FROM THE PASTOR

And it is More than Just Leviathan

We continue our study of Genesis in the Adult Forum. However, last Sunday and this Sunday we are on a bit of a detour focusing on creation stories and planning to return to Genesis itself and its account of the “troubles” in the early human community thereafter.

Did you know there are actually five creation stories – or fragments of creation traditions – in Hebrew scripture. Last week we read Genesis 1 – the grand liturgical presentation of a Creator who creates simply by speaking all things into existence. We read Genesis 2 – the account of the “mud pie” Creator who sits by the banks of a river and shapes the human and all other creatures from the mud. Adam, “mud man,” co-creates by giving names to the creatures the Creator has shaped. The creation story in Proverbs 8 adds a female voice. The divine attribute, Wisdom, is personified as the blueprint for and partner in God’s creating activity. This week we will read the creation account in Job 38-40, presented as a part of Job’s disputation with God. Finally, we will read Psalm 104, a song of praise sung to the Creator.

We welcome you to join us in our exploration and discussion of these ancient creation stories and of the other unique and fascinating stories which follow in the book of Genesis – the Garden, Cain and Abel, the Flood, the Tower of Babel. Grab a cup of coffee and join us in the conference room at 8:45.

Pastor John Schumacher, BCC