Genesis (The covenant, Table of Nations and Tower of Babel)

Chapter 9 God blessed Noah and his sons and told them to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Animals will now be afraid of them (“The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands.”) and they are now free to eat any animal as long as it doesn’t still have its life blood in it. Everything that lives and moves will now be food for Noah and his family. God now demands an accounting from every man and animal for the life of another human being. “Whoever sheds human blood, by human beings shall their blood be shed, for in the image of God, has God made humankind.” Be fruitful and multiply is said again. God now establishes his covenant with Noah and everyone who comes after him and all the living creatures that were with him. The covenant is that never again will God destroy life by a flood, there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth. This is what the rainbow is for: to show God’s covenant and promise that he will never again destroy life by flood. It’s a sign, that whenever God brings clouds and the rainbow appears, God will remember his promise. This whole chapter just repeats “This is my covenant. I will remember it every time I see it.” Ham, Noah’s son, is the father of Canaan. Why this is mentioned I have no idea. From the three sons came the people that were scattered over the whole earth. Noah, apparently a man of the soil, planted a vineyard, got drunk on its wine and passed out naked in his tent. Ham saw his dad was naked and told his brothers. Shem and Japheth covered Noah because they were embarrassed (who’s gonna see it?), but they walked in backward to cover him so they couldn’t see him. For some reason Noah is mad that his kids covered up his naked ass and cursed Ham’s son Canaan, saying he’d be a slave to his brothers. Canaan is to be the slave of Shem; Japheth’s territory is expanded and  Japheth is to live in Shem’s tents and Canaan is to be slave of Japheth. After the flood Noah lived 350 years, living a total of 950 years, and then he died.

What does ‘blessing’ mean? How does God bless Noah? This verse is also where God tells humans they can eat meat. So ha! to all the vegetarians who say God wanted us to be vegetarians. He changed his mind. So there. But you can’t eat it unless you drain all its blood.

What is meant by ‘an accounting’? If someone dies/is killed someone else has to die? And why are the animals included in this? If a man is killed by an animal, must that animal die to atone for human blood lost? This seems pretty shitty and counterproductive to me. And why would God allow such a thing. Why would God plant in humans’ minds the idea of murder? He created humans…why wouldn’t he put only the best brother-loving-peaceful thoughts in their heads?

God also talks again in third person–God made people in God’s image

How can God say he’ll be reminded by the rainbow if he put the rainbow there? And rainbows don’t show up every time it rains. Why would God forget his promise? Why would he need a symbol to remind him? Or does he mean it’ll remind Noah? And God says he won’t destroy us by flood again, but he didn’t say anything about any other disaster…

This chapter practically admits to incest. From these three sons come everyone on earth. God wiped out everyone else on earth so Noah’s sons and wives have to procreate with somebody to be fruitful and multiply.

And now suddenly, after all that, we learn that Noah is a farmer. Like this really matters. Also, the math is wrong again. When the flood ended Noah was 601, so he should have died at 951. And God said earlier he wasn’t going to let people live past 120. Why is Noah so special?

I think Noah might be the first passed-out-naked drunk guy Why does he get so mad that his sons covered him up? In the garden of Eden nakedness was suddenly shameful and now Noah WANTS to be naked and drunk, in his tent where no one can really see him? What exactly do these tents consist of anyway? For a full history of our supposed ancestry there’s a lot of important details lacking, I think.

Why the cursing of his grandson? That seems hardly necessary. And he praises the God of Shem. Who is Shem’s God? Is there more than one God? Why extend Japheth’s territory? None of this cursing and expanding makes any sense. And how old are these kids and grandkids anyway?

Chapter 10 The Table of Nations There’s a list of of Japheth’s sons, Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek and Tiras. Sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. Sons of Jovan: Elisha, Tarshish, the Kittites, Rodanites (“from these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language”). The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan. Sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteka. Sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. Cush was the father of Nimrod who became a mighty warrior. “Father of” doesn’t necessarily mean literally father of; it just kinda means ancestor of, so we don’t really know how many generations these ‘fathers’ are away from their offspring. Nimrod being a mighty warrior apparently explains the saying “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.” The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh in Shinar. He went to Assyria to build Ninevah, Rehoboth, Ir, Calah, and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah, which is the great city, it says. There’s some more listings of sons’ sons, listed as Hittites, Kasluhites, Girgashites, Amorites, etc, seemingly indicating these men started entire races and cities. Later, it says, the Canaanites scattered and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon to Gerar, to Gaza and Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim and Lasha, wherever those are. These are the sons of Ham, by their clans and languages in their territories and nations. This different languages is key when we get into the next chapter. There’s a listing of Shem’s sons and their sons and blah blah blah. This is the start of the ‘begats’ in the bible. More description of where the territories stretched. “From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.”

