CREATION (Genesis 1 and 2)
Read Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 at the beginning of the book of Genesis in your Bible. If you do not have a Bible, google “Genesis 1” and then “Genesis 2” and read the text. Any Bible translation or edition is fine for this exercise.
Choose 2 questions from Focus A, 2 questions from Focus B, and 1 question from Focus C. Answer each question in about 10–40 words.
Focus A
A1. Why do Catholics believe in stories about the origin of the world that do not seem to agree with modern science?
A2. Why are there two very different stories about the creation of human beings in the Bible?
A3. Choose two of the following. Explain what each one means in the context of creation:
the seven days
the sun and moon are created to mark time
God forms the man like a potter
the man is formed from the dust of the earth, and God gives him the breath of life
the man names the animals
the woman is formed from the man's rib
the woman appears last in the story
A4. What does Genesis 1 say about God, human beings, the world, and the meaning of life?
A5. What does Genesis 2 say about God, human beings, the world, and the meaning of life?
A6. What do Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 say about God?
A7. What do Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 say about human beings?
A8. What do Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 say about the world?
A9. What do Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 say about the meaning of life?
Focus B
B1. Choose one source of ideas that influences people today—for example, television news, movies, social media, or your friends. What does this source say about God, human beings, the world, and the meaning of life?
B2. Name three common misunderstandings of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. Give a Catholic explanation of each one.
B3. If the Catholic understanding of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 is true, what difference should it make in everyday life?
B4. If the message of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 were not true, what difference would that make in everyday life?
B5. Create a message about God, human beings, the world, and the meaning of life that is the opposite of the message of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2.
B6. Imagine a specific audience that is open to the message—for example, your friends, your family, or your nieces and nephews. Briefly explain what you value in the message of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2.
Start your post with: “To an open audience: …”
B7. Imagine a specific skeptical audience. Briefly explain what you value in the message of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2.
Start your post with: “To a skeptical audience: …”
B8. List some of the questions people ask about life that Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 address.
Focus C
C1. For Christmas, you are planning to give a mug and a T-shirt to:
a. a loved one
b. a work colleague
c. the grumpy clerk at a nearby store
Create a personal message based on Genesis 1 and/or Genesis 2 for each person. Try to avoid common bumper-sticker statements that everyone already knows (for example, “God loves you!”), unless you can express the idea in a creative or personal way.
C2. Plan a day in the life of a Catholic who takes the message of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 seriously.
C3. You are planning a teaching session on Genesis 1 and/or Genesis 2 for young children or for people who do not speak your language. What simple message would you choose? What objects or pictures would you use?
C4. Your parish has asked you to organize a Genesis 1/Genesis 2 celebration. What activities would you plan?
C5. You want to organize a Genesis 1/Genesis 2-themed party for friends who are curious but skeptical about your “Catholic phase.” You want to create an experience that responds to their curiosity without turning the evening into a missionary session. What would you do?
C6. A religious store invites you to design a Genesis 1/Genesis 2-themed set of bed linens and/or dinnerware. Everyone in the competition will probably use images of the seven days, the naming of the animals, or God pointing at Adam. Try to stand out with a new approach that sends a subtle message. Describe the three designs you would submit.
C7. A local radio station for English-speaking immigrants living in Szczecin asks you to create a short message inviting listeners to a session on Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 in your church. Following normal advertising practice, think of an interesting question that the session will answer, create a “hook,” or use another way to make people curious about the session.
A1. Why do Catholics believe in stories about the origin of the world that do not seem to agree with modern science?
ReplyDeleteR: I think it has many components, first and maybe most relevant, because of how we were raised in our families and school. But then, also because we decided to believe that God created everything even though for many people sounded irrational. It's also the component of the faith and believe in what we can't see. However, it is important for us to keep making questions and try to find the cause or origin behind things according to the Bible, because if we make the history deprived of reason and just believe it as an illusion or myth then we will fall into the superstition.
A9. What do Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 say about the meaning of life?
R: As we were discussing in the group, God gave us domain over everything that exists to take care of it and multiply it for good and according to his law. Keep things being good, taking care of the creatures, maintaining his creation as perfect as it was supposed to be. We were given with a perfect life and we are just meant to enjoy it and take care of it. However it's hard in our times because of how corrupted the world became after the sin.
