Genesis [antikvár]

EDITOR'S NOTE A lively discussion, with its laughter, raised eyebrows, significant silences, and voices speaking at once, is almost impossible to capture on paper. But there are reasons for trying. One reason is to encourage thoughtful reflection about the originál conversations. These conversations were cut to fit the time constraints of television-but here, they appear in fuller form, allowing readers to stop and ponder a statement, or to think about it in relation to a larger context. Sometimes, when participants saw an edited draft of the discussion, they added clarifying comments, which, of course, do not appear in the televised version. I'm grateful, though, that the participants let me keep a sense of spontaneity in their comments, resisting the ürge to edit themselves out of speech and into "prose." I'm alsó grateful to Bili Moyers, whose ear was always tuned to the humán dimension of the conversation, and who often took my edited work back to the screen in order to recapture the flavor of the originál. His edits were both incisive and enlivening. Debbie Rubenstein, my partner in this work, was a never-failing source of support and good humor. She and Judith Moyers, along with Judy Doctoroff O'Neill, are largely responsible for the way the many components of this book-art, Genesis text, and conversation-have come together. Once again, we were lucky to have Elizabeth Meryman-Brunner as art researcher. I'm grateful, too, for the many kinds of support I received from Margaret Flowers, Linda Jinks, John Michael Flowers, and, most of all, John Flowers. Our hope is that, as you read these conversations, you will be inspired to revisit the originál Genesis text and to form a discussion group of your own. We have reprinted abridged versions of the stories from either the New Revised Standard Version or the new Schocken Bible translated by Everett Fox. But the stories, in all their richness, are worth rereading in a number of different translations, and well reward many hours of discussion. They are, after all, the narrative foundations for our Western culture. -Betty Sue Flowers University of Texas at Austin