What nationality are these sons and how far did the ark take them from their homeland? Why the listing of all these names that seemingly mean nothing in the grand scheme of things in the Old Testament.

Maritime people came from this lineage? Where are they living and how/why did the develop a maritime culture? It’s said specifically that all these sons start clans within nations, with their own languages.

Why does it matter that Nimrod is a warrior before the Lord and how can there be a saying about him? This part had to have been added after, so the book was not all written at once, and is not cohesive and definitely not The Word of the Lord.

Why is it mentioned that certain cities were the first centers of his kingdom? Is this indicative of cities being built? Why is this mention important? Shinar is Babylonia.

Also, the family tree is kinda confusing and I’m starting to think it’s deliberately confusing so no one can follow it cuz it’s a bunch of bullshit. We are not descended from these people and it’s not possible. Plus all that incest would have to end somewhere with mutations I’d think.

I think I’d have to look at a map to determine these places and nationalities. It’s all so confusing.

Kasluhites=father of Philistines. Philistines are Jews aren’t they? Christians are technically Jewish…why the split between Christianity and Judaism and when did it happen? Jesus is descended from Jews. Are all of them Jews or did they spread out and have their own religions and beliefs? It’s all a lot confusing.

Chapter 11 Tower of Babel The whole world had one language and a common speech. People moved east, found a plain in Shinar/Babylonia and settled there. They told each other they’d make bricks and bake them, using brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar. Then they built a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens so they could make a name for themselves and not be scattered over the whole earth. The Lord came down and saw this tower and got all scared, saying, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” God scattered the people all over and they stopped building the city. This is why it’s called Babel, or Babylon, which sounds like the Hebrew word for confused, according to my footnotes. Two years after the flood, Shem was 100 and had Arphaxad. Lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters. Arphaxad had Shelah at 35 (starting young this time!), lived 403 years and had other kids. Shelah was 30 when he had Eber, lived 403 years and had other kids. Eber was 34, had Peleg, lived 430 years and had other kids. And more listing, right up until Abram is born. Haran (Abram’s brother) had Lot. While Terah (Abe’s grandpa) was still alive, Haran died in Ur where he was born. Abram married Sarai and Nahor (Abe’s bro) married Milkah. Milkah was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milkah and Iskah. Sarai couldn’t have kids. Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot and Sarai and moved to Canaan. But they settled in Harran. Terah lived 205 years and died in Harran.

So I thought everyone had their own language? This chapter says they all speak one language. Hmmmmm….

How did they know how to make bricks and to use them instead of stone. How did they get tar? Where are they?

If they were all in Shinar, they weren’t scattered over all the earth. And all they knew of ‘earth’ was the area they lived in, so earth does not likely mean literally the whole earth.

Why didn’t God like them all working together/why was he afraid? Again, he should have known this would happen. Why wouldn’t his people being able to accomplish anything they wanted be a good thing? Also, why is building this tower so bad? They wanted to make a name for themselves. We’re taught they built it to be closer to God. That’s not what it says.

How are all these people the same kind of people from the same area, all living in Shinar but they speak different languages? Is that why whoever wrote this part added later that they spoke the same language and God didn’t like it?

Also, these people are dying at younger ages and having kids earlier, but it’s still not 120 years like God said before the flood.

And here’s the big one: Am I reading this right, that Nahor, married his niece Milkah? Milkah is the daughter of his brother Haran. Lot is Milkah’s brother and Abram’s nephew….still, NAHOR MARRIED HIS NIECE! and this is ok? I’m sure if I brought this up to some bible-thumping Christian they’d make some excuse. Nahor married his niece. That is incest. Period.