B5. Create a message about God, human beings, the world, and the meaning of life that is the opposite of the message of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2.
R: The opposite message will be, that God is cruel because he sent us to suffer, that the human being was not good in the end because it sinned. That the world was just randomly created without any purpose or order and that the human being couldn't be perfectly happy on it without eating from the tree of the science of good and evil. That the meaning of life is for us to not respect, take care and glorify the creation of God, that in this world we were meant to suffer and we could never be happy even though everything was supposed for us to be perfectly enough.
B6. Imagine a specific audience that is open to the message—for example, your friends, your family, or your nieces and nephews. Briefly explain what you value in the message of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2.
R: To an open audience: God in his wisdom and goodness had such a perfect and infinite love, that he decided to create a world in which we and all the creatures could also participate of his perfect love. It's similar like when mom and dad decide to have a kid, it's not because they are not happy being together or they need to have a kid to be happy, but because they want to expand the love they have by creating a child that will be loved and protected. Genesis 1 and 2 talk about how God perfectly designed everything and put an order and sense in the world for it to be good for us. Like when mom and dad built a house and a safe place for us, saved money for us to go to school, made a bedroom for us, etc. God said after everything he created that it was good, meaning that there was a good and perfect purpose behind that creation. And then after creating everything, he decided to put the man and the woman to enjoy and be perfectly happy with what he created, they didn't need something more, because they had everything, they didn't need money or a luxury mansion or an airplane to be happy, all that God created was enough and good for them, and their only mission that God told them was to take care of that creation, all animals and plants, and multiply it by making more good in the world.
C4. Your parish has asked you to organise a Genesis 1/Genesis 2 celebration. What activities would you plan?
R: A mini theatre explaining how the world was created, decorate the room from the entrance in the order of how things were created day by day until the very end of the room where people is happy enjoying some meals and snacks. Make dynamics with the group about FAQs about these chapter of Genesis and making debates of it. Maybe also tests and contests with prizes.
My answers to Genesis 1 and 2 (It was hard to pick the questions!)
ReplyDeleteFocus A
A1.
Science and religion are answering different questions, that’s why the two seem to contradict. Science answers how things are the way they are, while religion answers what’s the meaning behind creation - why we exist.
A3.
Seven days means perfection. At the time Genesis was written humans used to count in 6, so 7 was seen as the perfect unattainable number.
God forms the man like a potter, this alludes to figurative language to explain that we don’t come from chaos, or that our existence is accidental, but it was intentional God wanted us to be here, we were created with care and love. At the time of Genesis, everyone would have known a potter, that’s why pottery is used as an illustration.
Focus B
B2.
Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are contradictory stories - these two accounts are complementary theological perspectives, not historical or scientific reporting. Genesis 1 provides a sequential overview of the entire creation week, for the more educated analytical humans. Genesis 2 is not a second chronological timeline; rather it speaks to a simpler audience that would understand the figurative language of the garden, the rib of Adam etc.
Eve bears the primary blame for Original Sin because she ate first - that’s not true while Eve bit the apple first, it could have also been Adam - one of the two needed to be picked for that first action. Additionally, God gave the command to Adam before Eve, and when the serpent was talking to Eve, Adam was there the entire time and didn’t intervene having had the time to think.
Women are secondary because they were created from the rib of Adam - that’s not true our creation was intentional. Being made of the rib of Adam is figurative and means we’re profoundly equal, created from the same intention, same love - we’re the same to the eyes of God.
B3.
We can live in full confidence that we are wanted and loved by God. Our creation was an international careful act. This changes how we view ourselves and our brothers and sisters. It also makes a difference to the world around us and nature - we should take dominium, take care of it, look after it and multiply the gifts God has given us.
Focus C
C7.
The hook I would use would be around work, migrant communities are often focused on economic productivity to make a living and support their families, in many cases they work very hard and long hours. The question could be ‘ever wondered if life is more about than just work?’ that would relate to their personal experience and frustration and invite them to consider the meaning behind creation in Genesis 1 and 2.
My answers to Genesis 1 and 2 (It was hard to pick the questions!)
ReplyDeleteFocus A
A1.
Science and religion are answering different questions, that’s why the two seem to contradict. Science answers how things are the way they are, while religion answers what’s the meaning behind creation - why we exist.
