Customer Reviews

Genesis Rejuvenated

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This book was a rare and unexpected pleasure to discover. With a Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Religion, from a leading university, I was not expecting much from a theological work written by the former CEO of Marvel Comics. I was surprised. This book provides the grist for a revolution in theology by providing translation of the Leningrad Codex, a Hebrew Bible compiled from lost ancient sources that predates the King James translation of the Bible that has dominated the Christian worldview.

By offering fresh interpretations of ancient texts, the Freeware Bible enables us to see how the King James Version was translated through glasses colored by Church doctrine and political monarchy. The possibilities of substituting alternative words both enable the reader to take off those glasses and reconstruct passages in ways that are more consistent with contemporary scientific worldviews.

Genesis Rejuvenated contains Bill Jemas' attempt to reconstruct the creation story in Genesis 1 in a way that is far more natural and commonsense than the version we inherited in the King James Bible and the English translations that followed it. It gives us far greater appreciation for the ancient civilizations that predated the Babylonian exile of the Jewish people that created the Hebrew Bible.

The main problem the reader faces is to try to figure out how to reassemble the words in the Freeware Bible database to take it beyond the postmodern information age of "Wikipedia"--where anyone's interpretation can be presented--to what is becoming called an integral worldview that applies generally recognized natural and social principles to the volumes of information available.

Jemas takes up this challenge and creates his own translation of Genesis 1 in a way that describes the story of the Creation that removes the polarization in the current Creation -Evolution debates. While his rendition must be considered experimental and not some new authoritative consensus on the best translation our present world is capable of rendering, I found is surprisingly preferable to the inherited English Bible.

I think this work is going to be difficult to find an audience in established circles because it challenges the foundations of Christian Civilization and offers a new ways of conceiving basic doctrines relating to Creation, the Fall, and Human Society. Jemas is a pioneer, ahead of the curve, I hope he gets some recognition for what he has contributed to the foundation of a new integral Bible that is at once both more true to the original writings and to the human soul.

I've been working with Mr. Jemas for awhile now, helping him put together the Freeware Bible database and website, and I must say, it is quite an interesting project. He takes the oldest known complete manuscript of the Old Testament -- The Leningrad Codex, and translates each word into every possible English synonym. He provides the layperson with a verbatim translation of The Leningrad Codex, but also with an "English Synonyms" column, which people can use to pick out words and create their own verse for the first 7 days of the Bible. While the Rejuvenation verse may be quite subjective, the English Synonyms column removes subjectivity from the Bible almost entirely, allowing the reader to draw his/her own conclusions.

I only pray that this project makes it beyond Genesis all the way through Revelations.

Here are just a few of the things people are saying about Genesis Rejuvenated:

"Genesis Rejuvenated is a labour of love and a gift to all those who seek clarity within the ancient teachings of Judaism and Christianity. The quest of the soul is to find its own connection with the Divine and this is an excellent tool to use in that great journey. My own joy has been to find the magic in reinterpreting the texts by applying the Jewish mystical training that I have together with my studies of the cultural and social mores of those times."

--Rev Maggy Whitehouse author of The Marriage of Jesus, The Book of Deborah and Living Kabbalah.

"Well, I just finished reading Genesis Rejuvenated -- what an AMAZING book you created! My wife, who's pretty scholarly, was even blown away by it. Really really good work.

Not only for myself, but for anyone who wants to dig back into the Bible with their OWN hands and heart -- Thank You."

--Eric Coble

"I read your book last night and I was very impressed. I am not a religious person, mostly due to the bigotry and manipulation that world religions insist upon, which I feel you have made a good case against.

I particularly appreciate revealing the history of gender bias and a strong case for being a vegetarian (which my wife and I are!). I have always been annoyed at that whole "dominion over animals" section as a reason for Christians to be so anti-vegan.

I hope there is more to come!"

--Layne C. Harris