Genesis : Two Accounts Of The Biblical Creation Analysis

There has been much debate over the interpretation of Genesis 1:1-2 throughout the years and continues today. The reason for this debate is because of the wording of Genesis 1:2 that the “earth was without form and void” (formless and empty). The real debate is the relationship of this verse to Genesis 1:1. When trying to interpret this text or any text in the Bible one must look at the grammar and structure of the passage – the original Hebrew as well as well as principles of hermeneutics to determine which interpretation is the best fit for the text. This essay will evaluate the interpretation of Genesis 1:1-2 especially the view known as the Gap theory in determining whether there is any justification for a long gap of time between the two verses (Genesis 1:1&2). This will be done by analyzing the grammatical-syntactical relationship between these two verses.

1. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1 - 2:3)

Often a topic of debate, there are several different takes on the creation story existent in literature. Dependent on one’s religion, different beliefs about how the world we live in was created may arise. Looking deeper into the literature, one will realize there are also many similarities between creation stories. Based on the strong possibility that Genesis was influenced by the Enuma Elish, there are similarities that stem from the fact that they both describe the creation of a new world as well as differences in their interpretations and approaches to creationism.

During the opening of Beowulf, the poet summarizes the beginning chapters of Genesis in the Bible. The poet tells about “ The Almighty making of the earth, shaping beautiful plains, marked off by oceans, then proudly setting the sun and moon to glow across the land and light it”(7-10). In the Bible, Genesis 1:1 reads, “ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Immediately following this passage, it goes on to explain the history of Creation. Included in this description is how God made light and dark, land and ocean, plant and animal, and finally the ultimate creation, man.

In the book of Genesis, we are introduced to everything. From the creation stories to the sagas in between Genesis is an opening to the old testament and an opening to the book of exodus. This essay will contrast each creation story and describe each stories interest, explain how Genesis 12: 1-3 links the stories of 2: 4b-11 with the ancestral narratives in 12-50 and connect the sagas of Abraham/Sarah, Isaac/ Rebecca and Jacob/ Racheal.

Another difference between the “two” versions of Creation, more noticeable than the afore mentioned, is in their answer of why man was created. In Genesis I, man was created to rule over all the animals. In fact, a section of Genesis I:26 reads “and let [man] 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.” In contrast, Genesis II:5 claims that man was created because there was no one to “till the ground.” The variation in each chapter’s answer to why man was created provides differing implications for the status of mankind. In Genesis I, man is supposed to be the supreme ruler, while in Genesis II, man was created merely as a servant of the land. Western religions, when viewing the status of humans, tend to take the first interpretation as indication of man’s role on earth, believing him to be superior to all other species.

Chapter 1 where verses 1-5 can be found tells that God created the heavens, the earth, and everything that lives. These verses explain that God was the first and only creator. However Genesis later describes a lot more about the creation of the earth. After verses 1-5 in chapter 1 we learn that God continues creating by making humankind in his image and also giving them charge over the earth. We also learn that after the first day of creation in verses 1-5, God continues creating for a total of seven days. After God initially created the earth and light, God on the second day created the sky. On the third day, dry land was created. The fourth day he created the sun, moon, and stars. On the fifth day he created every living creature. The sixth day he made animals and human beings in his own image to commune with them. On the last day God rested and blessed it making his creation holy. At the end of Genesis chapter 1 God had created everything and it was perfect. I think that verses 1-5 fit perfectly with the rest of the chapter because they give a good insight was to how the chapter will continue. They also are very consistent in that they don’t make any drastic changes in the later verses. Verses 1-5 also contribute to the rest of the chapter by setting a starting point for what would be happening and how God would be acting. In this context, my interpretation of these passages helps me to

In Genesis, the first book of The Bible the Christian and Jewish creation story is told. God spoke and his Word was done. He made the heavens and the earth. He made light and drove away the dark. On the earth he created the waters and lands and man and beast.

The Drama of Scripture written by Bartholomew and Goheen takes the reader on a journey through the entire Bible in six short “acts.” The first Act discusses creation and the establishment of God’s Kingdom. In the beginning was complete darkness. Then, God created light and divided the heavens and the earth. He then split the waters and the seas, creating dry ground on which the rest of creation could walk. He proceeded to make plants and flowers and the sun, moon, and stars. He created days and seasons and animals of all shapes and sizes. And then, to add the finishing touch, God created men and women, male and female, He created them. The book states that “the Genesis story is given so that we might have a true understanding of the world in which we live, its divine author, and our own place in it” (Bartholomew, 29). Genesis 1-3, the story of Creation, is prevalent because it introduces the author of creation, humanity, and the creation upon which humanity’s drama unfolds.

Genesis 1-11 answers many questions that people have about the natural world, especially in the first two chapters. Genesis clearly states that God created all things. He created the earth, man, animals, plants, and all other living things on earth. These scriptures explain how God created the world in six days and, on the seventh day, He rested from the work that was done. Then, “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis 2:3 NASB). He did not create anything else on the seventh day but instead rested. The Bible then goes on to discredit the theory of evolution by saying, “The earth

The story of creation begins with Genesis 1 and 2, it explains how the world and it’s living inhabitants were created from God’s touch. From Genesis 1 we see how the sky, seas, land, animals, and mankind were created. However Genesis 2 focuses more on the first of mankind, known as Adam and Eve and how they are made to be. In this paper I will compare Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 and what the main idea for creation is in each one, however in my opinion there is no contradiction between the two. Genesis 2 merely fills in the details that are "headlined" in Genesis 1.

There are many inconsistencies within the first two chapters of Genesis. The first of these contradictories is evident in the two quotes, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created the man,” (Genesis 1:27) and “... and there was not a man to till the ground.” (Genesis, 2:5) These two quotes are inconsistent because the first quote mentions that LORD God had created a man on the sixth day, however, there was still no man to till the plants on the seventh day. Another example of these contradictories are stated in the two quotes, “... for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth…”

“Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are” Genesis 13:14. The word genesis is the dawning of creation, and the biblical book of Genesis is the book that brings fourth the creation of our planet and the life that resides. Genesis also describes the descent of Adam and Eve and unveils the foundation that sin builds upon. Genesis introduces the origin of the holy land, Israel, and inception of holy covenants promised by the holy trinity; the son, the father, and the holy spirit. Genesis communicates the definite events of one of the most contended controversies of our current philosophical climate, the origin of all things existing. This holy book of creation faces several critical issues, such as stylistic variation, and

The creation story in the book of Genesis was written by multiple people at different time periods. The chapters that appear first in the bible are actually written after the following chapters but the later authors wanted their story to be first. Gen 1:1-2:4 was written by priestly writers in 7th century BCE, while Genesis 2:4-3:1 was written in 9 BCE. They created this story to explain the creation of the world and the purpose of man, though they did not believe the narrative needed to be consistent. They also wrote it to explain sin and the fact that we have two inclinations: good and evil.

The doctrine of Creation states that God created the universe from nothing; He designed it with care, and He made it to glorify Himself (G 124). In this abstract, we summarize the first two parts of this doctrine and discuss two major controversies of Creation. We begin with creation ex nihilo, a belief essential to our Biblical worldview. Genesis 1:1, the very beginning of Scripture, starts, “In the beginning God…”. Nothing existed before God, because He is eternal and precedes everything. Only after we establish God’s preexistence do we see Him creating. If we say some material existed before Creation, then we assume God did not create it, that it came before God, and may represent another power. This undermines our worldview that God is the all-powerful and eternal Creator. Therefore, we must hold to the truth spoken in Scripture: that God created everything out of nothing when there was nothing but Him.