Genesis 1 and 2: Two Different Creation Stories
The Purpose of this paper is to discuss the creation story in Genesis 1-2, explain why Genesis is not a continuation of Genesis 1, find the major points these stories make about who God is, and explain what Genesis 1-3 tell us today about God and our world.
Genesis 2 can not be an extension of Genesis, because the order of creation is differentiates from chapter 1 to chapter 2. In Genesis Chapter 1it is written that on the first day God created light. On the second day God separated sea from sky. On the third day came land. On the fourth the Sun, moon, and stars were created. Birds & fish, and land animals (male and female) & man were created on the fifth and sixth days respectively. Finally on the seventh day God rested.(It seems that the main point is that God is the creator of all things in particular, and the 7th day shows that God isn't bound to creating things. He isn't simply a creation machine, but can sit back and enjoy His creation, which attributes to Him, human characteristics. He isn't impersonal.)
In Genesis 2, the creation only takes a meager one day to complete. First, God creates the man, Adam, when "He blew into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being."(Genesis 2:7) Second, God creates plants in the Garden of Eden. Third, God brings the animals to Adam, who names each of them. Seeing that "for Adam no fitting helper was found. So the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon the man; and, while he slept, He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that spot. And the Lord God fashioned the rib that He had taken from the man into a woman; and He brought her to the man." (Genesis 2:20-22) Another point that affirms that Genesis 1 and 2 are two separate creation stories is that in Genesis 1:25-27 it tells how humans were created after man, and that the first man and woman were created simultaneously, while Genesis 2:18-19 claims, the humans were created before the other animals, and then the woman was created from man's rib.
God
Genesis 2 can not be an extension of Genesis, because the order of creation is differentiates from chapter 1 to chapter 2. In Genesis Chapter 1it is written that on the first day God created light. On the second day God separated sea from sky. On the third day came land. On the fourth the Sun, moon, and stars were created. Birds & fish, and land animals (male and female) & man were created on the fifth and sixth days respectively. Finally on the seventh day God rested.(It seems that the main point is that God is the creator of all things in particular, and the 7th day shows that God isn't bound to creating things. He isn't simply a creation machine, but can sit back and enjoy His creation, which attributes to Him, human characteristics. He isn't impersonal.)
In Genesis 2, the creation only takes a meager one day to complete. First, God creates the man, Adam, when "He blew into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being."(Genesis 2:7) Second, God creates plants in the Garden of Eden. Third, God brings the animals to Adam, who names each of them. Seeing that "for Adam no fitting helper was found. So the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon the man; and, while he slept, He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that spot. And the Lord God fashioned the rib that He had taken from the man into a woman; and He brought her to the man." (Genesis 2:20-22) Another point that affirms that Genesis 1 and 2 are two separate creation stories is that in Genesis 1:25-27 it tells how humans were created after man, and that the first man and woman were created simultaneously, while Genesis 2:18-19 claims, the humans were created before the other animals, and then the woman was created from man's rib.
God