The World, Genesis, and Theology of the Pentateuch

John M. Powell

• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781638851271
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Bibles

The World, Genesis, and Theology of the Pentateuch sets its focus on God's redemption of the entire human race following the entrance of sin into the physical time–space (i.e., the physical universe, physical realm of creation). Redemption didn't begin in the New Testament, but in the first book of the Bible called Genesis. As such, God has been reaching out to people through various means, methods, and ways to rebuild the divine and human relationship that became broken by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Satan understood God's plan to save humanity and never set idly by to watch his purposes unfold in the lives of people. He countered by introducing a false narrative of the origin of people and the universe to all of those willing to believe him, and surrender faith in place of what can be explained away or sounds good. The counter–narrative to God's inspired message of creation is evolution. It purports teachings by people who reject the creation account in Genesis chapter one. Evolution is therefore populism. It floods the education systems and many other worldly institutions under the disguise of being scientific, which is not scientific at all. Other counter–narratives extending out of evolution includes the evolution of the species and the big bang theory, which two systems that stand in opposition to the Bible.

Additional points of emphasis include:

Redemption began with the fall of humanity in Genesis and was completed in Jesus Christ in the New Testament. It uncovers how redemption began and took shape in beginning stages of human history, and how God's plan of redemption became clearer with the personal calling of Abraham through Israel and Moses. The 5 books of Moses called the Pentateuch embodies one–third of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) prior to Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Genesis leads the way in God's message to the human race. The ancient Gentile nations that vowed allegiance to other exalted deities apart from God manufactured their own religions, beliefs, literature, and teachings they tied to the deities they revered as divine. Such writings became the nucleus through which the nations viewed the world from the concept of religion, their gods, and the afterlife; and thereby competed with the knowledge of Israel's concepts in the way they viewed the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Redemption is not and cannot be found in other forms of worldly wisdom, knowledge, and teaching. But God's concept of people accepting him on the basis of faith in his word mirrors the example of Abraham's faith in the one true God that created all things that exist.

John M. Powell, PhD (ABD)

9

Exegesis of Justification by Faith According to Genesis 15:6

According to Genesis 15:6, Abraham was justified by his faith. This chapter is not intended to be the one dominant view and all-out conclusion of the matter of Abraham’s justification by faith in Genesis 15:6. It is intended to provide another perspective on the subject, using exegesis. Up to this day and time, many books and writings have been done on this subject; each offering different perspectives of what each believes is the correct perspective. Three different ways (or methods) of interpreting this passage is often conducted by:

1. Interpreting Genesis 15:6 based on the New Testament. This method is done by reading a/the New Testament interpretation and meaning (Viz. Rom. 4:9, 22, Gal. 3:6, and Jas. 2:23) back into Genesis 15:6.
2. Interpreting Genesis 15:6 based on what the passage supposedly meant to Abraham, while not referring to the New Testament for interpretation and meaning.
3. Using a combination of the first and second methods previously mentioned. For clarity, I believe that either method or both methods are fine. I intend to use the combination of the two in this chapter.

It must also be noted that there are sometimes issues in the way we conduct exegesis whether we realize it or not. First, we tend to conduct it based on our own biases and presuppositions of what we already think the passage means to us. It can be conjectured that this isn’t exegesis but leans toward the area of eisegesis (reading one’s meanings, ideas, and words into the text). We also make conclusions about the text based on the way we understood the NT and impose those interpretations onto the text. An example is an attempt to interpose upon Genesis 15:6 that it says Abraham received salvation and was saved because of his faith.189 This example is often a person’s conclusion, but it is not what the text says. Genesis 15:6 is specifically a confirmation of the covenant God made with Abraham. Regarding the covenant, it involved two individuals. Abraham’s act of faith ratified his end of the covenant. God endorsed his end of the covenant by justifying Abraham.

Another point is that, when it comes to other views on the subject that differ from our presuppositional theology of justification by faith, we tend to reject other views in favor of our personal theological views. In conducting an exegesis, it is fair that we consider everything the Bible has to say on a gi...

Table of contents

• Redemption
• Hermeneutics and Interpretation
• Theology in Critical Study
• Before the Beginning
• Genesis Argument, Narration, and Explication
• Third Covenant
• Cognitive Environment Criticism
• The Pentateuch
• Exegesis of Justification by Faith According to Genesis 15:6