Jenna Theisen
Michael Sexson
Bible as Literature
December 3, 2009
In the Beginning
When professor Sexson asked how many people had read the bible from cover to cover, I thought I was going to be the only person in the room who did not. I have been around so many people who think they have read the bible, when in fact they have not. I was surprised to learn that only a few had attempted it. So my question is—why is the bible so intimidating? Is it because it is so long? Surely this cannot be, because we have read books that are quite lengthy. Or are we being stubborn and refusing to read God’s word? Before this class I had barely opened the book. I would always listen to my pastor at church and trust what he was telling us.
I learned from reading Exodus that no one has actually seen God. He has transformed Himself so one cannot see Him. He says in Exodus 33:20, “you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live.” I heard Moses was the only person to see God “face to face”. By actually reading the bible I found out that is not so. In fact, no one has seen God face to face. When Moses sees God, he only sees His backside. Northrop Frye says in The Great Code, “But any suggestion that God has been seen is hedged about with expurgation and other forms of editorial anxiety: the explanation is generally that it was only an angel of God that was seen.” (Frye 116). Another new concept I learned was the creation story.
I had no idea there was more than one creation in the bible. I was always taught God made man, woman was made from the rib of man, and they ate the forbidden fruit from the tree. I thought that was all there was to it. However, the first version of the creation story is all about God randomly piecing the world together. The second version of the creation story is more creative and fun. In Genesis 2:7 it says, “then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.”
Coming into this class I was confused about signs or signals for being a believer. The first sign I did not know was of which is baptism. What does baptism mean or stand for? Why is it so important? It means death and then resurrection. Another significant symbol mentioned throughout the book is circumcision. That was the only way God knew who His chosen people were. The part that I thought was crazy about the book was so many men had to be circumcised as adults.
I have always heard the word Armageddon but never knew what it meant. I thought it had to do with the end of the world. However, in the book of Revelation, it states there will be a final battle between good and evil.
One of my favorite experiences thus far reading the bible is understanding some of the literal references. While reading Walden by Henry David Thoreau, I came across references to the bible in which I understood. For example, Thoreau says, “…and can hardly acquire more of a natural lore if he should live to the age of Methuselah,…”(Thoreau 1895). I understood this because I remembered reading it from Genesis. Before I had to look at the footnotes to figure it out. Now I know that Methuselah was the oldest living person who lived 969 years. Besides learning about characters and events in the bible, I also learned about who God is.
One part of reading the bible that really surprised me was God’s character. I had the impression God was a loving and respectful father who loved all His children. I thought He was the ultimate father. It turns out He is not very loving. In Genesis alone He is not very fatherly. He exclaims in Genesis 6:7, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” When He gets upset, He starts killing off His own children. God believes in sacrificing children. Isn’t He supposed to love everyone? What about the poor innocent children? In Genesis 22:1 God tests Abraham and tells him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. God says, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” Not only is God willing to kill an innocent child, but many other innocent people. The Lord is willing to get rid of an entire city until Abraham talks Him out of it. Abraham asks God in Genesis 18:23, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” God then settles down and agrees with Abraham. And then He kills everyone anyway. This is not the God I had pictured. The book of Job explains this side of God. An innocent man suffers for no reason as well.
I learned from reading David Plotz that Jews do not believe in God being around all the time and watching over them. This seemed strange to me. Who do they pray to? Plotz explained why they do not and the answer was very simple—the God in the Hebrew Scriptures isn’t exactly the nicest guy. He explains, “It could be that I am friends with the wrong Jews, but the Jews I know don’t act or talk as if they have a personal relationship with God. They pray to God and may even feel that god works in the world, but they don’t believe that God takes personal interest….Can you imagine the Old Testament God, with all His caprice, vindictiveness, and violence, acting directly in your life?” (Plotz 21). This was a surprise to me until I read his explanation. After reading some of the Old Testament, or the Hebrew Scriptures, I would not want Him following me around either.
The bible has some strange and unique rules to follow. For example in Exodus 12:48 it states, “If an alien who resides with you wants to celebrate the Passover to the Lord, all his males shall be circumcised; then he may draw near to celebrate it; he shall be regarded as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it; there shall be one law for the native and for the alien who resides among you”. Another law I found to be ridiculous is Leviticus 15:19. “When a woman has a discharge of blood that is her regular discharge of her body, she shall be in her impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.” These rules seem crazy in the modern world. For instance, if women followed these rules, they would be missing a lot of workdays. And if all men had to be circumcised to eat, we might have a few hungry men.
Out of all the interesting facts I learned about the bible in such a short time studying it, there is one thing I learned that I will never forget. The majority of the people who say they have read the bible from cover to cover most likely have not. I do not know what it is about the bible that is so intimidating. Whether it is the length or the way it is written or even the simple fact it is hard to read, people are scared of it. I was the same way coming into this class. The biggest thing I learned from reading the bible is not to be afraid of it. After all, it is only a book.