Genesis (The Flood)

Chapter 5: “When God created human beings, he made them in the likeness of God.” Apparently he blessed them, whatever that means. When Adam was 130 years old he had a son in his own likeness and image and named him Seth. After Seth, Adam lived another 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Adam died at 930 years. Seth had a son at 105, named Enosh. Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. He died at 912. Enosh had a son named Kenan at 90 years old. He lived another 815 years and died 905 and had other sons and daughters in the meantime. When Kenan was 70 he had Mahalel. He lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters and died at 910. When Mahalalel was 65 he had Jared. He lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters and died at 895. When Jared was 162 he had Enoch; lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters, dying at 962. Enoch was 65 when he had Methuselah. “Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Enoch walked faithfully with God, then he was no more, because God took him away.” When Methuselah was 187 he had Lamech. He lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters and died at 969. When Lamech was 182 he had Noah. “…and said, ‘He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.” Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters and died at 777. When Noah was 500 he had Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Why is God talking in the 3rd person at the beginning? God made humans in the likeness of God and named them human beings.

Why is only one son named and none of the others? What is the significance of this one son? And where did these guys’ wives from? Did they marry sisters and aunts and daughters and all that?

How does this living til 900 and having kids at 100+ work physically on the body? And mentally for that matter? How does that affect the baby?

What does it mean/why does it matter that Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years? Why is he mentioned here and not the others? And again, when did this worshiping God start?

Why is the ground still cursed, generations later? Is God really that petty and spiteful? Why will Noah be a comfort/how? Did God have this plan for Noah? Why did he wait so long? Why did he curse the ground if he knew he’d send Noah later?

Chapter 6 Wickedness in the World: When daughters were born to humans, the sons of God saw that they were beautiful and married the ones they wanted. Then God said his spirit wouldn’t contend with humans forever, that they’d only live 120 years. During this time (and after), when the sons of God had kids by the daughters of men, the Nephilim were on the earth. “They were the heroes of old, men of renown.” God saw that people were just deeply rooted in evil and was sorry that he made humans on the earth and he was troubled. He decided to wipe them all out, along with the birds, animals and creatures that move along the ground. He regretted that he had made them. But he liked Noah. Noah was righteous, blameless among people of his time, and walked faithfully with God. God thought the earth was corrupt and full of violence. So God told Noah he was going to wipe everyone out and destroy the earth because they were so violent. Then there’s the demand Noah build an ark and the description/instructions for it. Here is where the establishing of the covenant is first mentioned. Noah is told to bring on the boat 2 of all living creatures, male and female. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground. It says the animals will come to Noah to be kept alive. He’s told to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away for himself, his family and the animals.

Who are the sons of God and why the specific mention of daughters, when only sons were mentioned and noted before? How did the sons of God have kids with the daughters of men? Who are the nephilim and why are they heroes?

So humans, that God made, are corrupt, and violent and he’s going to wipe them all out with violence because he’s surprised that the people he made (how many are there now? how many generations have passed since Adam and Eve?) and is supposed to be omniscient about are violent and corrupt. God is either omniscient or he’s not. He should have foreseen their corruption. I’m also getting that mortal=corrupt here. And God said people would only live 120 years but Noah and his family live 200+ years after the flood. Hmmmmm.

What makes Noah and his family so special? What does ‘walking faithfully with God’ mean? What is a covenant? How does God speak directly to Noah if he’s a spirit? Righteous is being morally upright. Who decided what morals are? God?

Why are the animals corrupt too? How can they be?

God says he’s going to destroy the people and the earth but he doesn’t really destroy the earth. And why the earth? Is that corrupt and violent too? Does he regret everything he made? Why didn’t he just start with Noah then? Also, sidenote, the Hebrew meaning of the word cypress is unclear. If they’re not sure what it means, how can we believe this is an accurate account of biblical history?

1 cubit=22 feet. So the boat is 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. Doesn’t seem likely that all those animals could fit in there and live healthily. What about water? Does Noah just get their water when it’s raining and flooding? Where does he store the food? Where does he live? How do they fit in there and how can one man and his family care for all those animals?

Also, what about plants and animals not native to that area? Where did they come from? Were they on the boat? How did they get there if they were? And I thought they could only eat plants. So every kind of plant is on board? How do they have enough?

