Genesis

             The book of Genesis is the beginning of many things. It is the first book of the Christian Bible and the Hebrew Tanak. It also is the first book of the Pentateuch, or the Torah. Within its text lie stories of creation, the beginning of all things, and stories of the beginnings of the people of Israel. Perhaps that is why the Hebrews first titled it Bereshith, which means "in beginning." The name Genesis is a direct reflection of the Hebrew title and was given to the book at the time of its first translation from Hebrew to Greek in the Septuagint. Genesis is merely the Greek word for "beginning." (Wood, 9) Like any good beginning should, Genesis sets a foundation for the rest of the Bible and, for that reason, it is considered to be one of the most important books of the Bible. Much of the later text in the Bible would be incomprehensible if Genesis were not there. Dr. Henry Morris, a respected theologian, expresses this belief when he wrote "The books of the Old Testament, narrating God's dealing with the people of Israel, would be provincial and bigoted, were they not set in the context of God's developing purposes for all mankind, as laid down in the early chapters of Genesis" (17). This paper will investigate the importance of this book and some of the mysteries behind it.
             One of the greatest and most controversial mysteries about Genesis pertains to its authorship. Despite hundreds of years of careful study, no precise author can be discerned from the text or from history. Over time people have developed their own views on who wrote Genesis, but none of these theories have yet to be proven as correct. According to early Jewish tradition, God dictated the entire book to Moses on Mt. Sinai. While many Orthodox Jews still hold to this belief, most theologians, non-Orthodox Jews, and Christians no longer accept this view and instead see it as a compilation of stories that were recorded and combined into the final product over a period of time by many different people and that, perhaps, Moses was one of the contributing authors.