Studies in the Patriarchs of Genesis
by James B. Jordan
James B. Jordan, Primeval Saints: Studies in the Patriarchs of Genesis
Copyright © 2001 by James B. Jordan.
Published by Canon Press, P.O. Box 8729, Moscow, ID 83843
800–488–2034 | www.canonpress.com
Cover design by David Dalbey.
ISBN-13: 978–1–885767–86–8
ISBN-10: 1–885767–86–2
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the author, except as provided by USA copyright law.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jordan, James B., 1949
Primeval Saints: Studies in the Patriarchs of Genesis / by James B. Jordan
cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1–885767–86–2 (pbk.)
1. Patriarchs (Bible) I. Title.
BS573.J67 2001
222.1106-dc21
Dale and Douglas
The Stories of Isaac and Rebekah
The book of Genesis contains the Bible in a nutshell. It records the beginnings (geneses) of all things, and everything that happens later in the Bible is an unfolding of what happens for the first time in Genesis. Because of this, the book of Genesis can and should be studied from a variety of angles, with attention paid to a variety of themes.
Yet, above all these themes is the overarching notion of beginnings and what develops out of beginnings. In the very first chapter we see God create the world, and then out of this beginning develops one good thing after another, with each new thing “begetting” in a broad way the next new thing as the Spirit works with the world. Then Genesis records a series of epochs in early history, each of which is “begotten” by the one that precedes it, and each of which transforms the old into something new.
Similarly, fathers and sons (or daughters) are continually in view in Genesis. We see this not only in the genealogies (which some wit has called “the begatitudes”), but also in the attention paid to Adam and his sons, Noah and his sons, Abraham and his sons, Isaac and his sons, and Jacob and his sons. In each case the son is called to carry forward the faithfulness of his father in new ways, becoming a new kind of person, and advancing beyond his father as “new occasions teach new duties.”1
Fascinating as such themes are, our interest in this book is simpler. We are concerned with the heroes ...
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About Primeval Saints: Studies in the Patriarchs of GenesisIn this volume, James Jordan reveals the fascinating weave of lives that bind together the heroes and villains of Genesis. Progressively, these lives image and reverse one another in an ascending narrative of action, a narrative all too commonly broken apart and missed. These heroes of the city of God—Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and others—come to flesh and blood in ways that undo our normal assumptions. In stark contrast to the selfish heroism of pagan literature, the heroism of Genesis triumphs by breaking all the standard rules. Jordan inverts so many of the traditional negative judgments against these patriarchs’ alleged weaknesses and “sins” of deception, struggle, and tyranny that they stand forth as heroes rather than as scoundrels. And yet this book is not just about the heroes of Genesis. Throughout, Jordan draws a picture of how Christian culture should be imagined and lived in our own day, from creativity and work to tyranny and freedom. You will never be able to read Genesis in the same way again! |
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