In Genesis 2, God gives Adam an Eve a choice, and they totally blow it.

So why did God give them a choice in the first place? Welcome. Welcome to the first episode of a new podcast we're calling Reflections. My name

is Sri Hayes. I'm a writer here at Bible Project and I get to be your host.

We want this podcast to encourage your relationship with Jesus

and to help you reflect on what you're learning with him.

Each episode includes a message from one of our Bible scholars.

It also features a narration of the scriptures and at the end I'll invite you to

reflect on some questions to help you take it all in. In today's episode we're

exploring the book of Genesis and how it relates to the choices we face every day.

Listen in.

Hi, this is Karissa at Bible Project,

and this week we're looking at Genesis 1 through 11,

the very first stories of the Hebrew Bible. The introductions of stories are

crucially important. Think of your favorite story and how it starts. It

probably introduced the main characters, began with a level of stasis or stability that soon

to be interrupted, and it probably also brought up the main problem of the story.

The same is true of how the story of the Bible begins. I would go as far as to say that these

initial chapters, Genesis 1 through 3, are some of the most important in the Bible to know by

heart or be super familiar with. And that's because

they set the stage for the entire story to come. They introduce the initial

patterns that later authors use and play off of, and they have a lot to teach us about our own design

and purpose and role in the world.

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