An investigation of the constellation of profound questions and paradoxes that emerge from the primordial account of our first parents. Anderson (professor of Old Testament at Duke) writes this book in almost conversational prose, yet quietly guides the reader through issues that occupy volumes and volumes of scholarly commentary. There is the place for that trench-work, God knows, but thank God also for someone who can felicitously convey it to the vast unwashed. Anderson is committed not just to the procedures of modern critical biblical studies (though he appreciates and makes use of them) but also to the ways in which the biblical narratives have been understood and transformed in the Jewish and early and medieval Christian traditions -- and beyond. The frescoes of the Sistine Chapel provoke the reflections of the first part of this book: the womb of Eve as womb of both sin and salvation (the parallelism between Eve and Mary plays a major role in Anderson's efforts to reveal the full meaning of the Genesis narrative). The midrash of Milton in Paradise Lost accompanies the midrash of the rabbis of late antiquity in the middle portions, and throughout, the readings of Augustine and Gregory of Nyssa and Ephrem the Syrian reveal the rich textures of early Christian insight into the texts of Genesis 1-3. Our guide also makes use of the evidence of Jewish and Christian apocryphal texts, and Christian art and iconography to throw additional light on the written and exposited word. We dare to say: read this book, and you will never read Genesis on Adam and Eve in the same way again. Your understanding of them -- and yourself -- will be immeasurably enriched.An Eighth Day View:In a book that will appeal to both Jews and Christians, Gary Anderson explores the story of Adam and Eve and its perspectives on the problem of evil, the nature of sexuality, and the question of sin and forgiveness. Title:: The Genesis of Perfection Author:: ANDERSON, GARY A. ISBN Number:: 066422699X ISBN-13: 9780664226992 Location Published:: Westminster John Knox Press: March 2003 Binding:: Paper Back Book Condition:: New Categories: Old Testament Commentaries Seller ID:: 5688