Genesis: From Creation to Covenant

The Book of Genesis is important for Catholics because everything from Creation, the Fall, and the promise of a savior are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. In it we see the beginning of God's plan of salvation. Creation springs from God's infinite love and goodness, and despite the first sin called the Fall when Adam and Eve turned away from God, along with humanity's repeated sin, God faithfully draws his people back to himself, a plan of salvation fulfilled in Jesus Christ and continued in the life of the Church today.

Traditionally, the Book of Genesis is one of the five books of Moses, which are the books of the law. More recent scholarship points to the possibility of various authors. Following the Jewish tradition, Jesus himself refers to the first books of the Bible as "the books of Moses" (Mark 12:26). 

Genesis features two Creation accounts: the seven days of Creation and the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. These two side-by-side narratives follow a Hebrew literary technique known as synoptic, or resumptive, storytelling. In this method, the author first tells the "big picture" of a story and then retells it from another perspective, focusing on one particular aspect.

In Genesis, the second Creation account focuses specifically on the creation of humanity. Rather than contradicting one another, the two accounts present the same story from different points of view. This is similar to the four Gospel accounts of Jesus, which recount the same events from different perspectives.

When considering whether Creation really took place in seven days, it is important to remember that Genesis was not written in modern English but in Hebrew. In Hebrew, the word we translate as "day" is yom, which does not necessarily refer to a twenty-four-hour period. It can be translated that way, but it can also describe much longer or even indeterminate periods of time.

In other words, the Genesis creation account distinguishes seven periods of time, whatever their duration may have been, to reveal God who brings order out of chaos and fills what is empty. In Hebrew, numbers often convey symbolic or theological significance, emphasizing the quality or meaning of something rather than simply its quantity.

The first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis, fits within the Early World and Patriarchs time periods in the Bible Timeline system.

To see where Genesis fits within the whole story of salvation history, journey through all twelve Bible Timeline periods in The Bible Timeline: The Story of Salvation Fulfilled.

If you have additional questions, please don't hesitate to give us a call at 1-800-376-0520, chat with us by clicking on the chat to the right, or email support@ascensionpress.com 

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There are three ways your group could view the study videos:

• You could watch the videos on DVD, gathered as a group.
• You could watch the videos streaming from our Thinkific website, gathered as a group.
• Each person could purchase the online access and watch the videos independently at home on the Thinkific website.

We strongly recommend purchasing the DVDs for in-person group viewing because this is usually the easiest method for volunteer leaders to manage and because the DVD sets can be reused later by other Bible study groups in your parish.

Online access to our studies do expire after one year (or two years, if you are using The Bible Timeline: The Story of Salvation, Foundations of Faith: A Journey Through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or Matthew: The King and His Kingdom). This access begins from the day you purchase your online access, or from the day you set up your access (if you are using a group enrollment link given to you from your small group leader).

After you purchase a product that includes access, check your inbox for an email from our partner Thinkific. In order to access your online study, you will receive a link in that email to create a free account with Thinkific and access your study.

You will then be able to access your online study at ascensionpress.thinkific.com.

(Note that if you have already created a Thinkific account through Ascension, you will not need to create a new one, but will then receive a link to access your online study directly.)

If you purchased multiple online course enrollments for your small group, you'll receive an email the day of your purchase with a link which you can then forward to your students. With this link, each student can create their account and access their online course.

The workbook is an integral part of the study, containing reflection and discussion questions. To get the most out of the study, we recommend each participant have a Bible, his or her own workbook, and for studies that include an additional reading book, we encourage a copy of that as well.

You can choose the study materials that best fit how you plan to journey through the study! 

If you are leading a small group, we recommend purchasing the program’s Starter Pack for yourself, along with a Study Set/Workbook and Online Access for each participant.

If you are journeying through the study on your own, we recommend purchasing a Study Set/Workbook and Online Access for yourself.

In addition, we recommend that everyone have a Catholic Bible and Catechism of the Catholic Church. We recommend the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Ascension Edition and The Great Adventure Catholic Bible, which incorporates the same color-coded learning system used throughout our studies.

Our online edition of a study includes a digital copy of your workbook. This workbook is in a read-only format, and therefore cannot be printed out as this is a violation of copyright and intellectual property law. This version of the workbook is also unable to save student responses.

If you would prefer a printed copy of your workbook and have ordered the online-only option in error, please contact us with your order number and we will be able to help you set up your order for the printed materials instead!