In the Beginning: Part 2

So, we all know the first story. Yet there is another story of the Earth’s infancy, somewhat different from Genesis 1. Surprisingly to some, it can be found in the very next chapter. Let’s go through some of the contradictions just within the creation story.

• Was man created before or after the animals? Well, Gen. 1:25-27 says after:

²⁵And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. ²⁶And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. ²⁷So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

While Gen. 2:18-19 tells us that man was created before the animals:

¹⁸And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. ¹⁹And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

If you want to go one step further, the next verse is a tell-tale sign that God is not the omniscient being that we give him credit to be:

²⁰And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

So, here we have a God that knew that the animals needed animals of the same species and different sex, but he expected that Adam would find a “help meet for him” among the animals? Surely an omniscient God would have for-seen this blunder and would have created Eve right along with Adam instead of having him waste the years it must have taken to give names to all the beasts of the field and the fowl of the air. (I suppose that the Penguins and Ostriches got left out of this naming ceremony) Of course, I am getting ahead of myself because the next question is:

• Man and woman; created at the same time or separately? Keep in mind that Gen. 1 is a chronological account and names just what was made on which day:

²⁶And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. ²⁷So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

According to this version, God created woman at the same time as man. The story reads quite clearly: beginning of the 6th day, animals first then man and woman. The second account is quite different (Gen 2:20-22):

²⁰And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.²¹And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; ²²And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

In this account, we have the following order: man first, then the animals and finally woman. Which account is the correct order of creation?

• Where did the birds come from? Looking at Gen. 1:20-21:

²⁰And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. ²¹And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Okay, so they came from out of the water. Or, Gen. 2:19:

¹⁹And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

Well, maybe they came from the ground. And as for the great “meaning of life” everyone is so desperately searching for? It was right in Genesis all along (Gen. 2:19):

¹⁵And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Next post: Original Crime and Punishment.