Chapter 7 Noah did everything God said, because God said Noah was righteous in this generation. God told Noah to take “7 pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds living throughout the earth.” God said in 7 days he would send rain for forty days and forty nights and wipe out every living creature he’d made. Noah was 600 years old when the flood waters came. Noah and his family and pairs of all the clean and unclean animals went into the ark. In 7 days the water came. On the 17th day of the 2nd month, all the springs of the great deep burst and rain fell for forty days and forty nights. Another repeat of them all going into the ark that day, all the sons and the sons’ wives and Noah and his wife and all the animals. For forty days the flood kept coming and raised the ark high above the earth. The water rose til the mountains were covered to a depth of 15 cubits (330 feet). All the living creatures died, including humans. This is repeated a few times in different ways. The waters flooded the earth for 150 days.

This time it’s 7 pairs of clean and unclean, not one pair of every animal. And who decides what’s clean and unclean and how is this determined? 330 feet isn’t really that high, not enough to cover the mountains if a cubit is 22 feet.

Also, I thought the earth was flooded for forty days and forty nights, not 150 days. Why is it changed? Did different people write this section? And if you take out all the things that are repeated, the Bible would be much smaller, I think.

Chapter 8 God remembered Noah and all the animals with him (there’s another distinction between wild animals and livestock. this is weird) and he sent a wind over the earth and the waters receded. The springs and floodgates of heaven closed and it stopped raining. “At the end of the 150 days the water had gone down and on the 17th day of the 7th month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. The waters continued to recede until the 10th month and on the first day of the 10th month the tops of the mountains became visible.” After 40 days Noah opened a window and sent out a raven and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up. Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But there was no dry land so the dove came back. 7 days later he sent the dove again. It came back in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf. 7 days later he sent the dove out again but it didn’t come back. On the 1st of the 1st month Noah was 601, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw the ground was dry. “By the 27th day of the 2nd month, the earth was completely dry.” Then God told Noah to come out of the ark with everyone and all the animals so they could multiply and be fruitful. They all came out one kind after another. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, took some of the clean animals and clean birds and made a burnt sacrifice. The Lord liked the smell of this and said he’d never again curse the ground because of humans even though humans are evil from childhood, and never again would he destroy all living creatures. “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

I have a lot of problems with this chapter. God remembered Noah? So, what, did he get all excited destroying the earth and forget that he had to make the rain stop eventually? Why did he have to send a wind to recede the water? Couldn’t he just make it sunny or make it stop on his own?

I know their months are different than ours but I’m thinking someone got their math wrong on this one. How long is a month? Where is Mount Ararat and is that the tallest mountain because long after that the tops of the mountains are seen. Why did it take 3 months for the water to go down?

I didn’t know there were windows in the ark…and why did he wait 40 days? What month is it now? None of this is clear, and therefore very much inaccurate and I don’t trust it. Why did he send a raven and did it really just fly back and forth until the water went down? Why did he waste one of his animals? Isn’t he supposed to have one of each so they could mate and multiply?

Then he sent a dove. Why a dove? Why didn’t it just keep flying around because there was no dry land like the raven did?

Did he send another dove or the same one? How could it come back with an olive branch if God wiped out everything on the earth? Why does he send out doves to see if the water’s gone? Couldn’t he just look, or ask God or couldn’t God tell him?

Why does the dove not coming back mean the water’s gone completely? The raven didn’t come back because there was nowhere to go. The dove could have been just flying around. Oh right, but it came back a week ago with an olive branch.

1st day of 1st month, water is dried up from the earth: I believe the flood started a year ago. So it took a whole year for the flood and receding waters? I was taught 40 days and 40 nights. And what covering was there on the ark?

27th day of 2nd month, water is completely gone. Well, which month was it. And then he tells everyone to multiply…so there’s incest?

When did this altar-building and sacrificing become required? There’s no explanation at all for altars and sacrifices. It just happens. And isn’t that a waste of perfectly good animals? Or did he bring extra just so he could kill them for God because God likes the smell of burning animals? I think we made it up to justify our superstitious worship of some imaginary source. There must have been a giant flood and suddenly it stopped and whoever it was worshiped and prayed to something he didn’t understand, thinking some outside celestial being was the reason for the flood when it was probably just nature happening.

Why does God say every human is evil from childhood? He made those humans, he should know. He would have planted it there, I’d think. And he promises to never destroy humans and animals again. This is key because if I remember correctly there’s a lot of destroying of humans and animals in the Old Testament, just because God is spiteful.

