Genesis

It is essential to look past the differences and find the meaning for you and benefit from that.
             When interpreting Genesis, the nonbeliever must remember that it is alright to question those things he doesn't agree with, but not to disregard them entirely. Interpreting Genesis or any type of literature is a process. To interpret we need to think about the details, what they convey, and how they are interconnected. You need to be willing to look beyond what you normally what you believe to be possible. You need to look at the message in the text and be able to relate that to yourself and your experiences. Stephen Mitchell, author of Genesis: A New.
             Translation of Biblical Stories, struggled finding meaning in the boo himself. He .
             felt "much of Genesis spoke to me without intimacy, in the tones of a stranger: much of it didn't speak to me at all." (Mitchell, Pg. xi) Mitchell found it necessary to find those parts in the text that he could find intimacy in. Once he began looking, there was more and more that he found he could connect with.
             Like all other forms of literature, Genesis can teach us valuable life lessons. Genesis gives us many good lessons on justice. All humans are born with an innocence that can be shaped in many different ways. Before Adam and Eve ate the fruit of knowledge of right and wrong they had no need for a sense of justice. After they ate the fruit of knowledge, they realized that they had the freedom of choice, and with the freedom of choice often comes the choice to do evil. When someone has the freedom of choice to do right and wrong it is important that they understand that there are consequences for every action. In Genesis we learn that justice is not always perfect and is an ever-changing process. Genesis shows us that: "In the beginning all law is ad hoc. It involves random orders and threats from the powerful to powerless." (Dershowitz, Pg. 205) It is only through experience and trial and error that we can learn what is an appropriate punishment for each individual act.