John Goldingay
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - At Last
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - At Last
by SPCK - John Goldingay
At Last Genesis 20: 14- 21: 14 My parents married later in life than was usual in their day, and I previously mentioned that it was some years before I was born. My mother used to tell me she couldn’t imagine there was a baby more welcomed into the world than I was. A generation …
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Do We Ever Learn?
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Do We Ever Learn?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Do We Ever Learn Genesis 20: 1-13 There was a man who used to come to talk to me from time to time when he had gotten into a mess with a woman (well, he came at other times, too). He was married and ought to have known better, but he didn’t. He would blame the women: they were at…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Don't Look Back
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Don't Look Back
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Don’t Look Back Genesis 19: 15-38 The English make jokes about the Irish and use the word Irish as a term of opprobrium; it is a way of saying something is stupid. Other ethnic groups behave in similar ways; Portuguese people and Brazilians make jokes about each other. The Irish …
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - The Sin of Sodom
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - The Sin of Sodom
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Sin of Sodom Genesis 19: 1-14 I have a number of friends and acquaintances who are attracted to members of the same sex or are in long-term, committed, quasi-marital or actually marital relationships with members of the same sex. I don’t take the view that same-sex relationsh…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - On Praying for Sodom
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - On Praying for Sodom
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Praying for Sodom Genesis 18: 21-33 Yesterday we prayed in church, as we usually do, for God to grant peace and goodwill among nations. It is tempting to feel cynical about such prayers. Does God listen to them? Do they make a difference? Would it make a difference if we gave …
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - The Cry from Sodom
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - The Cry from Sodom
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Cry from Sodom Genesis 18: 16-20 Any day I write, there are cries arising from the world. To test that statement, I just went to get today’s newspaper. On the front page is a photo of a woman who lost a leg and whose husband and son died in a NATO bombing in Afghanistan. In t…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Entertaining Unawares
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Entertaining Unawares
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Entertaining Angels Unawares Genesis 18: 1-15 One of my friends thinks she may once have met an angel. She was driving to work along a stretch of road surrounded by open land in a well-to-do part of the Los Angeles area, and she passed someone who looked rather like a homeless ma…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - But What about Ishmael
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - But What about Ishmael
by SPCK - John Goldingay
But What about Ishmael? Genesis 17: 20-27 When my sister and I were young children, our parents had a hard time making ends meet on my father’s wages as a factory worker. My father was not keen on my mother going out to work while we were small, and eventually they decided to sel…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Sarai Becomes Sarah
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Sarai Becomes Sarah
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Sarai Becomes Sarah Genesis 17: 15-19 On my father’s birth certificate, our family name is spelled Gouldingay. It was just a slip; I can imagine my grandfather and grandmother (hardly out of their teens) being a bit nervous when they registered the birth, and it seems they confus…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - A Sign of Grace, Commitment and Discipline
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - A Sign of Grace, Commitment and Discipline
by SPCK - John Goldingay
A Sign of Grace, Commitment, and Discipline Genesis 17: 9-14 As was once the custom in Britain, my parents had me baptized when I was a baby, even though this was the only involvement they had with the church apart from weddings and funerals. I don’t know exactly what they though…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Aliens and Strangers
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Aliens and Strangers
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Aliens and Strangers Genesis 17: 7-8 There is a world of difference between being an alien and being a citizen. The New York Times has an ethical agony page where the columnist discusses some dilemma. Last week a reader was taking his family on vacation in Holland, where smoking …
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Your Name Will Be Abraham
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Your Name Will Be Abraham
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Your Name Will Be Abraham Genesis 17: 1-6 Names are important. My middle name is Edgar, which was my father’s first name. When I was being baptized, family legend says my grandmother leaned over to my mother and asked why it was not also to be my first name. My mother allegedly r…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Acknowledgments
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Acknowledgments
by SPCK - John Goldingay
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The translation at the beginning of each chapter is my own. I have tried to stick closer to the Hebrew than modern translations often do when they are designed for reading in church, so you can see more precisely what the text says. Although I prefer to use gender…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - GLOSSARY
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - GLOSSARY
by SPCK - John Goldingay
GLOSSARY altar A structure for offering a sacrifice (the word comes from the word for sacrifice), made of earth or stone. An altar might be relatively small, like a table, and the person making the offering would stand in front of it. Or it might be higher and larger, like a plat…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Better with Abraham and Sarah than in Egypt
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Better with Abraham and Sarah than in Egypt
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Better with Abraham and Sarah than in Egypt Genesis 16: 8-16 Toward the last years of my time as a seminary principal in England, the demands of the job took a toll on me. One reason you get paid more if you are the boss of anything is that you are the person who lies awake at ni…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - The Complications of Surrogacy
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - The Complications of Surrogacy
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Complications of Surrogacy Genesis 16: 4b-7 Establishing whether a couple’s problem in having children lies in the man or the woman involves stressful processes of medical investigation. When a woman who had gone through such procedures told me her husband had a zero sperm co…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - On Not Being Able to Have a Baby
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - On Not Being Able to Have a Baby
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Not Being Able to Have a Baby Genesis 16: 1-4a People who cannot have children may go to huge lengths to fulfill their longing. Yesterday I noticed in the newspaper an advertisement for a free lunch and seminar on how to start a family by surrogacy. It involved going to India,…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - How Do You Know?