On the foundation of human partnership and the faculty of speech : a thematic and rhetorical study of Genesis 2-3
This paper investigates the intellectual and religious meaning of human existence in light of the Genesis garden narrative. The narrative presents the human cycle as a complex process of building a partnership and losing it - given the human wisdom which is the origin of doubt and curiosity - to the...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2007
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| In: |
Old Testament essays
Year: 2007, Volume: 20, Issue: 3, Pages: 689-702 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | This paper investigates the intellectual and religious meaning of human existence in light of the Genesis garden narrative. The narrative presents the human cycle as a complex process of building a partnership and losing it - given the human wisdom which is the origin of doubt and curiosity - to the life of mortality. The paper argues that the biblical position of the process of the human transformation from loneliness to partnership and then to life of productivity is not an act of evolution, but a series of responses resulting from the human mental condition. The paper pays close attention to the question of the human intellect which is conveyed through the faculty of speech. In this regard, the paper studies the first biblical debate, which is the argument that takes place between the woman and the serpent. The paper concludes that the human intellect is a double-edged sword of construction versus destruction; thus it is the human responsibility to control the powers of destruction through obedience. This is, in fact, the essence of biblical religion: the tension between human freedom and intellectual capacity on the one hand, and obedience to God on the other. |
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| ISSN: | 2312-3621 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Old Testament essays
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| Persistent identifiers: | HDL: 10520/EJC85898 |