of their Promised Land after generations of bondage in Egypt and the loss, essentially, of the penultimate generation in the wilderness before crossing over.
The message contained in these two histories, and amplified throughout the remainder of the Bible, is that God has a definite plan for the universe, for man within it, and that no matter how far we may stray from that plan on own, God continually stands ready to reclaim us to Himself. It is summed up in a single sentence within Genesis 1:31, "God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good" (The Jerusalem Bible, 6). Despite our shortcomings, and our plunder of God's riches provided to us, we alone among all of creation have been created in His own image, and possess a unique, covenantal relationship with God.
Genesis is "the record of human failure" in the perfect environment of Eden, under the rule of conscience, and under patriarchal rule (Mears, 31). Exodus is the account of God's first attempt to redeem mankind. The two books are as much a parallel of the Old Testament to the New (Mears, 43). As Billy Graham contends, "It is in the Holy Scriptures that we find the answers to life's ultimate questions: Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? What is the purpose of my existence?" (Mears, 7).
At least three major, competing philosophical approaches to the Bible have developed over time. They are embodied today by the labels "fundamentalist," "liberal," and "(secular) humanist." The distinctions between each camp are sometimes blurred, but it is clear that fundamentalists are diametrically opposed by the humanists, while the liberals often appear to pick a
...