Take time to explore the meaning of this story together as a community. Use the following discussions as a way to grasp what truth the story teaches.
Use the following discourse questions to understand the meaning of the story. Pay attention to how the story itself addresses each question or theme.
God made everything. God caused everything to exist. God existed for all time: God has no beginning and no end. God brought all things into existence. (01-01)
God made all things in six days. (01-01)
When God created the earth, the Spirit was over the water. God has control and authority over all his creation. (01-01)
God created by speaking. God’s word was so powerful that when God spoke, things came into existence. (01-02)
God saw that his creation was good. Everything that God made was beautiful, good, and perfect. God was pleased with what he made. (01-02)
God gave things he created names. God gives each thing a purpose and a place in his creation. (01-02)
God separated some created things from other created things so that there was order and structure. (01-02)
When God created the earth, it was dark, empty, and unformed. On the first day of creation, God created light. On the first three days of creation, God shaped/formed the earth. On the next three days of creation, God filled the earth. (01-02, 01-03, 01-04, 01-05, 01-06, 01-07, 01-08)
On day 1, God separated light and darkness. On day 2, God separated the sky and water. On day 3, God separated dry land and seas. On day 3, God filled his earth with plants and trees. On day 4, God filled the sky with the sun, moon, and stars. On day 5, God filled the waters with water animals and the sky with flying animals. On day 6, God filled the earth with land animals and humans. (01-02, 01-03, 01-04, 01-05, 01-06, 01-07, 01-08)
When God created humans, he spoke to himself and said “Let us make.” Because humans were special part of God’s creation, God took time to express what he was going to do. (01-09)
God made humans in his image. Humans were created to be God’s special representatives in creation. (01-09)
God created humans to rule over the created world. (01-09)
God made humans out of the dust of the ground. He fashioned man like a potter would fashion clay into a piece of pottery. (01-10)
God made a special garden for man. He put the man in the garden and put him there to take care of it. God gave the man a purpose on the earth. (01-10)
God placed two special trees in the garden: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. God told Adam that he could eat from any tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God created humans to follow God’s commands. Life works best when we follow God’s commands. (01-11)
At first, the man was alone. No animal could be man’s helper. God created woman from man’s rib. The woman was the man’s special companion. God created humans to enjoy fellowship with other humans. When God created man and woman he considered it very good. (01-12, 01-13, 01-14, 01-15)
God told man and woman to have children and grandchildren and fill the earth. God made humans to spread across the earth. (01-15)
After the sixth day, God finished creating everything. God stopped working on the seventh day. (01-16)
God blessed the seventh day and made it a holy day that was set apart to himself. (01-16)
Answer the following theology questions as a community. Discuss what truths this story teaches.
Work as a translation team to draft each panel of this story. Pay attention to any specific translation issues that are challenging or significant.
Make a draft for each section of this story.
After drafting the story, discuss any translation issues that you think need a special explanation.
Summarize any noteworthy translation decisions and the rationale/reasoning behind these translation decisions. In the final movement of this class, you will use these observations to give an account (i.e., chronicle/narrate) of how your translation improved through the checking process.