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Q.
How do we reconcile the two different “creation stories”?
Craig Detweiler
Who is...
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Craig Detweiler
I collect baseball cards.A.
The Bible is loaded with multiple accounts of the same events. The
books of Kings and Chronicles offer two different ways of remem-
bering events in the history of Israel. One celebrates the glory
of kings while the other takes a more skeptical approach to sovereigns. The
gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke recount similar stories in the life of Jesus,
adding in unique emphases and details. The authors appealed to particular
audiences. The creation stories in Genesis give us two ways of understanding
who we are and where we’ve come from.
The fi rst chapter of Genesis offers a cosmic take on creation, from cha-
otic waters to the forming of land and animals. God’s activity unfolds across
seven distinct days. Humanity arises on the sixth day as the dramatic crown of
God’s creation. It also concludes with Sabbath rest. The shape of our work-
week stems from this seminal passage.
The second chapter of Genesis (actually starting with Gen. 2:4) cuts
almost directly to Adam and Eve. It fi lls in more details about their relation-
ship with each other and their creator. It defi nes the boundaries of the Garden
of Eden and describes Adam and Eve’s role as caretakers. It also includes
the fall of humanity, where they put themselves at the center of the garden,
unseating the primacy of God in their lives. We get the birth of shame and
blame. The heights of Genesis 1 collapse in the depths of Genesis 3. A glorious
setup unravels in an inability to respect certain space set up as off limits.
The fi rst creation story gives us nature’s glory and God’s rhythms. The
second creation story gives us the beauty of relationships and the ache that
arises when trust is broken.
Joshua Toulouse
A.
Most modern biblical scholars agree that Genesis was written by
various authors and later edited into one book. The two creation
stories with their confl icting order of events and wildly different
styles support this. What we as modern readers can do with these two diver-
gent stories is to recognize that neither is meant to be a historical account of
the creation of the world, but rather important stories about the relationship of
our God with the world and with humanity.