A3.
Seven days means perfection. At the time Genesis was written humans used to count in 6, so 7 was seen as the perfect unattainable number.
God forms the man like a potter, this alludes to figurative language to explain that we don’t come from chaos, or that our existence is accidental, but it was intentional God wanted us to be here, we were created with care and love. At the time of Genesis, everyone would have known a potter, that’s why pottery is used as an illustration.
Focus B
B2.
Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are contradictory stories - these two accounts are complementary theological perspectives, not historical or scientific reporting. Genesis 1 provides a sequential overview of the entire creation week, for the more educated analytical humans. Genesis 2 is not a second chronological timeline; rather it speaks to a simpler audience that would understand the figurative language of the garden, the rib of Adam etc.
Eve bears the primary blame for Original Sin because she ate first - that’s not true while Eve bit the apple first, it could have also been Adam - one of the two needed to be picked for that first action. Additionally, God gave the command to Adam before Eve, and when the serpent was talking to Eve, Adam was there the entire time and didn’t intervene having had the time to think.
Women are secondary because they were created from the rib of Adam - that’s not true our creation was intentional. Being made of the rib of Adam is figurative and means we’re profoundly equal, created from the same intention, same love - we’re the same to the eyes of God.
B3.
We can live in full confidence that we are wanted and loved by God. Our creation was an international careful act. This changes how we view ourselves and our brothers and sisters. It also makes a difference to the world around us and nature - we should take dominium, take care of it, look after it and multiply the gifts God has given us.
Focus C
C7.
The hook I would use would be around work, migrant communities are often focused on economic productivity to make a living and support their families, in many cases they work very hard and long hours. The question could be ‘ever wondered if life is more about than just work?’ that would relate to their personal experience and frustration and invite them to consider the meaning behind creation in Genesis 1 and 2.
Hello! Idk why I can't see my first comment. But I will try to summarize what I previously wrote:
ReplyDeleteA6. What do Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 say about God?
R: It mentions God as the creator of the universe, the nature, the animals and the human being. He was designing every piece of the world and universe for it to have an order and perfection. In every step of his creation he mentions that they were good created things, meaning that everything was being designed to have an order, harmony and multiply without any problem, Finally Genesis 2 talks deeper about how God puts us as his final creation for us to be part of the love and perfection of that creation and be the managers of it.
A7. What do Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 say about human beings?
R: Human beings were creatures created and designed by God, and different from any other creature, we were given with the breathe of life, meaning that the Holy Spirit was inside of us and talks about our dependence on God, and were put in a world that was perfect for us to leave fully happy. It also talks about the role of the human being as an administrator and multiplier of God's creation, taking care of all the living creatures and put to work the lands and make beauties with it.
B3. If the Catholic understanding of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 is true, what difference should it make in everyday life?
R: If the affirm and all the world convince themselves that is true, people will start noticing that we have everything in this world to be happy, that God made us part of his creation because he loves us so much and wants us to life happy. People will start noticing that it's in our hands the decission to make things right and multiply this world in a good way if we fully depend on God.
B6. Imagine a specific audience that is open to the message—for example, your friends, your family, or your nieces and nephews. Briefly explain what you value in the message of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2.
R: To an open audience: God created the whole universe and all that is on it because he is a being of so much love that decided to create us to also be part of that love and live with him the wonders of his creation. Like when a mom and dad decide to have a kid, it's because they love each other so much that they want to extend that love to a 3rd person and prepare everything for him or her to be perfectly happy. It's not because the kid will fullfill an empty spot in mom and dad's life or because they don't feel happy being just two, but because they want to share everything they want to multiply the love they have to a person that is literally as them and part of them. They prepare a room perfectly designed for us in the house, they feed us and they educate us. Same did God, he prepared an infinite universe and earth for us to be perfectly happy in it and he gave us the authority to administrate that creation and multiply it. However he also gave us one single command. To obey to a simple rule of not eating from a tree, not because he was a dictator, but because he wanted to protect us, because he wanted us to show our gratitude to be in such a perfect universe by also obeying his commands.
C4. Your parish has asked you to organize a Genesis 1/Genesis 2 celebration. What activities would you plan?
