct thinking in order to survive (chapter 6).

We miss what the biblical writers were after if we think of belief and faith as "correct thinking" words. They are deep and hard words, more than we might have been led to expect. And they are beautiful words that move us deeper into the presence of God.

Wherever biblical writers talk about the past, we should expect them to be shaping the past as well.

The point of all this is that the book of Exodus as we know it simply could not be as old as the thirteenth century BCE, and could not have been written by Moses.

How do biblical writers talk about the past?

What was concealed in the Old is revealed in the New." The New Testament itself is

The name of the second river is Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush.

And Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah.

When Seth was 105 years old, he became the father of Enosh.

When Enosh was 90 years old, he became the father of Kenan.

When Jared was 162 years old, he became the father of Enoch.

When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah.

When Methuselah was 187 years old, he became the father of Lamech.

And Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

and his son Ishmael was thirteen;

Moreover, Nahorís concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the area of Mount Seir.

These are the names of Esauís sons: Eliphaz son of Esauís wife Adah, and Reuel son of Esauís wife Basemath.

Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. They are the chiefs of the Horites, the descendants of Seir in the land of Edom.

These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah.

Bela son of Beor reigned in Edom; the name of his city was Dinhabah.

Now Judah acquired a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.