On 12th October 2019 Bishop Alan Williams came to the parish of Gidea Park to inaugurate the Year of the God who Speaks. On the same day Fr Adrian Graffy gave two talks on the topic ‘Beginning with Genesis’.
Fr Adrian explained that he would be examining chapters 2 and 3 of Genesis, with only a fleeting look at Genesis 1. This was because chapters 2 and 3 are deeply connected and chapter 1 gives a different creation story, which is in fact more recent.
Fr Adrian stressed that these stories suggest answers to profound human questions, and not scientific or historical accounts. Chapter 2 is a very ancient creation story, with parallels in the ancient stories of the East. It stresses that the man is placed in the garden of Eden to work and protect it. The chapter has its climax with the creation of the woman as a companion for the man.
Chapter 3 deals with the expulsion from Eden, a story fundamentally about the limits placed on man and woman and the temptation to cross those limits. The story is an attempt to answer the question how evil and pain come into the world. Finally Fr Adrian spoke about the meaning of these chapters for today, and addressed the question of how we might understand ‘original sin’.
Introduction
