Maureena’s Torah Reflections
Parashat Noach. Genesis 6:9-11:32
God blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens (Gen. 7:22).
The image of God in this week’s reading is deeply troubling. God repents of having made humanity and then destroys almost all living things.
Many theologians, biblical scholars, and literary writers have wrestled deeply with the image of a seemingly vengeful God. They fail, for in doing so, they often preserve the violence under a different name: “purification,” “judgment,” or “re-creation.”
A question for reflection:
Did God, in divine disappointment, really wipe out almost the whole of life? If so, we can’t continue to believe in such a god who willingly destroys life, every living thing” with the wicked. God is Creator, not Destroyer. Life bursting out everywhere is a sign of the Creator. And “creativity is God’s gift to us—using our creativity is our gift back to God” (Julia Cameron. The Artist’s Way. A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity).
Prepared by Prof. Sr. Maureena Fritz nds
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“Since the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so great, this sacred synod wants to foster and recommend that mutual understanding and respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies.”
Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions: Nostra Aetate, No. 4