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Podcast: The Bible as Literature
Episode: Not From Men
Description: When we talk about children, spouses, siblings, parents, family, or even friends, we can't help but refer to them as our posession: “My” son, “my” wife, “my” family—we arrogantly refer to individuals the same way that we refer to property. In the biblical tradition, nothing belongs to human beings: not the land, none of the things in our care, not the people in our path--nothing--and certainly, not the children whom the Lord provides. This plays out forcefully in Genesis, where human lines fail until God comes forward to plant a seed for the present generation, which is always in peril. But...