Genesis 1

Well, I already encountered my first problem.  What version of the Bible should I read?  Does it matter?  What is up with all those versions anyway??  I know what the King James and the New International are, but what is the New Living Translation?  And the Amplified Bible and New Century versions??  Are there any serious differences, and if so, which is the most accurate?  I don't want to read a translation like the Adulterous Bible which said "Thou shalt commit adultery."

With much pensive contemplation, that took about 30 seconds, I decided to go with the KJV.  It's one of the oldest, and oldest = closer to the original.  Not to mention the language in it is much more goosebump inspiring than a modern, slangy Bible.

So anyway, I read Genesis 1.  Again.  For like the millionth time.  This was one chapter I knew extremely well.

Summary

God creates the heaven and earth in six days.  On the first day, He creates light.  On the second, air (I think, but it's a little confusing).  On the third, land and plants.  On the fourth, the heavenly bodies.  On the fifth, birds and fish.  And on the sixth, all the animals on the earth, as well as humans.  He tells the humans to have lots of children, take care of the planet, and be vegetarians.  And it was all good.

Commentary

There's literally a ton I could say about this chapter, but I don't have room here.  A lot of Christians I know try to mix Creationism and Evolution together by saying "Oh, each day is actually a million years, so things evolved."

I'm sorry, but that just doesn't make any sense.  First of all, each "day" has an evening and morning, not a million of them.  And secondly, plants could not survive a million years without sunlight, which wasn't created til the fourth day.  So most of them would be dead by the time God made the heavenly bodies.  I guess some birds could have survived by eating fish and the seeds from plants, but what about owls and vultures?  Don't they need mammal flesh to live?  And if animals weren't created for a million whole years, there would be nothing for them to eat, and they'd all die of starvation.

Don't get me wrong.  The earth could very well be millions of years old, which I have my own theory about and will discuss later, but it didn't happen here.

Interesting Verses

1:26 - "Let us make man in our own image"  Who is the "us" that God is talking about?  The angels?  Jesus?  Someone else?  And does this "own image" mean we look like Him physically?  Or because we can reason and think logically, and animals can't?  

1:30 - So are humans supposed to be vegetarians?  Were all animals vegetarians back then?  But weren't lions and wolves created specifically to hunt and devour innocent little creatures?  I've seen my cat in action; there's nothing she likes better than stalking rabbits, mice, and birds, except maybe sleeping...

So many questions, so little time.  Going to see Robin Hood tonight with my boyfriend.  Or, as I affectionately call the movie, Gladiator 2.

Intro

Starting a blog is always difficult.  I should know - I've had about five before.  Five blogs completely unread except for the few friends I could bribe / threaten to comment on them.

Not sure if this one will be any different, but I'm not doing this for the fame.  The idea really came to me when my bf and I were playing a Bible trivia game last week.  I've been a Christian since I was 6 years old (18 long years ago!) yet I did not do half as well as I first expected.  In fact, it was quite embarrassing.  That's when I realized that I've never even read the whole Bible.  I've never even read half the Bible.  The only book I really know well is Matthew, and the stories of Genesis.  Never read all the Psalms.  Never even touched Nahum, or Habbakuk, or other strange names.

So...what's the point?  The point is, how can I call myself a Christian when I've never even read the Christian holy book?  It's like the Jew who never read the Talmud, or the Muslim who never opened the Koran, or the Shinto who never read...um...the Shinto holy book, whatever that's called.

Anyway, the Bible is FREE online at Bible Gateway.  So there's no real excuse for anyone who has the internet not to read it.  Especially Christians.  And especially me.

I decided to blog the Bible, one chapter at a time.  Yes, this will take forever - according to one website, there are 1,189 chapters in the Bible.  One per day equals about 3 years, give or take.  Egad that's a long time.  Especially for someone like me, who likes things quick and instant (microwave dinners, Netflix movies, text messaging (tht givs me n exse 2 spel lik this)).  But I thought about it this way.  I will live (hopefully) about 80 years.  I have already lived 24 1/2, so I have about 55 to go.  I can definitely take 3 of those if the fate of my afterlife might hang in the balance!  That leaves 52 years of earthly free time, plus peace of mind.  Don't get me wrong.  I know I'm going to heaven when I die, but I don't want to go there and hear God say, "Why didn't you read the book I left for you?  Why didn't you live your life the way I wrote about?  You've really disappointed Me."  

So....I'm reading the Bible.  And blogging it.  Because I'm a 21st century kind of girl.