the exploitation and pollution which is plunging us towards extinction. The patriarchs are the founding fathers—the ancestors of the Jewish race and the pioneers of their faith. The first of them is Abram, who becomes Abraham, ‘the Father of Nations’. God calls one man, Abram, to live a life of faith. God promises him a multitude of descendants and a land of his own. The idea of a chosen race (Israel) in a Promised Land (Canaan) is born. Genesis is a source book for