The Universal Story: Genesis 1-11 (Transformative Word)

The opening chapters of Genesis tell the story of how humans relate to the world--and to God.

Genesis 1-11 is a parade of humanity's stories intertwined with the most intriguing subjects wrestled with today: the beginning of the cosmos, the nature of humanity, family, sex, deceit, death, murder, mass murder, ecology, agriculture, urbanization, and more.

In The Universal Story, Dru Johnson shows how Genesis 1-11 is written in a way that informs the rest of biblical history-including the exodus, the kings of Israel, the exile, the Gospels, and early church. Genesis 1-11 presents a story of humanity that seeks to explain the background of every human endeavor. It is "the universal story"-the story of stories-because it is a story about how all of these things came to be the way the Hebrews understood them to be. These bizarre and ancient stories frame the story of God and His plan for earth and humanity.

Dru Johnson (PhD, University of St. Andrews) is Templeton Senior Research Fellow and director of the Abrahamic Theistic Origins Project at Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford. He is also a visiting professor at Hope College, director of the Center for Hebraic Thought, editor of the Routledge Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Biblical Criticism series, and cohost of the OnScript podcast. His books include Biblical Philosophy and Human Rites: The Power of Rituals, Habits, and Sacraments. Johnson splits his time between Holland, Michigan, and Oxford, England.