Pacesetters Bible School: Bible Questions

Question 17: Why are there two creation stories?

Scholars are not all agreed that there are two creation stories. I do believe that there are, but there is considerable debate on the point. For information on whether there are two stories, see Genesis Creation Stories - Form, Structure, and Relationship in which I discuss both the division of the two stories, and the important elements in both and why they are there.

Whether one believes that there are two separate stories or not, there are two descriptions. For someone like me, who believes these stories came from two different sources, the problem is essentially the same as for someone who believes they were both written together by the same author. In either case, someone thought that the two should be put together. He did not see them as contradictory, but rather saw some advantage to having both.

I believe that the two stories are intended to convey two different aspects of the creation. Genesis 1:1-2:3 is carefully crafted to demonstrate God’s power and direct authority. If one looks at the relationship of the imagery in the Genesis story to what is in other ancient near eastern stories I believe there is a clear intent for the Genesis story to display God in a very different light. In all the other stories there is conflict and there is a question about the outcome. There is no such question in Genesis 1. It is pure power, and it all goes one way.

Genesis 2:4ff, on the other hand, emphasizes God’s personal care and attention, and especially his personal involvement with the human family, setting up the story that will follow in Genesis 3. In theological terms we could say that Genesis 1 is a story of God’s transcendence and power; Genesis 2 is a story of his immanence. In combination they give us an excellent picture of God.

We can carry this further by looking at the creation story in Psalm 104. There God is presenting as the creator whose presence and power is continuous with his creatures, and as such provides a scriptural response to Deism.

I would suggest that none of these stories is primarily concerned with the chronology of these events, but rather with how God was involved in them. Each looks at God the creator from a different perspective to help us get a complete picture.

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