Genesis: The Story We Haven't Heard [Paperback]

Paul Borgman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 25, 2001

Time after time choosing selfishness over selflessness, human beings invariably destroy themselves and wreck their societies. Only God can help, says Genesis. Yet God refuses to coerce. Instead he works with individual men and women who turn around--who stop trying to make a name for themselves and start trying to be a blessing to others. The transformation is slow and arduous. God waits. Captured in one of the world's best and best-known stories, this dynamic between God and recreated individuals leads from the universal chaos of Babel to blessing for all our world's peoples. Unfortunately, most of us overlook the dramatic story of God's work in early time because we read Scripture in disjointed pieces--and we think we've heard it all before! We miss the suspenseful, sweeping narrative of interconnected events. We miss the nuances of emotion and relationship between the characters. Now in Genesis: The Story We Haven't Heard Paul Borgman fits the pieces back together--revealing God's story as if it had never been read before.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

As the story of Genesis itself, Borgman's Genesis: The Story We Haven't Heard is a marvelous blend of literary, theological and historical insights. The author encourages readers to go ahead and be bothered by the text of Genesis to their profit. Nothing worse than a complacent reader who already knows what the narrative recounts.

Borgman's study of the Genesis text is excellent. This book is brimming with insights and Genesis readers are truly in Borgman's debt for producing such a fine volume. Reading the narratives in Genesis will never be quite the same after reading, The Story We Haven't Heard.

Specialist and non-specialist readers alike will profit from this book. Written in a very accessible style and with clarity, Borgman moves the reader through the text of Genesis pointing out a diversity of new perspectives that often go missed in the larger commentaries. His major focus is on the narratives concerning Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and Esau, Leah and Rachel, and Joseph. The book comprises a select bibliography and useful subject, author, and Scripture indexes.

About the Author

Borgman (Ph.D., University of Chicago) is professor of English at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: IVP Academic (July 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830826556
• ISBN-13: 978-0830826551
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #664,965 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genesis:The Story We Haven't Heard, December 4, 2001

By 

Greg J. Laughery - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Genesis: The Story We Haven't Heard (Paperback)

Genesis: The Story We Haven't Heard by Paul Borgman, IVP, 2001.

As the story of Genesis itself, Borgman's Genesis: The Story We Haven't Heard is a marvelous blend of literary, theological and historical insights. The author encourages readers to go ahead and be bothered by the text of Genesis to their profit. Nothing worse than a complacent reader who already knows what the narrative recounts.

Borgman's study of the Genesis text is excellent. This book is brimming with insights and Genesis readers are truly in Borgman's debt for producing such a fine volume. Reading the narratives in Genesis will never be quite the same after reading, The Story We Haven't Heard.

Specialist and non-specialist readers alike will profit from this book. Written in a very accessible style and with clarity, Borgman moves the reader through the text of Genesis pointing out a diversity of new perspectives that often go missed in the larger commentaries. His major focus is on the narratives concerning Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and Esau / Leah and Rachel, and Joseph. The book comprises a select bibliography and useful subject, author, and Scripture indexes.

Dr. G. Laughery

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very thought-provoking, October 5, 2005

By 

David I. Smith "Kuyers Institute" (Grand Rapids, Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Genesis: The Story We Haven't Heard (Paperback)

This is one of the best books I have read lately, taking over-familiar Bible stories and reading them with a close attentiveness to the actual text that yields fresh and fascinating perspectives. It's a pleasure to read a book that so often makes me go "Hmm, I hadn't thought of that, but it could make sense - must think about it some more." The book is also very readable - well-written and absorbing. Highly recommended.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The heart of the matter, November 14, 2002

By 

Kelly B (York, ME) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Genesis: The Story We Haven't Heard (Paperback)

Paul Borgman gets to the heart of the Genesis matter in Genesis: The Story We Haven't Heard. Through an absorbing analysis of the Biblical narrative, Borgman shows us that Genesis reveals truth in the way that all great literature reveals truth: through relationships. And what he keeps coming back to is that the most compelling story at the heart of Genesis is the relationship between God and His people, a story of partnership, parting, reconciliation, and--ultimately--love.