Genesis: Fair Beginnings, then Foul

by Daniel Berrigan

From the "Daniel Berrigan is not an academic Scripture scholar searching for an (always elusive) 'original meaning' of the text. His concern is for the significance of the text to us―in the here and now…[He] has long been known to be a prophet, someone who courageously speaks God's will for our warring world…For Daniel Berrigan, Genesis speaks to our time and our world…" For seven years, Daniel Berrigan pondered the themes, meanings, contradictions, and implications of the Bible's most well-known and well-cherished "Book of Beginnings." In light of the escalating violence, military occupations, and global acts of terrorism that have characterized the beginning of our twenty-first century, Fair Beginnings, then Foul yields both sorrowful and hopeful reflections as Berrigan walks his readers through the Scripture, searching for stories of ancestry and origins that can "shed a measure of light on dark days." Bringing together lively midrash, biblical exegesis, and stirring social and political critique, Daniel Berrigan marries the keen eye of a biblical scholar with the heart and words of a poet revealing for today's generations the book of Genesis, in all of its aspects, fair and foul.

304 pages, Paperback

First published December 8, 2005

About the author

Daniel Joseph Berrigan (May 9, 1921 – April 30, 2016) was an American Jesuit priest, college professor, anti-war activist, Christian pacifist, playwright, poet, and author.

Reviews

[ben adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daniel Berrigan has become my spiritual director of sorts. His books on the Bible help me realize how important non-technical, liberative readings of the Bible truly are and yet how few exist. Truly, this book takes us through Genesis in a powerful way, paying close attention to the ambiguity of the text and the G*D within it.