January 2nd- Genesis 5-9

Once upon a time sometime last year, I was in the Classics Department on Campus sitting with some friends. One, who had to recite a passage from Homer, asked what the most boring passage was that he could read (he was a dredfully sarcastic soul who took pleasure it torturing his professors in this manner). Another friend pointed him to a catalog of ships in the first parts of the Iliad. The first friend became quite excited.

Today's section reminded me a lot of that moment- for reading through the geneology from Adam to Noah must be somewhat comparable to reading a catalog of ships (actually, I have read the passage in The Iliad they were referring to, and I can say for sure that it is). While it must have been important to someone at some point in time to know that Adam lived 900+ years (and it certainly has been the point of much controversy concerning the age of the planet), it is not the most fascinating thing to read through. I guess listing the geneology gives some validation/ context for the characters later down the line...in this case, Noah.

Noah's a great character. Somehow, through his good life, he has convinced God that this whole "mankind" thing wasn't just a complete waste of time. God spares him, then commands him to do the impossible- gather up all the animals and put them on a big ark. I believe this is what happened (or rather, didn't happen) to the unicorns and dinosaurs.

But in all seriousness, these chapters included a lot of very interesting connections, no doubt altered through time to create a sense of consistency, but here is where we start seeing numbers that will come up again and again later, especially in the Gospels. Numbers like 40 and 7. God decides that "after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights..." (Gen. 7:4), etc.

The story of Noah and the Flood has always bothered me in some regard. I mean no disrespect to God (Again, I am a Catholic and I fully believe in Him), but it really makes me wonder about God's nature. No one would disagree that the God of the OT is much more, shall I say, vengeful, than the God of the NT, but this passage suggests something beyond anger- it shows regret. God, in all His perfection, regrets making man. Regret. Regret suggests that a mistake was made, and if God is truely to be considered a perfect entity, then He cannot make mistakes, or at least does not make mistakes. But based on the fact that he regrets his decision to create man, one can assume that, in that moment, he thought it was a mistake. Gen 6:6 reads: "The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain." (NIV). I doubt many people would today consider the creation of mankind a mistake, but in God's eyes, were we? And if we were a mistake, because he made us, does that mean that he, essentially, made a mistake? Sure, God made up for his errors in a way, though we have to wait until the New Testament for that to happen, but even then, is that damage control for his error? errare humanus est, but even still...

Before this post angers any more people out there, I want to again reitterate that I do believe in God, but I also believe that a healthy questioning is good because God gave us free will so that we could think for ourselves. Part of thinking for ourselves is asking questions. Perhaps I will get an answer as I continue reading.