Creation of Humankind
This passage is made of verses from the Holy Scriptures.
The verses are from the book of Genesis because they talk about the creation of a human being, and we know through the scripture of the bible about how all living things on earth were created: found in the book of Genesis. The person who is talking is the author of the book of Genesis. In some instances, the author uses quotation marks to indicate the direct words of the creator of living things. The topic of discussion in the passage is the creation of human being. The passage states that, while God was talking (it is not mentioned whom He was talking to); He decided to make a humankind who resembled their image.
Therefore, God went ahead and created humankind in His own image. He then blessed them, and sent them to earth. They were given authority over all other living creatures, which were on earth. God told them to be fruitful, fill the earth, and subdue it. The passage also indicates that the humankind was provided with food: fruits that grew in trees found on earth and those that had seeds inside them. We can interpret the passage to mean that, God did the work of creation of the humankind.
However, he did not do it alone since the passage discloses that God was in the company of ‘somebody’ else when He decided to create humankind. The passage states that God said, ;Let us make humankind in our own image.” This is a clear indication that there existed another living thing, which had an image, similar to that of God. Moreover, the passage insinuates that when God created the humankind, he did not create just one human, but he created two of them male and female. The relationship between this passage and the religious tradition from which it was drawn is that, it acknowledges that the origin of humankind is from God’s creation.
This religion is Christianity, which has its origin in Judaism. In relation to the larger themes of the course, the passage acknowledges presence of a super power, which is behind the creation of humankind and other living things on earth.Deliverance from Bondage An individual presents the message in the second passage in form of a narration. The person who is narrating the story appears to be working as a slave along with his colleagues. He says that everyday, he retires to bed very exhausted. One day, while sleeping, he heard a voice talking to him, telling him not to worry because; they were going to be set free on the day of Parshas Truma.
According to the narrator, the voice was very real and at one time, he thought it was his late grandfather. For the next consecutive days, all he could hear whenever he went to sleep was Parshas Truma. The narrator sought to find the meaning of Parshas Truma. Indeed, he found somebody who explained to him what Parshas Truma meant. One day, during prayer time, the narrator asked a Rabbi on when the next Parshas Truma was to happen. He narrated to the Rabbi his dream and they all hoped that it would come true.
In my own opinion, I think the meaning of this passage is that people have the ability to foresee future occurrences through dreams. God can communicate to His people through dreams or vision. The passage indicates that these people were held in captivity where they were subjected to hard labor. God used one of them to communicate the message of deliverance from that bondage.This passage relates very well with religious traditions of Judaism and Christianity. There are many instances in the Holy Scriptures where God’s people, who were held in captivity, got deliverances on the eves of religious festivals.
God would communicate a message about deliverance to these people through dreams, vision, or strange voices. For instance, the Israelites were delivered from Egypt during the night of Passover. Moreover, this passage contains themes such as roles of religious leaders, how God communicates to His people, and God’s deliverance from captivity. These themes are part of other major themes, which relate to this course.
