"And God made the beast of the earth."
The Christian Identity and Aryan Nations folks say that "beast of the earth" and "beast of the
field" refer to all non-human animals and non-white humans. They consider all people of color to be
without a soul and on the same level as animals, such as cattle, fish, and birds. 1:25
God gave humans dominion over every other living thing on earth.
This couldn't be true, of course, since millions of other species existed for
millions of years before humans existed. But this verse is used by
fundamentalist Christians to justify their mistreatment of other species and
disregard for the environment. After all, they believe that God created the
other species just for them, so they can do whatever they please with them. 1:26
"Be fruitful and multiply."
This verse is used to justify Christian
opposition to birth control, concern for the environment, and animal rights. The earth was made for humans, and they
can do as they damn well please with it. 1:28
In Christian Identity theology, the serpent is a black male ("beast of the field"), possessed
by the devil, who seduced Eve. Cain is the child that is born from this union, the evil son of
the devil and the first Jew. All Jews are descended from Cain. 3:1
The flood story in Genesis is confusing to read. The clean animals go into the ark by twos (6:19-20,
and by sevens (7:2). The flood lasts for forty days (7:17)
and for 150 days (7:24, 8:3). Noah sends out a raven
(8:7) and a dove (8:8).
Why doesn't Genesis get its story straight? Because there were two separate accounts that were (somewhat clumsily)
"And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger
son had done unto him."
What did Ham do? Did he just look at his naked father or was there something more to it than that?
Some commentators have suggested that Ham committed homosexual rape on his drunken father, and that
this was why Ham's descendants were eternally punished with slavery. 9:24
"Nimrod ... a mighty hunter before the Lord"
Who was Nimrod? The king who tried to construct the tower of Babel? The first pope? Elmer Fudd? Here are some links to help you decide.
"Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided."
Some creationists believe that this verse refers to continental drift, which, they say,
began to occur during the days of Pelag (which means "division"), about 100 or so years after the flood. But many
other creationists disagree. 10:25
"Terah ... begat Abraham."
Who was Abraham's father? Azar or Terah (Quran 6:74)? Which is right, the Bible or
the Quran? 11:26
Say, I pray thee, thouart my sister."
In the LDS Book of Abraham the same silly story is told, but it is God, not Abraham, who concocts the lie.
"And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking."
What did Sarah see that disturbed her so much?
Jonathan Kirsch suggests in The
Harlot by the Side of the Road that the "play" between Isaac and Ishmael may have been of a
sexual nature, noting that the same word is used to describe the behaviour of
Ishmael and Isaac as is used in 26:8 to describe Isaac's fondling of Rebekah. 21:9