And what does that last little bit about earth enduring mean? Is it a little poem some bible writer stuck in there about the earth being everlasting and sorta immortal?

Genesis (The Fall & Cain and Abel)

Chapter 3 The serpent was crafty; he tricked the woman into eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Serpent told the woman God didn’t want her to eat it because then her eyes would be opened and she’d be like God, knowing good and evil. She saw that it was pretty and good for food and for gaining wisdom and ate some and gave some to Adam who was standing right there. Then their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked and sewed fig leaves together. God was walking in the garden and heard the man and woman and they hid from him. He asked where they were and Adam said he was afraid because they were naked. God asked who told them they were naked. Adam blames Eve for them eating from the tree of knowledge. Eve blames it on the snake. God curses the serpent and turns it into a snake with no legs (apparently it had legs). He said “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.” He also told the woman she’d have pain in childbearing, and have desire only for her husband, who would rule over her. God also cursed Adam saying he’d work the ground but it’d never produce anything and he’d eat the plants of the field. “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Then Adam names his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living. Then God made clothes for them and said that now that man and woman are like us and know good and evil, they must not eat from the tree of life and live forever. Then they were banished from Eden to work the ground they had been made from. Once they were out, God put a cherubim and a flashing sword to guard the tree of life on the east side of the garden.

A lot’s going on here in such a short chapter. Whew.

First off, God made the crafty serpent. God made the devil.

They ate fruit, not an apple. There were noapples in that part of the world. It was most likely a fig. Also, how does knowing you’re naked fit into knowing good and evil? How would they know shame?

Adam was with her when they ate it so he can’t blame Eve. He didn’t resist at all. He just took the fruit and ate it

So God was walking in the garden in the cool of the day? He’s human? When did he go invisible and duck out of human existence? And why?

Adam blamed it on Eve, Eve blamed it on the serpent. Pointing fingers is what Christians have always done.

God cursed the serpent and made it a snake. So it had legs, God took the legs away. The serpent is just a creature, that God made. Not the devil. The snake is associated with evil and unnaturalness. The Christians just incorporated it into their story. Satan means adversary; it’s not a person or being

He made the snake’s kids and Eve’s kids always fighting. Shouldn’t he have known what would happen? Or did he plan it? Pretty petty and vindictive if he did know and plan it. Why can’t we know good and evil? Why is that bad? God wants blissful existence?

Gave Eve labor pains, desire only for her husband (who else is there?) and he’d rule over her. Another justification for patriarchy?

The footnotes say Eve ‘probably’ means living. So they don’t really know. That’s comforting for a book that’s so concrete and absolute

How could they sew fig leaves together? Why couldn’t they make their own clothes; why did God have to do it?

Eve is referred to as ‘wife’ when there was no marriage. I guess sex = marriage.

“The man is like one of us.” Who’s ‘us’? And now he says they can’t eat from the tree of life. Why does it matter now that they know good and evil? Why give the temptation of living forever? Why were either of those trees planted at all if he didn’t want them to eat from them?

If Adam is cursed to work the ground he came from, what does Eve do?

Why bother with the cherubim and flaming sword if they’re not even in the garden? Where were they banished to? And what about the snake? What happens to him? Is he still in the garden?

Chapter 4 Adam and Eve had sex and had Cain. She said the Lord helped her bring forth a man. Later they had Abel. Abel was a shepherd and Cain was a farmer. Cain brought fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. Abel brought fat portions of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord liked Abel’s offering but not Cain’s and Cain got mad. The Lord asked why he was mad and told him if he’d done what was acceptable he would be accepted. He said that sin is crouching at his door when he does what’s wrong, and that it wants to have him and he must rule over it. Cain tricked his brother into going out into the field and killed him. The Lord asked where Abel was and Cain lied. God cursed him and said the ground would no longer produce crops for him. Cain says he can’t handle his punishment: “Today you are driving me from  the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” But God said whoever kills Cain will suffer seven times over. Then God put a mark on Cain so no one would kill him. Cain moved out and into the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain had sex with his wife and she became pregnant and they had Enoch, a boy. Cain named the city he was building after Enoch. There’s some other lineage listed here, only sons. Lamech married two women and had Jabal who was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. Jubal, the other son, was the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes. Tubal, another son, forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. A sister is named. Lamech tells his wives “I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.” Adam and Eve have sex again and have Seth, saying God gave them a replacement for Abel. Seth had a son named Enosh. “At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.”

