Bible Questions Answered - Two Creation Stories
Questions
Creation Stories
Question 9: Why are there two creation stories in Genesis?
A: Not only is the story of creation recorded twice in Genesis, but shorter versions of it are recorded in Psalm 104 and Proverbs 8:22-31.
Bible stories are usually recorded to teach particular lessons rather than merely to provide facts and events. We can learn lessons about God the creator from each of these stories.
A Powerful God (Genesis 1:1-2:4a)
In this story of creation, we find God acting simply and powerfully by means of speaking the word. Repeatedly we have the pattern "and God said", "and God created/made", "it was so", and "God saw that it was good." The primary lesson here is the creative power of God's word, particularly the spoken word.
In addition, Genesis 1 institutes the worship week, with a particular emphasis on dedicating time to God in worship. In addition, it gives us a pattern for thanking God for his power and goodness throughout every week.
A Personal God (Genesis 2:4b-25)
Follow the structured demonstration of power and majesty in the first chapter of Genesis we have a very different story. In Genesis 2 we see God personally involved, planting a garden, forming man (vs. 7), forming the animals and showing them to the man (vs. 19) and then carefully crafting a suitable companion for him (vs. 22).
An Active and Present God (Psalm 104)
Psalm 104 is a hymn to the creator which starts with a demonstration of His creative power, but continues to say that He sustains His creation continuously. This teaches us something about God: He's not an absentee landlord. It also teaches us something about the creation: It's totally dependent on the creator (vss. 27-30). The God of Psalm 104 is not the God of deism.
A Wise God and a Wise Creation (Proverbs 8:22-31)
In Proverbs 8 we don't find much detail about how creation was accomplished, but we do find God's wisdom as the beginning of creation, and we learn that all of the creation was accomplished with wisdom (vs. 30). When we understand that the creation is done with God's wisdom, we can also understand that it shows God's wisdom. This leads us back to the celebration of God's creative power and goodness throughout each and every week.
Clearly these stories should not be considered as contradictory, but rather as different views on a creation which is much too great to be described in any single passage.
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