First day reading the Bible. I will find it really challenging to NOT read all of the footnotes as well as the introduction to each book. But reading the introduction will be really helpful for this endeavor.
Intro to Genesis: So, here are my thoughts on the introduction to Genesis. First, I have heard and read in several places that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all believe in the same God. It was good to see in the intro that all three “lay claim to the characters and stories of Genesis, each with their distinct understanding of the meaning of this important book of beginnings” (p. 7). Pretty cool stuff. I had no idea that the authorship of the Pentateuch wasn’t attributed to Moses until after his lifetime. That’s pretty interesting. Fascinating reading about when Genesis was written on pages 7-8. I’ve heard and read many times that Moses is the author of the first five books. So this kinda surprised me: “Nevertheless, we do know that the book was written over centuries by multiple authors, and we have a more specific and assured picture of the final stages of its composition” (p. 8). This makes me wonder why is it that many people argue that Moses was the author. Why is this so important?