I chose to do my research topic on the two creation stories in the Bible. I chose this because I find it interesting to learn more about how similar they actually are and what people think of it. Some believe they support each other and are very similar, while others believe they contradict each other and make the faith questionable. There are many different perspectives on the two creation stories and their effect on the religion, which is why I want to research it. The sources I chose are ones that will provide different but proven opinions that provide evidence to their reasoning.
There are sources that provide completely opposite views on having Genesis 1 and 2, but neither one is wrong. The sources are opinions of Biblical scholars and the evidence that support them. On GotQuestions. Org they say, “The idea of two differing creation accounts is a common misinterpretation of these two passages which, in fact, describe the same creation event. They do not disagree as to the order in which things were created and do not contradict one another. ” This view states how they go together and describe the same thing.
It goes on to give evidence of how they were made to complement one another and do not go against each other. However, on another site, that has many articles on how the entire Bible is contradicting to itself, says blatantly that “The Book of Genesis begins with two contradictory creation accounts” and goes on to list examples such as, “In the first creation story, the first man and woman were created simultaneously. In the second account, the man was created first, then the animals, then the woman from the man’s rib. ”. It is very interesting how different people view the stories so 3 differently.
These two have very different analyze of the two creation stories and that is what has interested me into researching this topic. Criterion B: Plan for Study My plan for the study is to analyze both creation story and do extensive research on meaning and symbolism of both stories. What is the purpose of having two creation stories in the Bible? I am hoping to so an interview with an individual that has a deep understanding of the religion and see their perspective on the meaning of having both stories and if the stories go with or against each other.
I’m planning on finding many different views of the two chapters. By analyzing what each one provides I hope to find the answer to including both in the Bible. In oing this research project I want to give information about the reasoning and provide theoretical answers to the reasoning of having these two different stories. I understand there are no definite answers, which is why there will but much research and personal analyze since different people will have different opinions on it.
Criterion C: Summary of Significant Findings The purpose of the creation stories is one of the few things that is indubitable. They were both created to serve as an explanation to the creation of the world from a theological perspective. Genesis literally means origin and creation. There is a lot of debate over having the two creation stories and questions that they bring up. I found many different answers to some of the common questions, such as: why are there two creation stories, who wrote them, what is the purpose of including both creation stories in the Bible, and are they contradictory? In the book of Genesis, there is no author named.
There is evidence that lead us to believe that we may know who the author is. One commonly predicted author of the book of Genesis is Moses. The first piece of information that leads us to believe that it is Moses would have been hat he was qualified to write it. We are told in Acts 7:22, “And Moses was learned in all the wisdoms of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds. ” Another reason why Moses could have written Genesis would have been because he had the time to do so.
For forty years, he lead the people through wildness and would had the first hand experiences, knowledge, and the opportunity to write the events down. Through out Exodus, there are quotes referring to Moses writing down what God tells him and God telling him to write down his words (Stewart). If it is bvious that Exodus was written by Moses, could he have also written Genesis and not put his name on it? There are also countless quotes in the New Testament giving Moses credit for the first part of the Old Testament. However, this not accepted by all theologians.
There are a few major differences between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. Genesis 1 is a description of the six days of creation and seventh day of rest while Genesis 2 is only on the sixth day. Genesis 2 focus mostly on the creation of man while Genesis 1 goes over each days’ creations (Rosario). Genesis 1:11 says that vegetation was creation by God on the third day. However, Genesis 2:5 says, “no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground.
Another small difference some say is how Genesis 1 states that animals were created before man while Genesis 2 seems to have animals created after the creation of man (King James Bible, Genesis). 5 One of the most interesting pieces of research I found was from an audio by Pastor Timothy Kelly talking about how Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are related to each other. He speaks bout the commonly accepted theory that Genesis 2 was written down long before Genesis 1. He acknowledges how Genesis 2 is written more scholarly and is a more realistic account of creation.
Kelly says that Genesis 2 is to be taken as the literal account of creation while Genesis 1 is not to be taken literally. He says, “Genesis 2 is a historic record, while Genesis 1 is a poem… If you think it (Genesis 1) literally then you have a Bible that contradicts itself. If you think it literally, it undermines the authority of the Bible. ” Criterion D: Critical Reflection and Evaluation This topic was very interesting for me to learn about. I have always pondered the question of why there are two creation stories. There are so many possibilities for why both are in the Bible.
I believe they have the two accounts because having it documented more than once could show it’s authenticity. The stories are similar but different in their own ways. They have very different literature styles and different tones and moods. I believe both are included because it gives readers different views of creation. Both are important to christianity in their own way, even though they have the same core story. Genesis 1 is more of the poem of how the world was created while Genesis 2 is the literal documentation of it.
There was difficulty in researching this topic. There is no strait answer in the Bible saying, “There are two creation stories because… ” so they only answer out there to find were hypothesis by scholarly theologians. There was also a lot of contradicting opinion on the subject of why there were two creation stories. I found it very interesting how some people were so focused on tiny details that seem very irrelevant. Passages 6 from both creation stories that are very similar are said to contradict each other because f a few different words or specific dates.
I felt as though this was exaggerated and could not but used as evidence because if you asked two people to describe an event , both accounts of this particular event would be different but it does not mean either one is false. From the evidence in the text, I believe that these two stories compliment each other and strengthen the story of creation. This was how Pastor Timothy Kelly also felt about the two creation stories. He explains how they have their own unique differences but are to be taken differently.
