( CNN ) This is week two of an ongoing series : A Catholic Reads the Bible This week covers the Book of Genesis , chapters 1-11 . A week ago , I was worried I would n't have anything to write about . Now , I do n't even know where to begin . The first step was choosing a Bible . I went with the version that I received for winning the religion award at Rice Memorial High School in South Burlington , Vermont . As I mentioned in the first installment of this series , I 'm a lifelong Catholic who finally plans to read the Bible from cover to cover . The Bible I 'm reading is `` The Deluxe Catholic Bible , '' published in 1986 by World Bible Publishing . After four days of reading this week , my journal is full of observations and ideas . With my crazy schedule , I found that reading at night was a perfect way to unwind and reflect . And as I started reading , I did n't want to stop . In order to fully process Scripture , I need to slow down and read the footnotes . Footnotes are my friend . First of all , Genesis starts with two separate creation narratives . How did I not know this ? The first chapter is the seven days story with God creating the Earth . In the second chapter the Earth is again created and man is formed out of clay . Talking with a CNN colleague , I mentioned how there seems to be fascination in Genesis with dirt and clay . My colleague pointed out that even Adam 's name is a play on the Hebrew word `` adama , '' meaning ground . It struck me that the whole first two chapters have everything to do with the Earth and man 's place in it , a struggle that we can relate to even now . From the creation of the Garden of Eden to the fall and the banishment , the bounty of the land and the access to it seems to be the area of highest concern . My greatest surprise , though , came when I read about Seth . Seth ? Who ? I started asking people if they had remembered the story of Seth . My unscientific poll of friends is that 9 out 10 people I asked had no idea who he was . Turns out , Seth is the forgotten son of Adam and Eve who is born after Cain kills Abel . Adam fathered Seth at 130 years old . Yes , we are getting into the part of the Bible with fantastical life spans that allow for the transition from the stories of Adam to Abraham . ( Again , thank you footnotes ) . Unfortunately , we do n't learn much more about Seth . When he is mentioned , it 's about his descendants . But , because this was my first biblical surprise , I will never forget him . Thank you , Seth . As a woman , though I was waiting to read more about the role of women . Did you know that Eve is the first person named in the Bible ? ( I expected Adam , but he is called `` man '' in the first references . ) Moving on , we have these tales about the `` sons of heaven '' seeing Earth 's beautiful women and taking them as wives . Um ? What ? I had never heard that one before . I had to read that passage a few times and , again , the footnotes helped . They say the story is an inclusion from mythology . But why ? My first hunch is that it might have been a way to take a story that everyone knew at the time and make it part of a new narrative . Familiarity would lead to followers . Of course , many Christians do n't cite the `` sons of heaven '' today because it would take too much time to explain . Maybe that 's why I do n't ever recall hearing this passage read at Mass . With that in mind , I read about Noah , descendent of Seth , with a different perspective , too . I have never believed there was an ark . I never thought that God dictated the dimensions of the boat to save the animals two by two . It is a story told to make you realize the power of God . The explanation for the flood is that man had become more and more wicked , but I did n't expect , though , that God would `` regret '' creating man . Ouch ! It really makes the reader want to stay on God 's good side . This `` wickedness '' of mankind and the `` regret '' from God sounds as if God made a mistake and decides to fix it , to start over , in essence . `` Never again will I doom the Earth because of man , since the desires of man are evil from the start . ... '' That phrase reminded me of my dad 's favorite saying , `` To err is human but to forgive is divine , '' which comes from a Pope , but not a Catholic holy man . But enough about that , I have to get back to reading .
Laura Bernardini , a lifelong Catholic , has decided to finally read the Bible from cover to cover . This is week two . Some surprises : one creation stories , Seth , and what on Earth are the `` men of heaven '' ?