Well this one’s fun, isn’t it? First off, the pain Eve is supposed to have during childbirth is never mentioned. God made such a big deal out of pain during childbirth and then when she has Cain there is no mention whatsoever. And the name Cain means either ‘brought forth’ or ‘acquired.’ So she could have just ‘acquired’ this man, not given birth to him. Cuz there’s no mention of childhood either. Suddenly they are men and working the fields and flocks.

When does God suddenly desire and demand sacrifices and offerings? And why firstborn animals over vegetables and fruits? How can God yell at him for not doing what’s right? How were they supposed to know what’s acceptable to offer when there’s never been any mention before and God was human before, just making people. When he made people he didn’t demand that they worship him; he just wanted them to work the ground and be happy and make babies. When did God start demanding that his people worship him…all 4 of them?

If God is omniscient, why did he ask where Abel was? He should know and he should have known (and planned?) that Abel would be murdered by his own brother. Why would he allow this?

God seems to curse and punish people who disobey him a lot. Kind of petty and spiteful

What does wandering aimlessly have to do with ‘your crops will no longer grow’? Why does he have to be driven out of his family’s land? Isn’t shitty farming enough? Also, isn’t that what Adam’s curse was? God never said Cain was banished, not really. And what does being hidden from his presence mean? God can’t or won’t see him? Cain thinks whoever finds him will kill him; God never said that. Cain is jumping to conclusions. Plus there are no other people, so where did Cain’s wife come from? God only created Adam and Eve from the beginning. Where are these other people coming from?

Nod means ‘wandering’, so he didn’t really go anywhere; he just wandered around and built a city somewhere. Using what? Did God create all that was necessary for making a home and a city and a life? Seemed pretty primitive only a generation or so ago.

Were there any daughters? Why aren’t they mentioned? Did they marry sisters and daughters?

So the Bible seems to be condoning polygamy and incest…interesting

And that whole bit about father of tent-dwellers and string players…what does that have to do with anything? What does it even mean?

Did Lamech kill someone? I’m way confused. Is he speaking in the 3rd person?

God gave Adam and Eve the replacement baby, Seth. Taking no responsibility for their actions, as Christians tend to do

Why are people calling on God now? Wasn’t he always around? Is he a spirit or a human, walking in the garden? Why does he suddenly need to be worshiped and sacrificed to? He never demanded it of Adam and Eve.

Here it is: Genesis (Creation)

The idea is to present a simple summary of the book by chapter. Then I’ll list the questions I have, corresponding to each chapter, as they arise when I read them. I’m gonna be real anal about my questions too, just as a warning. I’m very much a skeptic on this whole Bible as Word of God thing.

Chapter 1: God created the heavens and earth; created light and dark, night and day. This is the first day. Then he separated the sky and water: the 2nd day. The third day he separated water into its own space and created dry land. He saw that it was good. Then he told the land to produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees and plants that bear fruit with seed in it. This the 3rd day. The 4th day: he made the sun, moon and stars, to separate light and darkness. The 5th day he told the water to teem with creatures and the sky to fill with birds. He told them to be fruitful and multiply, basically. The 6th day he told the dry land to produce creatures, also human beings, male and female. He made them to rule over the animals and plants. He told the humans and animals they could eat the vegetation.

Questions/Notes:

It didn’t say ‘universe’, just earth. So God didn’t create the whole universe. It also says the earth was formless. So technically it was already there; he just reshaped it into sky, water and land. It also says the spirit of God was hovering over the waters. So again, the earth was already there; God just hovered over it. He’s a spirit, as I was taught in religion classes as a kid.

1:6 ‘separated water under vault (sky) from water above it. This sounds like the whole earth was water and God separated it and named the water above sky.

1:11 How could he make plants without any lights in the sky? How could they grow? Also how can he separate dark from light if he hadn’t made the sun, moon and stars yet? And what does ‘according to their various kinds’ mean?

1:13 How could there be morning and evening without the sun and moon yet? How do we know time is passing? Does time already exist, before humans could record and keep track of it? Did God create time too?

1:15 Did God name it earth or was that name already there?

1:16 If he made the sun and moon (to govern the night), why the stars too? Is the moon not enough light? Why not a stronger night light?

