Words Made Flesh: Literary Forms in Genesis

"Reflecting on today's first reading from Genesis (2:7-9; 3:1-7), we must take into consideration the literary and theological form of the first pages of the Bible. Like many stories in the first eleven chapters of Genesis, the Eden tale is an etiology -- a story that helps to explain important questions about the major realities of our life. Why is there pain in childbirth? Why is the ground hard to till? Why do snakes crawl upon the earth, etc?

"Genesis 2-3 suggests that knowledge, a necessity for human life, is something that is acquired painfully. Ignorance may be bliss, but it is certainly not the mark of adult maturity. When human beings finally understand what it means to be fully human, when they have complete knowledge, then the realities of life come into full relief in all of their complexity and difficulty. Knowledge is both enlightening and painful."

Reprinted from:
The Single-Heartedness, Faithfulness and Loyalty of God's Son
Biblical Reflection for 1st Sunday of Lent, Year A
By Father Thomas Rosica, CSB

To access all Fr. Rosica's reflections in Zenit on this past week's Sunday readings, click here.