Marilynne Robinson's "Reading Genesis"

The preeminent novelist and public intellectual, Marilynne Robinson, elucidates the Book of Genesis, a text foundational to all three Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. While familiar in certain respect, (Adam & Eve, Noah’s Ark), Genesis is also quite perplexing even in those familiar places.

Unlike many academic treatments focusing on controversies regarding sources, dating, authorship, and historical setting, Robinson’s Reading Genesis focuses on what she believes is a coherent and compelling account of human nature and humankind’s place in the cosmos. In it, she discovers religious themes similar to those that permeate her Gilead series, such as the sanctity of human life, the centrality of personal responsibility (righteousness), and the reality of hope.

Required materials: Marilynne Robinson, Reading Genesis. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux: 2024 and Book of Genesis (a King James Version copy is included in Robinson's book, Reading Genesis)

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Instructor: Arlin Larson

The Rev. Dr. Arlin T. Larson graduated from the University of Redlands and the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. He has taught at Senior College since 2007 and served on the Board of Trustees and three terms as president. His interest in Marilynne Robinson goes back to the publication of Gilead with its rich religious themes and depiction of changes in American religious culture from Abolitionism through WWII. Arlin & Sharon now reside in Newnan, GA.

Photo credit: Arlin Larson