Thus the heavens and the earth were finished...
Genesis, Chapter 1
Genesis, Chapter 2
Matthew, Chapter 1
I've tackled parts of the Bible before, and one enlightening way to read it is in true literalist fashion, and see just how many knots one can tie oneself into along the way. The fact that there are two distinct and contradictory Creation stories in the first two chapters of Genesis has been remarked upon many times over. But it's remarkable to me how little-noted this is amongst our more fundamentalist brethren, especially given that the contradictions aren't all that hard to spot.
In chapter 1, God's Creation unfolds as follows: light, the firmament ("Heaven"), Earth, the Seas, plants, the greater and lesser lights to rule the day and the night respectively, the creatures of the water ("sea monsters"), birds, the creatures of the earth ("cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth..."), and finally, on the sixth day, Man. The text leads us to believe that He created man and woman simultaneously.
In chapter 2, however, the chronology - and the advent and role of Man - is far different. In this Creation story, Man is created "In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens," before the appearance of any other members of the Plant or Animal kingdoms. Our unicellular brothers and sisters don't even get a mention, tragically. God sequesters the man he has created (beautifully, "of the dust from the ground," breathing "into his nostrils the breath of life") in the garden of Eden, from which by God's command all the plants of the earth spring. Then, after warning the man of certain death should he eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God gets busy creating animals. The man gets the not insignificant task of naming each and every one of them. God, being all-powerful and all-knowing, has to seriously restrain Himself from jumping in and moving things along when the man gets stuck on animal #4267, known today as a macaque. But after God has created all the animals, He decides that the man needs a better companion, and steals his rib in order to make a woman.
Likely I'll write more on this later, but for now I'll just note that while in the first Creation story Man is created last, and given dominion over the earth, he doesn't play much of a role in the Creation itself. In the second Creation story, Man's role in Creation - in particular, the naming of things - is far more central. Why God gives this job in particular to Man is unclear to me, but it does raise questions about the extent of His power and knowledge, even early on in the Book.
Genesis, Chapter 2
Matthew, Chapter 1
I've tackled parts of the Bible before, and one enlightening way to read it is in true literalist fashion, and see just how many knots one can tie oneself into along the way. The fact that there are two distinct and contradictory Creation stories in the first two chapters of Genesis has been remarked upon many times over. But it's remarkable to me how little-noted this is amongst our more fundamentalist brethren, especially given that the contradictions aren't all that hard to spot.
In chapter 1, God's Creation unfolds as follows: light, the firmament ("Heaven"), Earth, the Seas, plants, the greater and lesser lights to rule the day and the night respectively, the creatures of the water ("sea monsters"), birds, the creatures of the earth ("cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth..."), and finally, on the sixth day, Man. The text leads us to believe that He created man and woman simultaneously.
In chapter 2, however, the chronology - and the advent and role of Man - is far different. In this Creation story, Man is created "In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens," before the appearance of any other members of the Plant or Animal kingdoms. Our unicellular brothers and sisters don't even get a mention, tragically. God sequesters the man he has created (beautifully, "of the dust from the ground," breathing "into his nostrils the breath of life") in the garden of Eden, from which by God's command all the plants of the earth spring. Then, after warning the man of certain death should he eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God gets busy creating animals. The man gets the not insignificant task of naming each and every one of them. God, being all-powerful and all-knowing, has to seriously restrain Himself from jumping in and moving things along when the man gets stuck on animal #4267, known today as a macaque. But after God has created all the animals, He decides that the man needs a better companion, and steals his rib in order to make a woman.
Likely I'll write more on this later, but for now I'll just note that while in the first Creation story Man is created last, and given dominion over the earth, he doesn't play much of a role in the Creation itself. In the second Creation story, Man's role in Creation - in particular, the naming of things - is far more central. Why God gives this job in particular to Man is unclear to me, but it does raise questions about the extent of His power and knowledge, even early on in the Book.
posted by Unknown at 9:18 PM
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