There are two accounts of the creation of the world in the Bible in the book of Genesis.
The Bible, Genesis chapter 1 verses 1-23
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface. Then God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. And God saw that it was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light 'day' and the darkness 'night.' Together these made up one day.
And God said, 'Let there be space between the waters, to separate water from water.' And so it was. God made this space to separate the waters above from the waters below. And God called the space 'sky.' This happened on the second day. And God said, 'Let the waters beneath the sky be gathered into one place so dry ground may appear.' And so it was. God named the dry ground 'land' and the water 'seas.' And God saw that it was good. Then God said, 'Let the land burst forth with every sort of grass and seed-bearing plant. And let there be trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. The seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came. And so it was. The land was filled with seed-bearing plants and trees, and their seeds produced plants and trees of like kind. And God saw that it was good. This all happened on the third day.
And God said, 'Let bright lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs to mark off the seasons, the days, and the years. Let their light shine down upon the earth.' And so it was. For God made two great lights, the sun and the moon, to shine down upon the earth. The greater one, the sun, presides during the day; the lesser one, the moon, presides through the night. He also made the stars. God set these lights in the heavens to light the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. This all happened on the fourth day.
And God said, 'Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.' So God created great sea creatures and every sort of fish and every kind of bird. And God saw that it was good. Then God blessed them, saying, 'Let the fish multiply and fill the oceans. Let the birds increase and fill the earth.' This all happened on the fifth day.
The Bible, Genesis chapter 2 verses 4-25
This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.
When the LORD God made the heavens and the earth, there were no plants or grain growing on the earth, for the LORD God had not sent any rain. And no one was there to cultivate the soil. But water came up out of the ground and watered all the land. And the LORD God formed a man's body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And the man became a living person.
Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he placed the man he had created. And the LORD God planted all sorts of trees in the garden - beautiful trees that produced delicious fruit. At the center of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. One of these branches is the Pishon, which flows around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. The second branch is the Gihon, which flows around the entire land of Cush. The third branch is the Tigris, which flows to the east of Asshur. The fourth branch is the Euphrates.
The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and care for it. But the LORD God gave him this warning: 'You may freely eat any fruit in the garden except fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat of its fruit, you will surely die.' And the LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion who will help him.' So the LORD God formed from the soil every kind of animal and bird. He brought them to Adam to see what he would call them, and Adam chose a name for each one. He gave names to all the livestock, birds, and wild animals. But still there was no companion suitable for him. So the LORD God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. He took one of Adam's ribs and closed up the place from which he had taken it. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib and brought her to Adam.
'At last!' Adam exclaimed. 'She is part of my own flesh and bone! She will be called `woman,' because she was taken out of a man.' This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. Now, although Adam and his wife were both naked, neither of them felt any shame.
The first account describes the world being created in 6 days. Humans were the last things to be created. They are in some way special. Only humans are described as being made 'in the image of God' (Genesis chapter 1 verse 27). The biblical accounts describe God making the universe for people to live in. God planned it and everything was put into its place. There was a purpose in the creation of the world; it was no accident. The Biblical accounts suggest that the world was how God intended it. This first account suggests that all species were there from the beginning (Genesis chapter 1 verses 24-25).
In the second account, the first humans are placed in the Garden of Eden. The creation is perfect. In the first account, as God surveys His creation He describes it as 'good' (Genesis chapter 1 verses 25,31). Everything was perfect and humans were given freewill, the ability to choose between good and evil. The humans chose names for the animals. From the beginning humans had control over the animals. (Genesis chapter 2 verse 19)
(It would be fair to suggest that the very fact that there are these two accounts, differing in the way they describe the creation, could be a pointer to the way we ought to read them, i.e. as truthful parables each intended to get a lesson across in terms equally understandable for both primitive and sophisticated societies.) |
