In the Beginnings: Discovering the Two Worldviews Hidden Within Genesis 1-11

"YOU MAY HAVE STUDIED THE FIRST CHAPTERS OF GENESIS MANY TIMES BEFORE, BUT ONCE YOU HAVE READ DAVID HARBATER’S GROUNDBREAKING AND CAPTIVATING BOOK IN THE BEGINNINGS, IT WILL SEEM AS THOUGH YOU ARE STUDYING THEM FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME."
MICAH GOODMAN
BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF CATCH-67 AND THE WONDERING JEW

Just when it seemed that nothing substantially new can be said or written about the first part of Genesis, In the Beginnings presents it in a dramatic new light. Through a close and careful reading of the first eleven chapters of Genesis, this book shows convincingly that hidden beneath the surface of the text, there is not one beginning, but rather two beginnings. Two accounts of creation are followed by two parallel narratives that reflect two distinct and at times competing worldviews regarding the nature of God, of human beings, of our role in the world, of the relationship between the man and the woman, and much more. Whether one accepts the traditional or the critical view of the Torah’s origins, In the Beginnings is a vivid and powerful testimony to the Torah’s depth, richness, and multivocality, with profound implications for the ways it is to be understood and lived in our day.