Genesis
The Holy Bible: King James Version

In this book of beginnings the stories are about creation, early relationships between God and people, and God's promise to bless Abraham and his descendants

http://www.bartleby.com/108/01/

Genesis is one of the most controversial and problematic books of the Bible. It is the first book of the OT in our customary order though is is not thought to be the oldest book. It is also the first book of the five books of Moses frequently referred to as the Books of the Law.

Genesis starts with an account of the creation covering a span of six days and ends with God's chosen people in slavery in Egypt.

Controversial elements of Genesis include:
Whether many of the stories should be taken literally or as allegories.

The opening verse of Genesis:
"In the beginning, God* created** the heavens and the earth," is evocative of the opening of John's gospel, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God."

*sn God. This frequently used Hebrew name for God (אֱלֹהִים,’elohim ) is a plural form. When it refers to the one true God, the singular verb is normally used, as here. The plural form indicates majesty; the name stresses God’s sovereignty and incomparability – he is the “God of gods.”
http://bible.org/netbible/index.htm

** The English verb “create” captures well the meaning of the Hebrew term in this context. The verb בָּרָא (bara’) always describes the divine activity of fashioning something new, fresh, and perfect. The verb does not necessarily describe creation out of nothing (see, for example, v. 27, where it refers to the creation of man); it often stresses forming anew, reforming, renewing (see Ps 51:10; Isa 43:15, 65:17).
http://bible.org/netbible/index.htm


Verse 2 says, "and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep."

As the scientific age dawned, the creation account was challenged especially as evidence mounted that the universe and earth were much older than the Genesis account seemed to suggest, and that the formation of the stars and planets would have taken longer than one day.

Some Bible defenders attempted to reconcile this problem by suggesting a gap in time between verses 1 and 2, that verse 1 describes an original creation in the distant past, perhaps billions of years and that after that creation a catastrophe occurred causing God to put creation into a prolonged stasis. The theory states that verse 2 begins with God hitting the reset button. As evidence of this they cite the word for created in verse 1 is not created out of nothing, but rather a renewing.

Verse 2 continued.
but the Spirit of God*** was moving over the surface of the water.

***ruwach <07307>
xwr ruwach
Pronunciation: roo'-akh
Origin: from 07306
Reference: TWOT - 2131a
PrtSpch: noun feminime
In Hebrew: xwr 205, xwrw 37, yxwr 29, xwrh 19, wxwr 15, xwrb 10, twxwr 9, xwrl 7, wxwrb 5, xwrbw 4, Kxwr 4, Kxwrb 4, Mxwr 3, xwrk 3, wxwrw 3, Mkxwr 3, txwrh 2, Mkxwrb 2, xwrlw 2, xwrmw 1, Kxwrm 1, twxrh 1, wxwrl 1, hxwr 1, xwrhw 1, yxwrw 1, yxwrb 1, Kxwrw 1, xwrm 1, twxr 1
In NET: wind 91, spirit 91, Spirit 34, breath 30, winds 11, mind 6, temper 5, spirits 4, side 4, strength 4, life 4, windstorm 3, breathe 3, sides 3, feelings 3, patience 2, humiliated 2, blast 2, life's breath 2, whirlwind 2, discouragement 2, wind-driven 2, discouraged 1, discernment 1, impatient 1, desire 1, everyone 1, encouraged 1, blustery 1, anxiety 1, attitude 1, anger 1, amazed 1, air 1, battle cry 1, inspired 1, conscience 1, breezy 1, breathes 1, breath of air 1, depression 1, morally 1, rage 1, restored 1, pride 1, presence 1, plan 1, stress 1, strong urge 1, windblown 1, windbag 1, thoughts 1, substance 1, place 1, peace 1, windy 1, motives 1, minds 1, mere word 1, me 1, mouth 1, moved 1, panic 1, one 1, obstinate 1, nothing 1, it 1
In AV: Spirit or spirit 232, wind 92, breath 27, side 6, mind 5, blast 4, vain 2, air 1, anger 1, cool 1, courage 1, misc 6
Count: 378
Definition: 1) wind, breath, mind, spirit
1a) breath
1b) wind
1b1) of heaven
1b2) quarter (of wind), side
1b3) breath of air
1b4) air, gas
1b5) vain, empty thing
1c) spirit (as that which breathes quickly in animation or agitation)
1c1) spirit, animation, vivacity, vigour
1c2) courage
1c3) temper, anger
1c4) impatience, patience
1c5) spirit, disposition (as troubled, bitter, discontented)
1c6) disposition (of various kinds), unaccountable or uncontrollable
impulse
1c7) prophetic spirit
1d) spirit (of the living, breathing being in man and animals)
1d1) as gift, preserved by God, God's spirit, departing at
death, disembodied being
1e) spirit (as seat of emotion)
1e1) desire
1e2) sorrow, trouble
1f) spirit
1f1) as seat or organ of mental acts
1f2) rarely of the will
1f3) as seat especially of moral character
1g) Spirit of God, the third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit,
coequal, coeternal with the Father and the Son
1g1) as inspiring ecstatic state of prophecy
1g2) as impelling prophet to utter instruction or warning
1g3) imparting warlike energy and executive and administrative power
1g4) as endowing men with various gifts
1g5) as energy of life
1g6) as manifest in the Shekinah glory
1g7) never referred to as a depersonalised force
________________________________________
from 7306; wind; by resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or
even violent) exhalation; figuratively, life, anger,
unsubstantiality; by extension, a region of the sky; by
resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including
its expression and functions):-air, anger, blast, breath, X
cool, courage, mind, X quarter, X side, spirit((-ual)),
tempest, X vain, ((whirl-))wind(-y).
see HEBREW for 07306
http://net.bible.org/strong.php?id=07307

Doesn't "God of gods" imply there are more gods?

Isn't having something that is the most controversial and difficult book a rather non-productive entry, especially for non-believers?

Is this sort of analysis necessary to understand Genesis? I predict few participants in this discussion will be interested in the above sort of stuff. For the life of me I don't have any idea why it was posted. But if we're going to all have a meaningful discussion we should probably NOT make posts containing:

It isn't at all controversial or difficult. It's a pretty straightforward creation myth.

Chris,
I will add to my previous post that you missed something interesting in the definition I posted. It jumps right out at me but if you don't see it, I'll let it go.

No I won't because I owe you.

The word for God is plural and feminine.

Very good, I'm glad to hear that it isn't controversial. I will ignore the arguments from anyone who doesn't believe it is to be interpreted literally from now on.

And you are correct, it is a pretty straightforward creation myth, except for missing the cow licking the salt block, or the giant turtle, or the ...

Why let it go? What is it?

Granted. But I was going from the opinion that if Christians found it controversial, then explaining it to non-believers didn't make sense--as in, someone explaining a concept that they themselves have difficulty comprehending.

You're right, I edited my post before I saw this and added the following:

The word used for God's Spirit is plural, expected, but also feminine. Problematic? Yes from my point of view, probably no from yours since god does not exist.

BTW, I owe and appreciate this forum.

Believe me, if I had a dime for every thing in the Bible that is controversial, I could retire. I am willing to admit issues in an open forum but in an argument I will cede no points.

This should be fun as long as we all keep our cool and try not to zing each other with witty insults.

Yes I see where you're coming from. I was more responding to Stahrwe's statement that Genesis is controversial and difficult. I just don't see that at all and I've never heard that. Like I said it's very straightforward.



This is actually beautiful in its simplicity and is very well written in that respect.

[quote]

I will definitely concede to its beauty. Nice visuals, poetic.