[hermeneutics] [fundamentalism]

Its full meaning in isolated phrases or verses or episodes, is so deeply engrained that the larger structures of the text, its strategies of characterization, its arguments, can be completely overlooked. 158.

Reading Genesis Marilynne Robinson 2024

[Babel/Psalm 8]

Our conception of humankind is ... too narrowly defined ... [look at] the overwhelming power we are as a creature, a species. Every day we are confronted with the actual and potential effects of this power, but we are never properly in awe of it. ... it is collective, collaborative. ... Only God Himself could alter Creation as we thr... See more

[God’s forgiveness to Cain]

We are ... to learn that mercy is nearer than justice to Godliness, and that mercy can release an abundance far exceeding whatever might come of attempting to impose justice as we mortals understand the word. 59.

Reading Genesis Marilynne Robinson 2024

[Romans 12:18-21]

[vengeance] came into English through French from the latin vindicare, a word tht can mean to vindicate, to justify or find innocent, as well as to find fault. It implies judgment in the scriptural sense, the establishing of justice. 55.

...

There are always those who thrill at the thought of divine justice, imagining themselves to b... See more