Word of Life

By Adrian Mathew Note: It is recommended to read chapters 1 and 2 from the Book of Genesis before reading this article. Re-reading the article is also a suggestion to get a better understating of the text. Disclaimer – The following article is meant for educational purpose only and not for any commercial purpose. A Re-look at the Structure of Genesis: Another legitimate way to understand the literary structure of the book is when the sacred author has used genealogical formulas to mark what he considered key divisions of his text. The stock phrase “these are generations of” (Hebrew ‘elleh toledoth) is used at the junctures between blocks of narrative called “cycles” that largely follow one of five dominant figures in the book: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph. We discover that Genesis appears to have been compiled as five major cycles, each distinguished—and, at the same time, joined—by “ genealogical ” (toledoth) formulas . This five-cycle structural analysis is presente

By Emmanuel Gomes (Audio format click to listen ->  Spotify  narrated by Suharsh Xavier ) The Pentateuch is traditionally known as the five “Books of Moses”. It comprises of the first part of the Jewish and Christian canons of the Scripture. These books enjoy the distinction of inspired status by every sect of ancient Judaism (Samaritans, Sadducces, Pharisees, Essenes) as well as all major Christian communities.   “Pentateuch” comes from Greek words  pente  (five) and  teuchos  (roll, later coming to mean scroll). In Jewish tradition its also known as the Torah ( Hebrew meaning Law ).   The Pentateuch consists of – 1.      Genesis 2.      Exodus 3.      Leviticus 4.      Numbers 5.      Deuteronomy     Various Christian heresies denied its authority – most influential being  Marcion , a bishop in Italy in second century A.D. He rejected the entirety of Old Testament as being work of a false God, not of the one revealed by Jesus Christ. Also certain groups with roots in the Protestan

  By Emmanuel Gomes   This article concludes the introduction to the Old Testament, and discusses on how under the infallible authority of the Catholic Church the canon of the Scriptures according to Catholic faith was finalized.   There are video lectures at the end of this article. After studying this article, it is recommended to watch the four videos for a comprehensive understanding of the origins of the Bible.    From next article onwards, we will begin with the study of the Pentateuch, starting with the book of Genesis. For this Bible Study, we will be following the canonical order.   The Development of the Canon in the Early Church –   In the previous article , we saw how different sects of Judaism had divergent views on the Jewish Scripture during Jesus’s time. So when did the Jewish community reach a consensus on their canon as described in our first article?   Jewish traditions do not have a central authority like the Catholic Church and does not claim to hold infallible cou