Within the bookstore of biblical studies, an alarming variety of works rest upon the shelves. Erudite tomes of philology and archeology, collections of sermons, thematic monographs, devotional series, and popular commentaries intermingle like diverse species in a rainforest. Arguably, each type has its place and purpose; yet, if you spend much time in their pages, a common ailment weakens many of them. History has fewer consensuses than we think, but one is surely that the Bible is great literature. No single text has sired more art, music, and poetry than Scripture. And yet, the books on the Bible seem to miss this glaring reality. Scripture will be farmed for moral lessons, psychological insights, doctrinal apologetics, and surveys on the history of religions, but the inherent nature of Scripture as literature is overlooked. You will read a renown literary critic on some biblical book and come away unconvinced that the author understands either literature or criticism. Like a coroner, these scholars conduct such a severe autopsy that all that remains are organs in jars with no recollection of the original body of the text. Therefore, we need to be reminded and reoriented from time to time that Scripture is superb literature. To this end, it is helpful to have as a guide one who is accomplished in just that. And Marilynne Robinson is excellently qualified for this task, which she does in her most recent volume, Reading Genesis.

For those unfamiliar with Robinson’s publications, I encourage you to dive in. Her fiction is beautiful and captivating, having been awarded the Pulitzer for Gilead (2005), and honored as a Pulitzer finalist for Housekeeping (1980). She has also authored numerous works of nonfiction. Her Death of Adam: Essays on Modern Thought (1998) is brilliantly insightful and refreshing, as she argues, in part, for a fresh appreciation of John Calvin. Ecclesiastically, Robinson’s background is within mainline Presbyterianism and Congregational fellowships. Even though this may be a stonable offense to some, in my humble opinion, her skill with stylus and ink ascends to the level of C. S. Lewis. This comparison with Lewis is fitting from another angle. As confessional, Reformed folk, we are aware of Lewis’ doctrinal errors, but these shortcomings do not invalidate everything Lewis writes about Christianity and Scripture. And some of Lewis’ sagacity into the Word arises from the fact that he was an astute reader of texts. Similarly, Marilynne Robinson is able to bring to light profound truths from Genesis due to her literary sensitivity.

The format of Reading Genesis evinces eloquence by its simplicity, as the book is divided into two sections. The first portion is a running reading of the text of Genesis from alpha to omega, unencumbered by chapter divisions or versification, while the second part is the text of Genesis in the KJV. This layout expresses a single story within Genesis; it even harkens back to a time closer to the creation of the book before late medievalists added verses and chapters. She organizes her reading as a story, so that we can sense God’s unfolding plot from Eve to Dinah, from Cain to Joseph.

Amid the issues that confessional theology would demur from, the main one is authorship. Robinson sees the text as being a “product of reflection and refinement that took place over the course of generations or centuries” (4). She imagines a pious circle of learned rabbis remembering and preserving the stories that their grandmothers told them. Nonetheless, she is skeptical of the JEPD theory (or Documentary Hypothesis) of modern scholarship, remarking about biblical texts, “They are really far too tough-minded to be the products of ordinary this-worldly calculation” (6).

Furthermore, the artistry and unity of Genesis often pushes Robinson to acknowledge the weakness of the many redactor theories. Again, she writes,

Much modern interpretation of Genesis has proceeded on the assumption that the text was composed and edited by redactors with political or other agendas. Such a text would not preserve traditions or invent stories that establish so vividly the mere humanity of its heroes. . . . Consistency with variation is another feature of the text that argues against the theory of its being made up of disparate, unreconciled documents with no unifying vision behind them. (183)

Whatever Robinson may imagine about the creation of Genesis, she reads it as a unified whole. Likewise, she sets as her goal to glorify God: “I am as intent on magnifying the Lord as if I were a painter or composer, but my first obligation in commenting on the text is to be faithful to the text” (197). This is a noble intention indeed.

Despite the areas where one may demur, Robinson’s reading is loaded with remarkable edification. Though these gems are numerous, one pervasive theme glimmers brightly, which is that of covenant and providence. She rightly recognizes a consistent covenant from the Lord undergirding the theology and history of Genesis, but her astuteness into this covenantal providence refreshes and educates. Like Job’s friends, we are prone to read providence with a good kick of dogmatism, even self-righteousness—a foolish tendency of ours. About this, Robinson remarks, “This is only one instance of an obdurate confidence that afflicts us generally, the idea that we know the cause of things” (14).

Then, during the stories, she repeatedly highlights how the intentions of the humans and those of God interact in a mysterious and paradoxical relationship. What Abram intended or the purpose of Jacob ends up serving the divine plan with an unexpected and gracious result. As she writes about the brothers selling Joseph into slavery, “This is the irony of providence, that it is served by just those steps that are taken to defeat it” (181). In another place, concerning Jacob’s theft of Esau’s birthright, Robinson registers a more comprehensive insight: “This is an instance of the fact that the covenant is not contingent upon human virtue, even human intention. It is sustained by the will of God, which is so strong and steadfast that it can allow space within providence for people to be who they are, for humanity to be what it is” (133). How well she perceives the operative principle of grace.

Related to this point, one of the long traditions in reading Genesis is to posit the patriarchs as paragons of virtue for moral imitation. Honesty with the text of Genesis does not support this tradition, which Robinson well elucidates. Consistently, she shows and comments on the realism of Genesis in exposing the faults of its characters. “Readers can be shocked by the fallibility of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the patriarchs are not offered as paragons” (84). In a style that is quite un-Homeric, Genesis presents the Hebrews without the claim of moral superiority, but as having strengths, weaknesses, and warts. “The very mingled characters in Genesis, in the fact of their flaws and errors, should give hope to us all” (143). And this wonderful interaction between the patriarchs’ faults and God’s steadfast covenant yields the amazing conclusion of grace.

Robinson’s reading of Genesis to showcase the harmony of God’s grace with our failures makes it a fruitful read indeed. Therefore, as the cool weather of fall and winter descends upon us, pull up a chair near the fireplace and let Robinson be your guide to the beautiful artistry of Genesis and the astounding glory of the Lord’s covenantal grace.

©Zach Keele. All Rights Reserved.

Marilynne Robinson, Reading Genesis (NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024).

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Post authored by:

• Zach Keele

  

  Rev. Zachary Keele grew up on a ranch in a small town named Crawford, Colorado. He attended Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and received his Master of Divinity from Westminster Seminary California. He has served as the pastor of Escondido OPC since 2006.

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