From Part 1 Introducing Genesis

"Some books of the Bible seem to be more important than others. I do not say they are more inspired by God, but they seem to be more important. Genesis is surely one of the most important books within the pages of Scripture. It is often called "the book of beginnings" because it tells us of the origin of so many matters which are of importance to us. We read of the origin of the world, the origin of marriage, the origin of sin, of the beginnings of society and of language. Chapters 12 to 50 tell us of the beginnings of the people of God.

To understand anything it is helpful to know its background and its origin. When there is some crisis in some part of the world we ask the questions "How did that happen How did that situation arise?" If one of our children gets into difficulty at school, we ask "What happened? How did this problem originate?" Whether it be a wife, a car, an international crisis, or a fight, we want to know the answer to the question "How did it begin?" We ask "Where does this person, event, machine ? or whatever ? come from? What was its story before it reached me?" We do not feel we understand something until we know the background and the origin.

Genesis asks these questions in the most sweeping way. It addresses questions like "Where does the universe come from?" "Where does the human race come from?" "What is the origin of marriage?" "Why are there nations?" It is rightly called "the book of origins."

Please note that some of the introductory Slices take 3 sides.