middlemonk

“Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures.”

— Genesis 3:14.

This isn’t the first time I’ve read these passages. I started my Bible reading in earnest about a month ago and so far I’ve made it through the first five books (or the Pentateuch, as it’s called). In all those pages, the thing that shocked me the most was God’s ever-present anger.

That anger starts here in Genesis and continues all the way through the books of Moses (at least). As someone brought in under the warm and comforting banners of the New Testament, I don’t really know how to reason with this. I suppose I don’t have to — the whole point of Christianity being these ancient angers have subsided — but it still hurts to see some version of my God be so openly vengeful to his own children.

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze.

— Genesis 3:8.

On a lighter note, God’s personification is a strange source of joy for me. What would those footfalls sound like? How must God have looked, as he embarked on one of his many pleasant strolls through His creation? I wish I had a more dignified image in mind, but unfortunately I was a Simpsons kid growing up.

(I jest, of course. Oddly it was the Simpson’s portrayal of Christianity that got me interested in the first place.)