Month 1 - Genesis

The first session of Through the Bible in Five and a Half Years takes place on the 26th March at 5 Meadow Lane, Loughborough. We'll start at 7:30pm.

In addition to the book of Genesis and the general recommended reading (see side panel), here are a few resources you might like to check out:

John L Gibson's 2 bible commentaries in the Daily Study Bible series are a great introduction to looking at Genesis. There's a brief introduction followed by a few verses and some commentary on each day. I own both volumes, and Open Heaven owns volume one.

In terms of online resources, Tyler Williams' Codex site has all kinds of useful information. In addition to his Genesis commentary survey, he has also started a series on his blog on Creation in Ancient Mesopotamia and how that links to the biblical accounts of creation. Lastly there is a brilliant 10 verse Genesis Limerick where each line. All these posts are bunched together under the heading "Genesis".

Two other web sites worth checking, although perhaps afterwards rather than before are the Bible Dudes site, and the Just So Stories. The "Just So Stories" are the nearest modern day parallel to one of the types of literature we find behind Genesis. Bible Dudes is a fantastic site, funny and light-hearted, whilst giving a solid introduction to certain aspects of the bible. The Biblical Studies pages will be particularly relevant for "Through the Bible in Five and a Half Years". Picture Bill and Ted doing Biblical Studies rather than basic history, and then picture someone parodying that but making the information sound and informative and you're about there. Easily the most interesting and readable introduction ever crafted.

Finally, I wrote an article for Open Heaven a couple of years ago looking at films based on the stories from Genesis, which I deftly named Genesis Films.