The Beginning

Chronicles of Heaven #1

by Gene Edwards

This volume in The Chronicles of the Door explores the mystery and marvel of God at work. In The Beginning, God's creation of the world is viewed from the angels' perspective. Man, the crowning glory, rules Creation in full fellowship with his Creator—until he succumbs to the fallen Angel of Light, and the Door is closed. Enthralling and fast-paced, this book can introduce non-Christians to the God of Creation and the purpose for living while offering believers a richer dimension to their faith.

Genres: Christian, Christian Fiction, Fiction, Spirituality, Christianity, Theology

122 pages, Paperback

First published September 16, 1992

About the author

Gene Edwards is one of America's most beloved Christian authors. He has published over 25 best-selling books, and his signature work, "The Divine Romance," has been called a masterpiece of Christian literature. He has written biblical fiction covering nearly the entire Bible, with titles that include the following: "The Beginning," "The Escape," "The Birth," "The Divine Romance," "The Triumph," "Revolution," "The Silas Diary," "The Titus Diary," "The Timothy Diary," "The Priscilla Diary," "The Gaius Diary," and "The Return."

Gene grew up in the East Texas oil fields and entered college at the age of 15. He graduated from East Texas State University at 18 with a bachelor's degree in English history and received his M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Gene is part of the house-church movement, and he travels extensively to aid Christians as they begin meeting in homes rather than in church buildings. He also conducts conferences on living the deeper Christian life.

Gene and his wife, Helen, reside in Jacksonville, Florida, and have two grown children.

Reviews

[Ron · Rating 2 out of 5]

An intriguing concept: the story of creation as seen by the angels. Some creative imagining of the interplay between the eternal and the temporal as background. And that's about it. Very pedestrian storytelling, marginally scripture-based and frankly boring. Maybe appropriate for young or young to the faith readers, though I'd point them to books by Watchman Nee, Rick Joyner, Francis Frangipane and, yes, C. S. Lewis. (see below)

The cover of a different Edwards book, which having read this one I know not to read, claims his works will "rank with those of C. S. Lewis." Not a chance. He should be ashamed to claim such.

It was okay.

[Emily Josabeth Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gene Edwards is off-brand C. S. Lewis. He's trying, and sometimes he does real good. But this one...I enjoyed the description of creation from the angles perspective and I think it's interesting. But when he got to the part of adam eating the fruit and the the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the devil's power... kind of missed the mark I think. In his attempt to make it creative and emotional he kind of forgot to mention some real spiritual truth.

[Tawnda Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously the writer uses his imagination to fill in many blanks, however, as it is presented does bring about quite a bit of meditation on the creation of the world. Having heard the creation quite frequently, one can get bored by it and miss out on the awesomeness of the 7 literal days and this book had me rethinking it and considering the creation especially of mankind through Adam. While no one should confuse this with a work of nonfiction, it can remind us that the beginning isn’t a story to skip.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was taken by surprise by how much I enjoyed this book. Published by an obscure company I'd never heard of, it didn't look like much. But it came recommended by our daughter, a voracious reader, so I gave it a try. The "sanctified imagination" of Gene Edwards is amazing. He paints vivid word pictures and fleshes out the biblical story with details that are not just Scripturally plausible, but quite insightful. It's a great companion to reading Genesis, and while The Beginning is certainly not inspired nor inerrant, it sheds fresh enlightenment on the familiar story of beginnings. I look forward to reading additional volumes in the "Chronicles of Heaven" series about the Old and New Testaments from this prolific author.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whoever you are, take a day and read this book. The journey of the very beginning of Creation to the Fall, it becomes so personal and real the way God is portrayed as a dad who has such compassion for His children and the loss that He felt when His children were deceived and the repercussions that came with it. I cried every other chapter. I NEVER write reviews and when I do, know that those books are life changers; just as this one. Enjoy this journey with the Lord.

[Eel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short 100 page book about the garden of Eden doesn’t have quite as much feral longing for God’s secret counterpart but I did find it funny that he said the only way Jesus could be pure is if there was no “seed of man” involved, only women. I feel like a lot of problems could be solved this way.

[Melody M]

I don't remember this series very well so I'm rereading it because I'm trying to get ideas and it has angels Michael and Gabriel in it.

One of the first connections I made: C.S. Lewis SCREWTAPE LETTERS. How from angels'/demons' perspectives they are not living in TIME or SPACE I guess like we are. I don't know how true that is but something like that.

[Jovanni Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 - interesting concept of seeing creation to Adam and Eve from the angels pov. The chapters were short and it’s very fast paced but still very intricate in detailing the scenes and makes you think differently about God’s role/emotions in the creation of heaven and earth and the fall of man.

[steven m saenz · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful read

An amazing story of biblical fact with the mind of a true genius. This makes for an eye opening read that captures the true mystique of our lord and why he does what he does when he does it.

[Laura The Book Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book. It was a gift, so I wanted to like it. Basically, this book is about worship, but it is boring and doctrinally wrong in places.

[Katie Brewster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was pretty skeptical going into this series. I was sure it was going to be fantasy but the writing is very goodb& the details are great. I found myself almost yelling, No Adam!

[Mark Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very spiritually encouraging to deepen our perception of God's love and His beautiful design and plan.

[Lindsey Haderlie Boulier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

[JoyBeth Costello · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story of creation from the angels perspective. It's a little cheesy in some areas, but I really enjoyed it. It's a very easy read!

[Jewel Christmas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gene Edwards is a master storyteller

This book had me excited, angry, happy, hopeful…..thanking God and praying…all at the same time…..on to the next adventure….. Thank Gene!

[Boris · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book is a fairy tale story, at times it gets even against Bible teachings, and I'm not referring to adding details like the conversations and all that, I'm not a rigid close minded super religious guy, I really enjoyed Tale Of Three Kings and consider it add one of the best I've read, however, this one falls into using ridiculous concept that everyone with some biblical concept will reject right away, but some other people will develop a wrong concept about God, for example, saying that death is the opposite of God, God doesn't have opposite or enemies, that would be saying that something/someone is equal in strength/power, which is impossible. Also the scene where God and Adam run to each other?... God... It's like a soap opera.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This book was absolutely amazing. I know it is only fiction, and based on the imagination of the author, but it HAD to have been God-inspired. So much of it quickened my spirit and helped me to "feel" the creation story and sense how God meant things to be and how much the fall of man changed things. I cannot wait to read the rest of the books in this series. CAN NOT WAIT. The story is just beautiful. Beautifully tragic, with a sense of hope.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short book. You could probably read it in an hour or two. It's a fictionalized account of the story of creation in Genesis told from the angels' point of view. You'll find yourself saying, "No, that part's not true". Then when you go and look it up you find it is true. Very intriguing. It gave me a new perspective.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reads beautifully, like poetry. It is a simple book but something about the way the author writes... just could not put it down until I had reached the very end. And, it only took about 1hr to read. All books in this series are great reads; but this one is the shortest quickest to read and as stated previously reads so smooth you will find yourself zipping right on through it.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very entertaining, insightful and thought-provoking "Christian" read. Must be taken as a fictional novel based on a considerable amount of Biblical fact. Above all, moving and inspiring!

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of creation from heaven's point of view! AWESOME!!

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent

[Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome story of the creation of the earth! Highly recommended.

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was short but very good. An interesting look into the supernatural realm.

[Leona Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book! Easy to read. Very creative writing.