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The Epic of God





The Epic of God by Michael Whitworth

Michael Whitworth in his award winning book The Epic of God takes the Book of Genesis as his main textbook and outlines, brings to life, and applies God’s Word to his reader’s lives with depth and clarity.  Basing his view of the days in Genesis of creation as literal 24 hour periods, Michael explains that he believes this because other passages consistently conclude that there were six days of creation and one day of rest and make up an entire week (see Exodus 20.11; 31:17) (pg. 24).  in the natural way that you would see a week.  He sees the day-age theory as more as a tip of the hat to modern science.

I appreciate the way Michael weaves together a sense of the application of Genesis for our lives, like in his discussion of the Sabbath (23).  In talking about sin, Michael points out that sin is breaking God’s boundaries but also contains an emotional element as well (79), for sin breaks God’s hearts and it grieves him.  Overall, his presentation on narrative of Genesis weaves together the story of God’s work in the lives of fallen men and women but also a sense of the way God is bringing about his good through it all.

Michael makes an interesting point in his discussion on Sodom and Gomorrah that the reason for its decimation wasn’t solely homosexuality but also pride and an utter disregard for the less fortunate (182-184).  Theft and extortion, making travelers starve and other activiites were among the treacherous acts of the inhabitants of these cities.  Therefore, homosexuality was considered a sin but it was also included with other sins such as theft, bribery, not helping the lowly, etc.

This running commentary is a good guide for those interested in the book of Genesis.  Not so much a technical work but a popular work on the first book of the Bible, readers are sure to profit from Michael’s pastoral and theological gifts.


Thanks to BookCrash and Start2Finish books for the copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

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