R: Maybe would be nice to decorate a whole room from the entrance to the end in chronological order of God's creation, like the sky and earth at the beginning, until the human being at the end. So people can see how God was perfectly creating everything day by day, and that the final end of the room is the whole ened garden, and there we can have social activities, like mini theaters, sharing food only made of fruits and vegetables, maybe people ablo to bring their pets too. And finally organize a group discussion about the creation and share passages of the bible about how God in his infinite love created everything for us to be happy.
Will- A1 Because the bible is filled with universal truths and is not always meant to be taken literally. A2 - Same as the above to an extent . While Adam and Eve were the same humans there were already others living elsewhere when their son Cain was banished with the Mark of Cain. B1 Television- Unfortunately due to many scandals the Church is often portrayed negatively. However in some classic films such as Indiana Jones, God is portrayed with respect as an all powerful and beautiful but merciful figure. B4 - If Genesis were not true, it would make no difference. In the very least it’s still a good story: C1 c - “God separated the day from the night” (or something to that effect.) a tongue in cheek way for the clerk to realise work will end eventually . By the way father, unfortunately I’ll miss Mass this Sunday. Though I will attend Saturday evening Mass. thank you- William
ReplyDeleteA1:
ReplyDeleteThe premise is false. Nothing established by modern science contradicts Genesis 1–2. Creation proceeds from divine reason, rendering nature intelligible rather than arbitrary. Science discovers that order, but presupposes the existence and intelligibility of the reality it investigates, whose ultimate ground remains a metaphysical question.
A2:
These are not competing accounts. Genesis 1 situates humanity within the cosmic order as the Imago Dei; Genesis 2 examines that dignity from within: embodied finitude, relational dependence and moral freedom. Humanity is given a nature, but must freely realise its vocation.
B3:
Human dignity is ontological and thus not conferred by utility, status or consensus. God knows what we would freely choose even in circumstances never realised, without necessitating those choices. Providence therefore neither abolishes freedom nor excuses us from responsibility for others.
B5:
There is no Creator, no goodness preceding human judgement, no dignity independent of the crowd. We learn what to desire through imitation, transform models into rivals, and purchase social cohesion through the convenient fiction that one victim, individual or collective, caused our disorder.
C5:
Prepare and share a meal without distractions or staged arguments. Let hospitality, shared labour and deliberate rest become the evening's thesis - that is, goodness precedes usefulness (as in Gen 1-2), communion liberates us from rivalry and human beings flourish through receiving as much as possessing.
A1) the biblical description of the creation of the world does not contradict science.
ReplyDeleteA2) Genesis 1 describes creation broadly, while Genesis 2 zooms in and expands upon humanity’s creation. Both accounts give us an insight into the larger creative work of God, as well as the creation of man and his place in that greater creation.
B2) 1: Genesis must be either literal history or pure allegory - the Catholic Church teaches that Gen 1 and Gen 2 tell real historical events through allegorical stories. They are both history and allegory.
2: Woman was created as an inferior assistant to man - she was created separately from man and was given a different role, however she is equally loved by God. Man and Woman were made differently but with equal dignity, meant to support each other.
3: “Let there be light” must refer to the creation of the sun - light and the sun are not the same thing. Light exists without the sun. Genesis makes a distinction between the creation of light itself and the creation of the heavenly bodies that emit it.
B8) what is the meaning of life? How was the world created? Should I care about the state of the world and the environment?
C7) What does it really mean to be made in the image of God? And what can the creation of man and woman teach us about human dignity, the value of life, and our relationships with one another?
Old comments (I already posted full answers for all requirements but for whatever reason I don’t see my comment here so I’m typing a new post)
ReplyDeleteA1. Because the bible is not meant to be taken literally word for word, but because it tells universal truths from God.
A3- The seven days have one day of rest and are perfect, as each thing occurs in its time.
For the grumpy clerk I’d get a mug with a line about the day a night being separate to remind him that all bad things end and that the sun also rises. B1 and B4 -
Television often has very negative views on God and the Church, and priests are often unfairly displayed as hypocrites or worse due to modern controversies. However, films like Indiana Jones portray the biblical messages properly.
Dear All, thank you very much for your replies. I hope you had a chance to reflect deeper on what the Bible teaches. Some of the ideas you presented sounded really great.
ReplyDelete