Over all I surprised how many really...I don't want to say bad but...depressing people there are in Genesis. I mean going from Cain (although it's not like he was that great a shocker). But both Noah and Abraham could be rather unpleasant at times. I mean Noah "cursing" his kid and his kids lineage just because he saw him naked. And then Abraham would wander into a new area with his wife and always be like "she's my sister" and then be all shocked and upset when whoever was in charge tried to seduce her.
But the book begins at the beginning and so will I. First of all, I don't believe the story of Adam and Eve 100%. I feel that it, like many stories in the Bible it is mainly parable. I mean it was the technique Jesus used to convey his point to his diciples so it makes just as much sense that a lot of these stories are the same. Which means what's important is to focus on the meaning of the story. So a lot of these stories I'm looking at as literature, which can make it a lot easier to figure out what the meaning behind it is. As far as why I don't believe Adam and Eve word for word is simply because there's much more proof of evolution taking millions of years to get man to pretty much where he is now physically.
This does NOT mean, however, that God wasn't involved. He was very much. Kind of the way I look at it isn't so much that God HAS to be constrained by science but He created a concious being that He knew would begin asking questions about the universe around him and when it would become obvious that Religion alone couldn't answer these questions (and I don't mean questions of faith I mean like basic scientific questions) science could help provide logical answers that would help satiate this curiousity. Because of this I believe He works within scientific laws intentionally. In universe containing such fragile beings as us we couldn't survive in the chaos that would exist without scientific laws running things. So I feel God CAN step outside these self-imposed boundaries should He want to, but 99% of the time he doesn't want to.
Anyway I think the important part of the Adam and Eve story is that Eve "being formed from Adam" means that as humans we are all linked together and have an instinctual need to be joined with someone. I mean when you love someone you DO feel very much a part of them. As far as the Tree of Knowledge goes that's an obvious reference to loss of innocence. Which happens to everyone as they grow up. Their "eyes are opened" and they see that the world their parents sheltered them for can be very harsh, especially in the time period when Genesis was written.
When they realize they're naked and feel it's a sin I just don't understand. I mean the Bible itself describes man as being created in God's image (which I actually take to mean spiritually rather than physically simply because it's rather egotistical of us to think that God has the same type of lame body we do...especially considering one of the defining parts of our bodies are gender and I believe that God who created the universe is beyond the simple male/female specifics) but there's nothing to be ashamed of when you're naked.
Lets see the next thing that I kind of wondered about was God's covenant with Noah after the flood. Now I read over that part a few times and just couldn't agree with that. It says that's God's logic for making the covenant was that he realized that man is inherantly evil and there's not much that can be done about it. Frankly I can think of just as many indications that man is good at heart as I can proofs that God does love and care about us. I don't think that anyone or anything is just naturally evil (well maybe sharks), or corrupt or any of that. The world isn't so black and white as good and evil, if it were life would actually be a lot easier.
I also don't understand why God would intentionally make it harder for people to understand each other and create seperating languages. I'm sure you'll agree that dealing with people who speak only English is difficult enough. I really don't think God would do anything like that to drive people so far apart from each other. However, on the other hand, the story in Chapter 11 IS a handy plot devise to explain all kinds of different languages and cultures when it says earlier that we all came from the same place.
Is there any way to find out what the sin of Gomorrah-my is? Cause it obviously goes into detail about Sodom but just says that Gomorrah is bad too. It seems to me that reading the chapter about Sodom (19) confirms that the main sin was sex (in whatever form) merely for pleasure and without any kind of love or commitment behind it. When the men surround the house and ask Lot to send out the Angels, they're looking for a cheap thrill, obviously not a relationship. And THAT is their sin. This point that love is most important is illustrated later in the chapter when Lot impregnates his daughters. Now of course this isn't exactly a healthy relationship either, but they weren't smoted or anything because (in a weird way) that sexual relationship was motived bye Love. I think all of these chapters that hold any conflict like what exactly the sins of Sodom were, for example, are able to convey exactly what the meaning behind them is if the chapter is considered in it's entirety. And I think if they weren't related as I've described, the story of Lot and his daughters would have been a seperate chapter.
I think the circumcision thing was simply something that needed to be done to keep men healthy in that day and age. Even in WW I it was obvious that circumcised soldiers we're able to keep a lot cleaner and not get infections as easily when they were living in the trenches. Which is basically what the Hebrews did (well everyone did way back then) especially when they were enslaved. What better way to make sure it gets done than to make it a mandate from God. The same thing applies to Kosherite laws. Pig is hard meat to handle even today and it's important to be very clean when cooking it. Being that clean back then was impossible so it was just a lot safer to outlaw eating it.
Oh I also noticed that Abraham had concubines...what's up with that?