Genesis Response

Genesis Response

The Bible is arguably the most influential and important text to people, past and present. People from all over the world with diverse backgrounds and upbringings lives have been influenced by the Bible. Because of it's mass influence, followers and readers of the Bible also look towards the scripture to consider what it means to be an ideal person. The characters in the Bible become role models for billions of people. The first book of the Bible, Genesis, is arguably the most well known. And with it, the characters of the first three chapters also come to mind. First, we have the first ever English written portrayal of God, a being center to the most popular religion. Then, the first man to walk the earth, Adam, created under the eye of God and in His own image. And finally, Eve, the first woman to walk beside Adam. The portrayal of these three characters shape billions of peoples' outlook on themselves and others. Therefor, the portrayal of these characters is massively influential and important.

God is portrayed as a perfect being that created the world and existed beyond its existence. The first chapter of Genesis, the story of creation starts with , "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"(1:1). The rest of the chapter is full of repetition; further highlighting that everything was created in God's will and "that it was good" (1:10). As a result of this, God appears awesome and all powerful. However, He also comes with a shroud of mystery and questions. The origin of God is never explained in the first three chapters, and neither how such a being came to create all that is known. Furthermore, God creates a tree that contains "the knowledge of good and evil" (2:17), and says to Adam and Eve that if they were to eat from it, "thou shalt surely die"(2:17). With this line, a sense of fear and power can be felt from God. Why would an all powerful being create a tree with such consequences? On top of this, the tree itself doesn't seem malicious at all. If anything, it is the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This brings a question to mind, that perhaps God would rather people stay ignorant. Like the saying goes, ignorance is bliss. After Adam and Eve eat from the tree of knowledge, against God's wishes, He exacts a harsh punishment upon both of them. Again, this would strike fear of disobeying such a being into the hearts of any reader or follower. The portrayal of God in the Bible shows an all powerful being whose every action is good. One that should held in awe and respect, and maybe fear.

The first man to walk the earth was Adam, and so the first portrayal of man in the Bible is through him. Immediately after God creates man, He blesses him and gives him "dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth"(1:28). This gives Adam, or the portrayal of man, authority over all life on earth. Adam dutifully takes this responsibility and is tasked with naming "every beast of the field" (2:19), further giving authority over earth to man. Another defining factor of Adam is that a companion was made specifically for him by the all powerful, good God. Now, man not only has power over the earth, but also has power over the opposite gender. Adam is shown to