Yes — Les Feldick prefers to start teaching in Genesis because the Bible must unfold progressively from the beginning so that all of Scripture fits together.
Les's Genesis-first method began when his pastor told him, 'Just go back in Genesis 1 and teach from Genesis to Revelation' (Clip 0). He agrees wholeheartedly with teaching the chronological unfolding of the Old Testament before presenting the Gospel, because there must be a time of preparation and the Holy Spirit must do His work (Clip 4). He also insists that a true doctrine must fit all of Scripture from cover to cover, which is why the study starts at the very beginning (Clip 5).
Genesis 1:1 — This is the verse where Les begins his teaching — the biblical starting point for his entire Genesis-to-Revelation method.
Scripture opens with the words 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth' (Genesis 1:1). From that first verse, the biblical record proceeds forward chronologically through the Old Testament, and the New Testament continues from that foundation. The Bible does not issue a direct command about where systematic teaching must start, but its own structure begins at Genesis.
Les Feldick's practice of beginning in Genesis grew out of a specific instruction when he first started teaching home Bible classes. He asked his pastor how he could teach people from several denominational backgrounds without making them think he was trying to proselytize them into his own church, and his pastor replied, 'Just go back in Genesis 1 and teach from Genesis to Revelation' (Clip 0). The first class met in September 1970 with four people, and it grew so quickly it had to be split (Clip 0). Les teaches that the Bible must be handled in a chronological, progressive way. He agrees wholeheartedly with teachers who take people through the whole chronological unfolding of the Old Testament and only present the Gospel afterward, because 'there has to be a time of preparation' and the Holy Spirit has to do His work (Clip 4). He emphasizes that a doctrine 'has to fit from cover to cover' — the whole Scripture must fit together with nothing out of place (Clip 5). Les demonstrates the depth of this approach by his pace: one class spent twelve months in two-hour, once-a-week sessions just to finish the book of Genesis (Clip 5). He continues week after week at the same text (Clips 6–7), and when he first began teaching he even skipped the Gospels and Acts for the first two or three trips through the Bible because he was not comfortable with how those books had been taught to him (Clip 3).
When Les was asked to teach home Bible classes for people he only knew casually and who came from totally different denominational backgrounds, he went to his own pastor because he had never done anything like it before. The pastor's answer was simple: 'Just go back in Genesis 1 and teach from Genesis to Revelation.' His wife Iris bought a small blackboard, and the first class met on the first Friday night in September 1970 with four people. By Thanksgiving the house was so packed that the group had to be split into two classes.
Les agrees wholeheartedly with the approach of starting people in Genesis and taking them through the whole chronological unfolding of the Old Testament before presenting the Gospel. He says there has to be a time of preparation and the Holy Spirit has to do His work, so he does not get in a hurry. He has had people come to his class for a year, a year and a half, or two years before they were ready to make that step of faith.
Les takes his time with the text. He told his class, 'We're going to take our time, and we'll still be in Genesis for a little while,' and a class that started exactly a year earlier had just finished the book of Genesis after twelve months of two-hour classes once a week (Clip 5). He also continues exactly where he left off from week to week, saying 'we're going to continue right on where we left off last week' and 'let's go back to where we left off in the book of Genesis' (Clips 6–7).
When Les first went through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation with his classes — the first two or three times — he skipped the Gospels and the book of Acts entirely. He explains that he was not satisfied with the way he had always been taught those books, from Sunday school material and so forth, and he did not feel comfortable with it. This helps show why he anchors his teaching at the beginning, in Genesis, rather than starting in the New Testament.
How Les was told to begin in Genesis
When Les asked his pastor how to teach people from different denominations without proselytizing, his pastor told him to go back to Genesis 1 and teach from Genesis to Revelation — the direct origin of his Genesis-first approach.
Beginning the study at Genesis 1:1
Les starts his actual teaching at Genesis 1:1 and indicates he will move slowly through Genesis and Exodus, showing that his method is to begin at the Bible's first verse and progress in order.
Moving sequentially from verse 1 to verse 2
Les moves from Genesis 1:1 into Genesis 1:2, showing that his teaching stays with the text in sequence rather than jumping ahead in the Bible.
Genesis-first instead of the Gospels
When Les first taught Genesis to Revelation, he even skipped the Gospels and Acts because he was not comfortable with how those books were usually taught — reinforcing his commitment to building the study from Genesis.
Old Testament preparation before the Gospel
Les agrees with starting people in Genesis and taking them through the chronological unfolding of the Old Testament before presenting the Gospel, because there must be a time of preparation for the Holy Spirit's work.
Doctrine that fits cover to cover
Les says a true doctrine must fit all of Scripture from cover to cover, and he shows the depth of his Genesis study by noting a weekly class took twelve months to finish only the book of Genesis.
Continuing week by week in Genesis
Les's class picks up where they left off in Genesis chapter 1, demonstrating his practice of steadily continuing through the book in each session.
Going back to where he left off in Genesis
Les returns to the book of Genesis to continue where his class left off, showing that his teaching always resumes at the same place in the text rather than jumping around.
Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
This is the verse at which Les begins his teaching — the biblical foundation for his Genesis-first study method.
Les starts at Genesis 1:1 and teaches verse by verse from there. When he began his home Bible classes, his pastor told him, 'Just go back in Genesis 1 and teach from Genesis to Revelation.'
Les agrees with taking people through the chronological unfolding of the Old Testament before presenting the Gospel, because there has to be a time of preparation and the Holy Spirit has to do His work. He also was not satisfied with the way the Gospels and Acts were commonly taught when he first began.
One of Les's classes spent twelve months in two-hour, once-a-week sessions just to go through the book of Genesis. He tells his listeners that the class will take its time and that they will still be in Genesis for a while.
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