Genesis 1 (heavens and elohim)

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NEIL

> I might not be wise jumping in here but maybe it is of some significance

> that Gen.1:1 has God creating "heavens" (plural). Again, like elohim,

this

> is a plural. And like 'elohim' it is a plural that is taken by most

Hebrew

> readers to denote the "majesty" or "greatness" of a singular thing. The

> sky, like God, was taken as something pretty big and awesome, so the

plural

> is used. (So said a couple of Hebrew grammars I studied years ago.) But

if

> the reader starts with the assumption that there are a number of gods

> involved in the creating and that there are a number of heavens being

> created then this grammatical point will be ignored. 

> 

> It is almost impossible to read anything without bringing our prior

> assumptions to it. Cultural assumptions have made an honest objective

study

> of the Bible almost impossible for 1600 years. That's why I do believe

that

> the first step to an honest understanding of any Bible book is to check

out

> who its author was, and who its audience, why it was written, etc.

> Otherwise we may not reach agreement on the meaning of the very first

> verse! ;-)

> 

> Neil

IAN
First of all, Neil, learn how to post. Always put your name in capital
letters at the beginning of your post. If you don't, I will ignore it.
Second, if you split someone elses post, put there name in capitals where
there post restarts.

Now, I am not a buiblical scholar, nor do I want to be. I believe that if
there is a God and if this God wrote or had written an inerrant book which
we call the Bible, a person, such as myself, with a BS in Aeronautical
Engineering, should be able to read it and understand it without having to
know Hebrew and Greek. 

I am afraid my patience with Matt, Brian Dean, and now you is coming to an
end. We have been at this for two weeks and we are still on the first day.
The Penteteuch covers 2309 years according to my calculations and longer
than that if one is to go by these inerrant Christians. That means we will
be here for 32,326 years. Jesus might be merciful and come again by that
time but I sincerely doubt it.

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