Did Adam have a belly button?

It’s one of those questions that children ask.  The obvious answer seems to be that Adam and Eve would not have had belly buttons because they were created as adults, rather than being conceived through natural means.  This means there would have been no umbilical cord to remove at birth.  If so, it would have… Continue reading Did Adam have a belly button?

Noah’s type

One of the ways in which we see those echoes reverberating through Scripture is through something called Typology.  This is about seeing how people, places, objects and events point forwards from themselves to people, places, objects and events in the future.  We use the term particularly to speak about Old Testament things that point forward… Continue reading Noah’s type

Death as exile

What does God mean when he warns Adam and Eve that on the day that they eat from the forbidden tree that they will die?  We know that they didn’t immediately die physically, they lived for many years after, although they would now experience, sickness and mortality.  This is where our Biblical Theology theme of… Continue reading Death as exile

Competing kingdoms (Romans 5:12-20)

You can also watch a recorded version of this here. So far we have discovered that we are without excuse, exception or escape in the face of God’s righteous judgement. God has clearly revealed to us who he is and we have responded by suppressing that truth. All have sinned and so all are under… Continue reading Competing kingdoms (Romans 5:12-20)

Fall and Judgement

Failure and Rebellion In Genesis 1 and 2 God had been the primary actor and it was his voice that was heard consistently. God spoke in order to bring things into being and events to pass. Towards the end of Genesis 2, man is drawn more towards the centre of the stage so that he… Continue reading Fall and Judgement

Made for each other

If Genesis 1 introduces us to the creation of humanity, chapter 2 fleshes it out giving us a bit more detail about the creation of man and woman. At this stage we are told that there was no bushes and small plants of the field, a reference here I believe to cultivated plant life because… Continue reading Made for each other

The Challenge (Genesis 3)

At this point, all looks well. God has created a good creation, fit for purpose. Humans live in that Creation, enjoying a garden paradise under God’s rule and blessing. They are responsible for caring for and ruling over creation. Then things start to go wrong The Enemy The Serpent’s cunning (v1). The snake is introduced… Continue reading The Challenge (Genesis 3)

The Garden (Genesis 2:4-25)

Introduction We now get what many scholars take to be a second and possibly contradictory creation account.[1]  By the way, I think it is unlikely that someone would just stick two contradictory accounts side by side: common sense tells me that. There are also good reasons found in the text itself for rejecting that suggestion… Continue reading The Garden (Genesis 2:4-25)