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Genesis means origin. The Jews called the first book of the Law, "in the beginning." A prologue to the O.T's history of Israel in which it expounds as fact the origins of all human history.
The are two main arguements why Moses is the author. Firstly, Genesis is full of those major themes that are found throughout the Law, these are dependant on Genesis to make sense of their story.
i.e The resumption of the geneology of Gen 46 continued in Ex 1:1ff & Nu. 20:14ff
1 In the beginning
John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word & the Word was with God .....
God
created the heavens and the earth.
Ps 33:6-9; Rom 4:17; Heb 11:3
2 And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep:
and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw thelight, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 AndGod called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there wasevening and there was morning, one day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and letit divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, anddivided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters whichwere above the firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmamentHeaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered togetherunto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And Godcalled the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called heSeas: and God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, Let the earth putforth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after theirkind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so.
12 And theearth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and treesbearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind: and God sawthat it was good.
13 And there was evening and there was morning, a thirdday.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to dividethe day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and fordays and years:
15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven togive light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made the two greatlights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night:he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of heaven togive light upon the earth,
18 and to rule over the day and over the night, andto divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 Andthere was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
20 And God said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures,and let birds fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21 AndGod created the great sea-monsters, and every living creature that moveth,wherewith the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged birdafter its kind: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them,saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and letbirds multiply on the earth.
23 And there was evening and there wasmorning, a fifth day.
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind,cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind: and itwas so.
25 And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and thecattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the ground afterits kind: and God saw that it was good.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and letthem have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the Heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creepingthing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 And God created man in his ownimage, in the image of God created he him; male and female created hethem.
28 And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, andmultiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion overthe fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every livingthing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, whichis upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of atree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food:
30 and to every beast of theearth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creepethupon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb forfood: and it was so.
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was verygood. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.