Genesis A New Interpretation

Genesis A New Interpretation - Bette Jo Benner

At the age of 11, Bette Jo Benner could not reconcile the God of love she learned about in Sunday school with the God of damnation preached from the pulpit. In Genesis: A New Interpretation she attempts to do this by examining the first book of the Bible through the lens of New Age philosophy.

Benner proposes “that the Bible is an esoteric book” containing “hidden information” in the names of its characters and story settings, as well as in numerical expressions. Regarding names, for example, “Cain…means possession, acquisition and selfishness [and] represents our ego” while Abel means “breath, vapor, and transitory” and represents the “heart side of man.” By translating names in the Book of Genesis and viewing the stories allegorically, Benner uncovers a hidden guide for developing what she calls “Soul [or] God Consciousness from our original state of self-consciousness.”

The book’s translations of the names in Genesis from the original Aramaic are the book’s most interesting aspect. For any biblical scholar, they open up deeper levels of meaning within the scriptures. Christians, however, may prefer traditional Christian resources for interpretation work rather than Benner’s New Age teachings.