1:21 He made all the animals and birds…What about the animals not native to that area or did he create all of them all at once? What about species that developed and went extinct? Did he do that too?

1:22 “Let birds increase on the earth” They’re creatures of the sky…is earth a general term for the planet or dry land

1:24 Why did he make land creatures now? Why not do them before the birds and fish? Why did he make separate ‘wild’ and ‘livestock’. Were they domesticated when he made them?

1:26 He said ‘let us make them in our image.’ Who is “us”? Are they human or spirit and how can humans be created in the image of a spirit. The bible also says male and female were created at once in ‘our’ image. Not Adam came first…they were both created at the same time in the image of ‘us’. Created so they can rule over the animals and livestock and birds and fish. Is this a justification written later for human tendency to dominate ‘lesser’ creatures?

1:28 God told male and female to fill the earth and rule it and all the animals

1:29 God told them they could eat any of the veggies and plants and plant-growth. The animals could eat the vegetation too.

Chapter 2: The heavens and earth were completed. On the 7th day he rested and made it holy, whatever that means. There’s another creation story: “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.” No plants had yet appeared or sprung up because God hadn’t sent rain yet and there was no one to work the ground. But streams came up and watered the whole surface of the ground. Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust and breathed into his nose the breath of life. God planted a garden in the east, in Eden and he put the man there. God made all kinds of trees grow; trees that were pretty and good for food. In the middle of the garden was the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. There was a river that flowed from Eden, split into 4 headwaters: Pishon winds through the land of Havilah where there is good, aromatic gold resin and black onyx. Gihon winds through land of Cush, Tigris runs along east side of Ashur and the 4th river is the Euphrates. God put the man in the garden to work it and take care of it. God told the man he could eat fruit of any tree but the tree of knowledge of good and evil because he’d die if he did. Then God decided it was bad for the man to be alone. He made all the animals and birds and shit out of the ground. He brought them to the man to name them. But there was no suitable helper. So God made the man fall asleep and took one of his ribs and closed up the place with flesh. God made a woman from his ribs and brought her to the man. The man said “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman’ for she was taken out of man. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” And I guess the man and woman were both naked and unashamed.

What does holy mean? Why is his resting day holy and when did he start going from God to the Lord God?

2:4-5 Another creation story. Says there were no plants when chapter one says he created them, unless he just created seeds first. God hadn’t sent rain yet. And there was no one to work the ground, even though chapter one says humans, male and female, were already made. Magically streams formed and watered the ground

2:8 I’m thinking the garden is in the middle east somewhere, judging by the Euphrates river. But why the name Eden? What does it mean? Adam means ‘the man’ or ‘the ground’. Eve means living (the Bible says it probably means living)

2:9 God made all kinds of trees when chapter 1 said all the plants were there already, as in he made them in chapter 1. Why does it matter that the trees were pretty? What kind of food did the trees grow? Fruits, nuts, berries, leaves?

In the middle of the garden (not named Eden, but IN Eden), there’s the tree of life which is not explained and the tree of knowledge of good and evil which Adam will die if he eats from it.

2:10 God suddenly creates rivers and streams. Why didn’t he do this when forming the earth and water and sky?

2:16 God didn’t say Adam and Eve couldn’t eat from the tree of life. But they can’t eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil because then they’d know the difference and be like God. So his original intent was for us to be ignorant and not like God.

If knowledge of good and evil existed, did God create evil?

2:18 God wanted to make a “helper” for Adam. Why weren’t the animals helpful? What kind of helper are we talking? Someone to work the ground in the garden? Why not another man?

2:24 What does the thing about man leaving his parents have anything to do with creation? Why does it matter that they weren’t ashamed they were naked? I imagine they didn’t know any other way to be and so they wouldn’t know shame. God would have to have created that emotion, I’d assume

 

Soon

So as to hold myself accountable, I will announce my plans for my next project. Awhile back I started reading the Bible but never finished it. When I finish reading the current book I’m reading, after something light cuz this one is huge, I’m going to try to get through the Bible again and dissect it, much like the Joyce Meyer book. Just so whoever’s reading this can maybe have something to look forward to. I ain’t got much else going on these days. I have a part time job, I kicked the roommate out and unrequited love is a bitch. Life goes on.

