Please read Genesis 2-3. Then, read the assigned portion of the chapter by Michael Legaspi before answering the following: Why does the account emphasize knowledge? According to Legaspi, what sort of knowledge is communicated by eating of “the tree of the knowledge of good and bad”? And should it be eating? Why not touching or looking at some special object? What a tree from which you eat? Yes, it is an act of disobedience, but how else can we describe the failure of Eve and Adam? Does this act make Adam and Eve more god-like? Less? Both? Why might it be merciful that God banishes them from the Garden?

The J account presented in Genesis 2-3 dwells on knowledge, and its pursuit by man, in order to differentiate between God and man and to characterize human nature. As explained by Legaspi, the consumption of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and bad gives knowledge of good and bad. It is unlike any other form of knowledge, notably because it is the type of knowledge possessed by divine beings, and it is strange because it appears to be something useful to man as “keeper of the soil” and for being “moral and rational being” (Legaspi). It is strange to me why such an ability would be deprived, given its relevance to man accomplishing God’s tasks, but at the same time, it appears to be something intentional to distinguish divine beings from humans. As Legaspi points out, there is special significance to actually eating the fruit that ties to man’s dependence on God’s earth for nourishment. Eating itself is argued to have a special significance regarding the relationship between a giver and a receiver, and the eating without permission done by Adam and Eve illustrate the violation of such a relationship, and the creation of conflict that disrupts the Earth’s peaceful beginning. As much as the failure of Adam and Eve is disobedience, it can be seen as susceptibility to temptation by human flaws such as those of jealousy and envy in wanting more than they already had. While these acts do grant Adam and Eve knowledge that divine beings were said to possess, they forever distanced mankind from God and salvation. God’s punishment for this deliberate disobedience was not death, and for that reason, God acted mercifully. Adam and Eve had been generously given everything, and still disobeyed God. Adam and Eve were put on Earth to be fruitful and multiply, to have dominion over the creatures of the Earth, but other than that, had a life in God’s garden with eternal life that they jinxed in the pursuit of wanting more when they were giving everything. God did not need to give them everything in the first place, but there was no need to do less than good as God didn’t have a reason to do so.

Drawing on what the text itself provides, tell me what meaning is being conveyed. What primarily is God doing in this account? The human person? And taking it as an obvious truth that God doesn’t need to rest, what is this business with the seventh day?

Regardless of whether or not the first part of Genesis is supposed to convey a factual scientific account of how the universe came to be, it conveys that God brought forth the universe, the world, and life on that world. At first it was all nothing, and God made that nothing everything. In contrast to evolutionist accounts of creation, there was divinity and intention. The universe was no accident, and it didn’t simply just fall into place. There was a masterful plan behind God’s execution of creation, and it was artful. So much so that God took a day of rest from his creation to conclude what he had done. From what I interpret, the day does not represent a needed recovery for relief of exhaustion from what God had just completed, but it represents a deliberate opportunity for him to admire his creation and what he had done. It conveys a sense of certainty and contentedness in his work, and reinforces the mastery behind it that is greater than any ordinary accomplishment. Like man, which God created in his likeness and image, it was all no accident. We were put in the universe for a reason, like everything else which God created, except with dominion over all living things. Something truly interesting about it all is the lack of conflict. There was nothing which brought out the creation the universe except God himself as the architect. There was no problem in the universe that warranted the creation of a universe, because there was none. God did it all because he could. He created the heavens and the earth, night and day, and creatures to inhabit that earth, all because he could, and it all goes to show his greatness and power in that he had a plan for it all. God made everything and it was good.

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.