Does Genesis talk of 2 very different stories of creation?

Question

Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are clearly two different creation stories. To say they are the telling of the same story is to deny the words as they are written.

Genesis 1 - God creates everything in 6 days. He creates man and women and tells them to be fruitful and multiply. He gives them rule over the fowl and the fishes etc. Which basically means they are free to roam the earth etc.

Genesis 2 - The LORD GOD, has more complicated methods in order to acheive similar results. Crops and herbs are farmed with what sounds like a sprinkler system. Adam is put to sleep, opened up and basically operated on. Adam and Eve have to live in an artificial garden made of gold and opex with rules etc.

The main difference is the name. God and the LORD God. In Genesis everything you need to know to read the rest of the book is right there.

Why would it be the same story? It doesnt make sense. Its like having an introduction to a book, then having a second introdution introducing the same thing. IT DOESNT MAKE SENSE.

Therefore it must be 2 different creation stories.

Things that support this claim - Cain is cast out to the land of nod, he asked for a mark so that he may be slain (WHO BY?) he also has a wife (HOW? Especially seeing as he is suppose to be in the land of nod alone)

The Lord God is a different being to God. God is good, the Lord God is not. These are undeniable facts clearly stated in the first book of the bible.

Answer 1

Quote: To say they are the telling of the same story is to deny the words as they are written.



You are in error.



The second account just need to be read in a Bible that renders the verb phrase correctly -- that's all.



Erroneous verb phrase: "19 And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them: and whatsoever the man called every living creature, that was the name thereof. " (ASV)



Correct and agreeing verb phrase: (DRC) 19 And the Lord God having formed out of the ground all the beasts of the earth, and all the fowls of the air, brought them to Adam to see what he would call them: for whatsoever Adam called any living creature the same is its name. 20 And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the fowls of the air, and all the cattle of the field: but for Adam there was not found a helper like himself.



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As usual it just takes a few seconds of research to find the answers.



The first one gives the larger overview. The second one a more personal one from man's perspective. If you have questions you don't understand, ask.



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Your comments about Cain are ignored -- they are too self-explanatory. If you don't understand how children were born to Adam and Eve and that God already told them that this should be the foundation for mankind and how this would have to come about - I think you need to ask someone about the birds and bees.

Answer 2

There are 2 accounts of one thing.

The second provides more detail pertinant to Adam and Eve, and was likely written by Adam himself originally.



There is a good article here of which this is an excerpt:

http://creation.com/genesis-contradictions

Between the creation of Adam and the creation of Eve, the KJV/AV Bible says (Genesis 2:19) ‘out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air’. On the surface, this seems to say that the land beasts and birds were created between Adam and Eve. However, Jewish scholars apparently did not recognize any such conflict with the account in chapter 1, where Adam and Eve were both created after the beasts and birds (Genesis 1:23–25). Why is this? Because in Hebrew the precise tense of a verb is determined by the context. It is clear from chapter 1 that the beasts and birds were created before Adam, so Jewish scholars would have understood the verb ‘formed’ in Genesis 2:19 to mean ‘had formed’ or ‘having formed’. If we translate verse 19 as follows (as one widely used translation1 does), ‘Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field …’, the apparent disagreement with Genesis 1 disappears completely.





Note that Jesus quoted from both 'accounts' in one sentence when answering a question about marriage.

In Mk 10:6-9 Jesus quotes from Gen 1:27 and 2:24

But at the beginning of Creation God 'made them male and female'. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.





And, yes, Cain must have married his sister (or possibly niece). The Bible clearly teaches that everyone is descended from Adam and Eve. Eve is the 'mother of all'. If you are not descended from Adam then Jesus's death cannot save you, since Jesus died fr the sins of Adam's descendants - hence described by Paul as the last Adam.

There is a good article here about this:

http://creation.com/one-blood-chapter-1-cain-s-wife

Answer 3

Elohim often says things more than once and in a different way. That is obvious to most people.



All the Christians I know well, have read the Bible at least several times, if not many times, and don't find two different creation stories. I remember once attending the C of E Bishop's certificate who tried to teach us about Form Criticism and the like. Well that's up to them, but as for me I believe what Elohim says - no problem.



Cain marrying his sister is not a problem as at that time the genes were pure, and you will see as you read on that eventually, it becomes taboo to marry your sister/brother. Humankind is not improving as it ages.



Elohim made all things good. He spoke and the universes were created. Yeshua is the Word made flesh.



"These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. " 1 Corinthians 2:13-15

Answer 4

This is a common misunderstanding for people who are unfamiliar with the Bible, and especially for people who are unfamiliar with Jewish methods of stating things.

Genesis 2 intruduces two new elements:

1. Genesis 2 goes back and gives further detail about some of the same events. For instance, Gen. 2:7 gives the details of the "how" for Genesis 1:26.

2. Once the over-all creaion is complete, God is taking special actions to bring about the Garden of Eden, and to present Adam with all the different kinds of animals, as well as give Adam the chance to see God's creative power in motion for himself as an eye-witness. Therefore, God raised up his created beings right in front of Adam's eyes in Genesis two, even though the larger population of these animals already existed.



Such re-tellings with further detail is common in the Old Testament and in Jewish writings. A little education and critical thinking can clear up little misunderstandings like these right away.

Answer 5

If you study theology you will find out that bible scholars worked this out years ago. It is obvious on close reading that Genesis and to some extent Exodus are conflations of more than one text - probably three, in fact, known to theologians as J, E and P. Genesis 1 is P, Genesis 2 is from the older source known as E.(from the fact that it uses the word Elohim for god). There has certainly been some uneven editing for what is supposed to be the same story to be put in twice!

Answer 6

This is an interesting question. My answers are not popular and will likely earn me a lot of thumbs down, but they make sense.

There is a book that never made it into the final draft of the Bible called the Book of Adam and Eve. It's one of the Gnostic Gospels that Constantine didn't want in the Bible. It answers a lot of those questions.



God created man and woman but only put Adam on the earth. Adam wanted someone to be submissive to him, so God created Eve from Adam so she could be submissive to him. Then Eve at the apple, and you know the rest.

The book also explains that Adam and Eve had the 3 sons mentioned in Genesis, Cain Able and Seth, but that they had daughters as well. One of their daughters is Cains wife.

I know that's an unpopular theory, but how else is Cain supposed to have a wife?

This is not in the Bible, so you can take it however you want to take it, as truth, as a good answer to a good story, as complete bull honkey. It's just an answer.



Personally, I think the Bible is a book of stories to teach us moral and ethics. I don't think they are true stories, because they just don't make sense.

Answer 7

Whatever the answer to the argument, it is just myth and therefore not really of great interest except as culture study and as a story as to why woman have been / are so oppressed.

Answer 8

Its not 2 different creation stories, and the Gods are the same. Its 2 different view points of the same story

Answer 9

It's even more complicated than that. Yahweh and Elohim are different gods from different cultures and regions.

Answer 10

It sounds like you're addressing this to Christians, people who - for the most part - have never actually read the bible :P



But you're right, there is a lack of clarity in there.

Answer 11

theres always lilith...the "other" first woman. in that version of events the snake was good not evil.

Answer 12

Yes there are.