Name _________________________________________ Period __________
Unit 2: Creation and the Patriarchs Study Guide
The big and important question of this unit is this: How does the Covenant, begun under Adam and
passed down through Noah, become in these chapters the focal point of the relationship between God
and Man? If the Covenant is a “character” in the story, what does Genesis tell us? How is the
Covenant woven into and through the lives of the characters we met?
Scripture Reading
This unit, we covered content from the entire book of Genesis. You may want to revisit the
scripture to re-read the stories we have encountered so far. Use the bold paragraph headings in the
Bible to help guide your reading! Use the passages cited below with the questions to answer the questions
effectively!
Classwork
Review the past assignments we have completed in class.
FAMILY TREE – note the major names we have encountered so far!
Vocabulary:
Check the vocab from Chapters 4, 5 & 6 in the textbook. There are a lot of names!
Sophia Chapter 4 – Major Chapter Concepts & Questions
Review Genesis Chapters 1-3
The First Creation Narrative - Genesis Chapter 1
- Gives us a broad overview of the creation of the universe day-by-day, down to mankind
- Shows creation as a "good" thing. Once man is created, it is “very good”
- Shows mankind's origins – “Image and Likeness” of God (See HW 2.5)
- Illustrates the history of God's relationship with mankind since the beginning
Days 1-3
Days 4-6
Day 7
1 – Light & Dark (Time)
4 – Sun, Moon, Stars (Rule Time)
- REST
2 – Sea & Sky (Space)
5 – Birds and Fish (Rulers of Space)
- The Sabbath!
3 – Land (Habitat, Life)
6 – Animals & Man (Rulers of Life)
- Covenant
Big Theme - IT WAS GOOD
Creation is for a purpose! God sees it is good! Order, structure, harmony in creation. Mankind
created: God sees creation is “very good”
The Second Creation Narrative – Adam & Eve and the Fall
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Creation follows a slightly different order in Genesis 2 than it did in Genesis 1
Creation Order: Man, Eden, Animals, Eve
In the Garden: Tree of Life & Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
– God forbids mankind from touching this tree
– “You will certainly die”
– Guess what happens next…
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The “serpent” persuades Eve to eat
– “You certainly won’t die!” - They DO die – not right away
– Sin enters the world – spiritual death
The Fall – Genesis 3:8-24
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What sort of questions does God ask to Adam and Eve? Do you like their answers?
What are the curses put upon:
– Man? Woman? Humanity in general? The Serpent?
• Adam and Eve choose disobedience over union with God
• Spiritual death
– Turning away from God, Loss of supernatural life, original holiness, original justice
• Banished from Eden
– Cursed!
Original Sin
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A result of Adam & Eve’s first sin
By our humanity, we share in Adam’s wounded nature
It is NOT a moral guilt – but this wounded nature makes us inclined to sin
Our intellect is darkened, the will is weakened, we fall victim to our passions
Original sin subjects us to pain, sickness, death
We are alienated from God – Baptism helps to restore us
We are not naturally perfect, we are not totally evil – we are wounded
– We ultimately need CHRIST to heal the divide between Man & God
Sophia Chapter 4 – Major questions to consider:
1. What are the major characteristics, and differences between, the first and second creation story
(Genesis 1 compared with Genesis 2)? How do they together give us a more complete view of
humanity and our role in creation?
2. What does it mean to be in the image and likeness of God?
3. How is Adam a Priest, Prophet, King? What does this mean for us and our roles in the world?
Who will ultimately perfect these titles for God’s people?
4. What is “the Fall” and what were its major consequences? What does Original Sin have to do with
it?
5. What is the Protoevangelium, where in Genesis is it, and what does it promise?
Sophia Chapter 5 – Major Questions to consider (Genesis Chapters 4-11)
1. What was the story of Cain and Abel? How does it demonstrate that mankind is falling further and
faster, since the Garden of Eden?
2. What does it mean that Seth was made in Adam’s image and likeness? Why is Seth’s line the
“good” line, and how is the line of Seth (except for Noah) corrupted before the flood?
3. How does the Flood story prefigure Baptism? (it is a “type” to Baptism)
4. How is the Flood story a way of describing God’s love for creation?
5. The Flood and the flood story out of the Epic of Gilgamesh (and other Middle-Eastern myths)
appear very similar at first glance. Why are they ultimately two very different stories?
Noah and the Flood (Genesis Chapters 4-11)
'Blameless in his generation' - why was his generation so darn bad? What happened between Adam and
Eve, and Noah’s time?
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God picks Noah
– Told to save his family and the animals, God “needs” Noah to act as guardian of creation
“I will establish my covenant with you”
Noah builds an ark, saves creation & his family, survives the flood
Be fruitful and multiply - parallels the creation narratives - a new beginning
Sons of Noah
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Despite Noah’s best intentions, Sin persists after the Flood
– We see it play out in an interaction between the sons of Noah
The three sons of Noah provide a Biblical account for the populations of the major regions of the
known world, & shows God’s blessing on Noah
– Shem – Ancestor of the “Shemites,” or ‘Semites.’ He receives the blessing of Noah, and
becomes the forefather of Abraham - Arabia, Middle East
– Japheth – Japhethites - Eurasia
– Ham – Hamites - Canaan, Africa, Palestine. Curse of Canaan – Noah curses Ham’s
descendants for the incident in the tent. Hard to understand! Establishes the long feud
between Canaanites and Israel (the Shem-ites)
Tower of Babel - rebellion of Hamites against God - what is the result?
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God fractures the one language of man into many languages: a mythic explanation for the
diversity and spread of human culture after the flood
Sophia Chapter 6 – Major Questions to consider
What is the story of Abraham? Where does his life begin, what is the story of his Call, and what
major events happen in his life? (Genesis 12 especially)
What are the three promises made to Abraham? What do they mean and how are they fulfilled? In
whom are they fulfilled? (worksheet and associated scriptures)
How is Isaac a ‘type’ of Jesus? Remember, this means, how does Isaac prefigure in clear ways the
sacrifice of Jesus? (Worksheet, Genesis 22)
What was the story of Jacob and Esau, starting with their birth? How did Jacob take the birthright
and blessing of Esau? (Genesis 25, 27)
What is the story of Joseph, the son of Jacob? How does his story account for the migration of
Israel (the family of Jacob) into Egypt? (Genesis 37, 39-41, 45:1-8, 46:1-7) ***Note: we did not
read the selections from 45 & 46 in class, but you may want to take a look at those before the
test!! How is Joseph’s life an example of God “drawing straight with crooked lines,” meaning,
how does it demonstrate God’s ability to bring good out of evil? How does Genesis 45:4-8 express
Joseph’s own understanding of this truth?
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