Our sinfulness is "an insane, horrifying romance with death"

In his introduction to his theological commentary on Genesis, Dr. Russell Reno, writing about "the promised future that pulls on the characters, scenes, and episodes... like a supernaturally powerful magnet" (pg. 20).

by Gustave Dore

"Once the promise is heard, our reading of Genesis inevitably takes on an anticipatory flavor. The seemingly permanent architecture of the universe created 'in the beginning' starts to march forward into the promise with joyful anticipation. The painful, familiar reality of human sinfulness becomes an insane, horrifying romance with death, whose rotting image we paint with lipstick and rouge and prop up in the whorehouses of our souls. The primeval past comes alive, both reaching toward the promised future and remaining darkly, mysteriously resistant" (pg. 20).

Christos Anesti