A work in progress

Don’t call it a comeback

This is only a test

Just a public speaking test but I’m so nervous

I don’t know if I can do this

I don’t know if I have what it takes

to make you quake in your boots

or piss in your pants

Hell, I’m pissing in my own pants right now

I can’t look you in the eyes with my lines memorized

I don’t know if I’m much more

than a retail drone with a degree in the word

Spitting lines as a hobby, hoping you’ll like me

Will I say the right thing and end up on Ellen?

Or will I offend your delicate sensibilities

This is only a public speaking test

I’m no performance poet

I know it, you know it, that guy in the corner knows it

 

I’m not in this for the intellectual competition

I do it for mental masturbation

I write because I have to or I’ll explode

 

Do I really even have anything to say?

I’m a 20-something white chick from the suburbs

Divorced and on food stamps

I live alone with my cat and still work in retail

How could I possibly have anything to say

 

I do my best work in the shower

When my audience is rapt

And when I’m watching youtube videos of the poets I’d like to be

I imagine I’m about to write the poem that will change the world

Then I recite it to my shower wall, with all the right pauses and stops

and inflections and gestures

And then the shower’s over and it’s back to reality

I’m supposed to be a writer, you know, wittier than thou

I mean, I’ve got an English degree, shouldn’t I be, like, Jesus or something?

Just bloody fucking brilliant?

And then I realize I’m taking this way too seriously

I realize I’ve been so out of touch these last three years

So out of the loop

I’ve lost so much of me, or maybe it was stolen

buried or hidden

or maybe just stunted development

And when you can’t find yourself you can’t

find the words

But soon enough I’ll get back to it

And the words will come back fluently

I may make no great political, social or satirical statement

What matters right now is that you feel me

The real me

A lowly, comeback poet

Only human I must confess

Getting back to it with a public speaking test

 

Emo Emo Eyeliner

Emo Emo Eyeliner

Emo Emo whine

I won’t do a damn thing about my life

So I just sit in the dark and cry

Emo Emo Eyeliner

Emo Emo whine

I slit my wrists for attention from the scene

I slit my wrists and cry

 

I Confess my sins to the Dashboard

Chris Carabba loves me too

I play the part, I fit the part

I’m emo just like you

I Take Back Sunday with a Promise Ring

A Simple Plan to Save the Day

Next Thursday we’ll Panic! at the Disco

And I’ll be your Fall Out Boy

Untitled 10

Reaching through the wormholes

To find my destiny

Pick a future, pick a prize

It’s multimillionaire

 

Reach into the grab-bag

of feminine oddities

Reach on in, pull out a face

Display it with false pride

 

Take your prescriptions, please

The doctor tells his sheep

You must put on your masks and such

Lest the scorn and shame doth ostracize

 

Little children, lose yourselves

You must grow this disease

You must belong, you must be strong

So sell your soul to me.

Dave’s Tattoo/some short stuff

Dave’s Tattoo

Hey guys! Wanna see Dave’s pussy?

And he raised his arm and there she was

In all her clean-shaven glory. Dave’s twat was

Shaded and grooved, nestled right into his armpit

He whipped it out for anyone curious and sometimes

He’d get someone to lick it

****

Serenity in

Just three lines; impossible

No peace; time’s too short

*****

Dave has a twat tattooed in his armpit

That he’d shave every day and tell people to touch it

He showed me his twat

One night at the bar

And I told him I wanted to fuck it

*****

 

Another One/Lit Class

I watched a fire die today

It danced the way she used to

Then was smothered, snuffed out, choked

The light burned in the ashes

Like the fire in her bitter heart

She used to sing, the flames would sing

When the rain would put it out

We all sat around and watched her die

Mourned a bit, then built another

Waiting for the next to die

 

Lit Class

“It sprouts from an acorn’s rough-textured seed.”

Sprouting? Seed? Rough seeds? What dirty thoughts are these

What silly lines to analyze

And that pretentious bastard! Feeding her ego

Chimes in her ‘sprouting seeds’ behind me

 

Still thinking way too deep, still analyzing Vonnegut

The professor of truth and gorgeosity

We’re writers, poets, students, artists

Down in Fraggle Rock

 

We’re fed the seeds, the seeds of truth

Sprouts of knowledge and acorns of fact

And we sit and consume, such silly little fools