Self Struggle & Change
Family Conflict Stories in Genesis and Their Healing Insights for Our Lives
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
How do I find greater wholeness in my life and in my family’s life?
"To appreciate the importance of the Bible and gain insight about ourselves from it, both Jews and Christians can use the process of midrash: The attempt to find contemporary meaning in the biblical text. The term midrash comes from the Hebrew root darash which means to seek, search, or demand (meaning from the biblical text). The starting point of our search for personal meaning is the Bible itself.… Each generation, each reader, can approach the text anew and draw meaning from it."
—from Self, Struggle & Change
The stress of late-20th-century living only brings new variations to timeless personal struggles. The people described by the biblical writers of Genesis were in situations and relationships very much like our own, and their stories still speak to us because they are about the same basic problems we deal with every day.
Learning from Adam and Eve, can we find the courage not only to face our other side, but to draw strength from it? Learning from Leah and Rachel, can we stop competing with our loved ones, and begin to accept them and find ourselves? Sarah, Hagar, Lot, Ishmael and Isaac, Rebekkah, Joseph and his brothers, Jacob and Esau…this vibrant cast of characters offers us new ways of understanding ourselves and our families and healing our lives.
A modern master of biblical interpretation brings us greater understanding of the ancient biblical text, and of the insights its characters give us about ourselves and our families today.
By bringing the people in Genesis to life—husbands and wives, fathers and sons, brothers and sisters— Self, Struggle & Change shows us how to find wholeness in our lives.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Cohen, one of the panelists on Bill Moyers's PBS series on Genesis, has written an intriguing search for meaning in the Genesis stories. In his introduction, Cohen explains how he used the Jewish practice of midrash (close examination of and commentary on biblical texts) to read the Genesis stories with an eye toward extracting insight into contemporary family relationships. According to Cohen, the Genesis stories of sibling rivalry and family conflict embody our struggles with discord both within ourselves and with others. Thus, the story of Adam and Eve illustrates that we must unite the opposing elements within us to find our true selves, while the story of Cain and Abel questions our ability radically to change our lives for the good. Since Genesis ends with the unification of all the tribes of Israel, Cohen believes we will also be able to unify the conflicts within us and overcome our differences with others. Although somewhat simplistic, Cohen's interpretations will be of value to many people who use the Bible as a guidebook for their daily lives.
