In the Beginning: A New Interpretation of Genesis Paperback – October 7, 1997

Karen Armstrong's "In the Beginning" came to me at the tail end of a two year study of Christianity. I looked at its dustjacket (a reproduction of Adam from the Sistine Chapel) with indifference, and decided to read it only because it was brief. To say I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement. For one thing, Armstrong is a lyrical writer -- as a copyeditor, I truly marveled at her sentences for both their clarity and poetry. For another, in this book she does something many clerics and scholars have failed to do: successfully apply meaning to the garbled message of Genesis.She states her case pretty early on: there is no way to get a coherant understanding of God from reading Genesis. He is utterly contradictory -- creative and all-powerful in one story; vengeful and capricious in the next. This paradox has befuddled many of reader. I, for one, had come to think of Genesis as typical of the flawed meaninglessness of the Bible. But Armstrong has me reconsidering my conclusion. It seems clear, she says, that all the characters in Genesis have to endure afflictions and unfairness. Whether they are favored in God's eyes or not, their lives are difficult. A relationship with God doesn't spare them difficulties -- instead the meaning in their lives is derived in part by making it through their difficulties with their faith intact.I really enjoyed this book. Just when I had grown tired of a subject, a new author has revived familiar terrain with a fresh perspective. I look forward to reading Armstrong's other books.

I was not a sympathetic fan of Armstrong's and was pleasantly surprised at the delightful writing and the provocative ideas. She raises questions seldom raised (but real) and suggests conclusions outside the mainstream. If you are at all familiar with the book she is writing about, you should find new insights and possibilities. I did not agree with everything she said (of course), but would suggest that anyone who avoids this study of Genesis will miss too much.An example of what she does can be found in her treatment of Noah and Abraham. Both men are seen as obedient and accepting of God's destructiveness and lack of concern for the innocent (the Flood and the Sacrifice of Issac). Abraham goes off to sacrifice Issac with the same submissiveness with which Noah builds his ark. But in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham argues with God and God reduces the absolute severity of his punishment! Perhaps this is the true beginning of Judaism in the Bible.

She shows well how Biblical characters are all ultimately forced to face their deepest flaws and how different this is from classic Saint stories

Karen Armstrong offers fresh insights about the nature of God as seen in the book of Genesis. It's a valuable book to set over against the numerous claims by literalists who see Creation as something done in six 24 hour "clock and calendar" days. In other words, Armstrong presents the actually meaning of Genesis.

Armstrong writes confidently. Too confidently. The book acknowledges the mythic nature of the Genesis stories, but curiously asserts God to be the reality confronting humans. A somewhat novelistic treatment of the Genesis stories follows, in which God appears as a character and the motivations of the patriarchs imagined rather as if the author were their counsellor. If you are prepared, as I am, to agree that myth is the basis for the book of Genesis (where else but in myth does a talking snake seduce an innocent woman to seduce a gullible man - whose rib provides the basis for her being - to eat fruit which will yield knowledge of good and evil?). The primal myths of an immaterial world of spirit beings, and of magical thinking about causation without physical basis are taken for granted throughout the book. So, for a fanciful re-working of the ancient stories it's OK. As an insight into the musings on religious themes by a former Catholic nun, the book has interest, engaged with human concerns but not much help with serious religious insights.

Karen Armstrong is one of my favorite authors and this book did not disappoint. She is a wonderful researcher and an innovative thinker and tells a story like no one else. I recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of hers.

This is the first Armstrong book I have read and I intend to read more of her works. In this book, Armstrong presents commentary and some interpretation of the book of Genesis. I think most readers will find Armstrong's views eye openers. I've never read the book of Genesis critically or in much depth, my thinking being that it was written primarily to present the creation stories (yes, plural). However, with Armstrong's guidance I now appreciate Genesis as a foundational book that sheds light on God's purpose for the creation, and failings. Failings may be too strong a word for many to associate with God, but after all God did create humanity in His image, and as exemplified by humanity, that must mean that God at least strives for perfection which implies His sometimes falls short. Read this very well written and entertaining book and the reader will surely come to understand my meaning.

You will never think of Adam and Eve, let alone Abraham, Issac, and Jacob the same way again. If you want to take the Bible literally this is NOT the book for you! But if you want understand the story of God as understood by the people who first told the stories this is the book. Karen Armstrong does not judge but neither does she ignore the implications of the stories told in Genesis. She asks the questions I always have had but was afraid to voice in most bible studies.

muy interesante disección capítulos genesis y su significado según diversos redactores textosUna lectura desde la lógica con respeto a la idea central y sin desprecio a otras interpretaciones

旧約聖書の『創世記』に描写された物語を読み解いていくのだが、著者の視点が不明瞭で、結局「新しい解釈」とは何だったのか分からなかった。日本人作家による「旧約聖書」の解説書を読んだ方がましのような気がした。いい作品をいくつも発表している研究者なのだが。

Great book as are all her books. Scholarly yet accesible.Would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the subject matter.

Very helpful for the research I was doing. Author is very well versed in her material. I recommend this - it is an easy read.

Not read it yet, but the first 10 pages have got my interest!