TWO COSMOGONIES OF GENESIS.
A stereotyped claim of Bible believers is this: "The account of
creation given in Genesis is in harmony with the accepted teachings
of science." But which account? In the opening chapters of Genesis
are presented two ancient poems, written by different authors. The
first comprises the first chapter and the first three verses of the
second chapter; the second comprises the remainder of the second
chapter. Each poem contains a cosmogony. But neither of them agrees
with the demonstrated truths of science. Above all, they do not agree
with each other. The points of disagreement are many, chief of which
are the following:
1.
In the first cosmogony the appellation of Deity is uniformly "Elohim"
(the gods), translated "God." This term occurs thirty-five times.
In the second, the appellation of Deity is uniformly "Jehovah (Yahweh)
Elohim," translated "Lord God." This term occurs eleven times.
The first belongs to the Priestly code, the second to the Jehovistic
document. They represent different schools of Jewish thought and
different periods of Jewish history.
2.
In the first, earth is a chaos covered with water. The waters must
be assuaged before vegetation can appear.
In the second, earth is at first a dry plain. Vegetation cannot exist
because there is no moisture. "For the Lord God had not caused it to
rain upon the earth" (ii, 5).
3.
In the first, plants are created from the earth--are a product of
the earth. "And the earth brought forth grass and herb" (i, 12).
In the second, they are created independent of the earth--are created
by God and then transferred to earth. "The Lord God made the earth and
the heavens, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth,
and every herb of the field before it grew" (ii, 4, 5).
4.
In the first, fowls, fish, and aquatic animals form one act of
creation--land animals and reptiles another; the former being created
on the fifth day, the latter on the sixth (i, 21-25).
In the second, fowls and land animals are created at the same
time--form one creation act (ii, 19).
5.
In the first, fowls are created out of the water. "And God said, Let
the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life,
and fowl that may fly above the earth" (i, 20).
In the second, fowls are created out of the ground. "Out of the ground
the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air"
(ii, 19).
6.
In the first, trees are created before man. Trees appear on the third
day, while man does not appear until the sixth day.
In the second, trees are created after man. "And the Lord God formed
man; ... planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man
whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow
every tree," etc. (ii, 7, 8.)
7.
In the first, fowls are created before man--are created on the fifth
day, while the creation of man does not occur until the sixth day.
In the second, fowls are created after man. "The Lord God formed every
beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto
Adam to see what he would call them" (ii, 19).
8.
In the first, man is created after the beasts. God's first work on the
sixth day was the creation of beasts, his last work was the creation
of man (i, 24-31).
In the second, man is created before the beasts. God makes man before
he plants the garden of Eden, while beasts are not made until after
the garden is planted (ii, 7-19).
9.
In the first, man and woman are created at the same time. "So God
created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him;
male and female created he them" (i, 27).
In the second, woman is created after man. The writer supposes a
considerable period of time to have elapsed between the creation
of man and the creation of woman. God creates man; then he plants a
garden and places the man there to tend it; next he makes the animals
and birds and brings them to Adam to name; finally he concludes that
Adam needs a helpmate, and taking a rib from his body, creates woman.
10.
The first cosmogony comprises eight distinct creations:
1. Light. 2. The firmament. 3. Dry land. 4. Vegetation. 5. Sun, moon,
and stars. 6. Fish and fowls. 7. Land animals. 8. Man.
The second comprises four creations: 1. Man
(Adam). 2. Trees. 3. Animals. 4. Woman (Eve).
11.
In the first, the heavens and the earth are created in six literal
days.
In the second, no mention is made of this six days' creation. On the
contrary, the writer simply refers to "the day that the Lord God made
the earth and the heavens" (ii, 4).
12.
In the first, God, from his throne in heaven, speaks earth's creation
into being. "God said, Let the earth bring forth, ... and it was so."
In the second, God comes down on earth, plants a garden, molds man
out of clay, breathes in his nostrils, makes woman out of a rib,
makes birds and animals as a child makes mud pies, and brings them
to Adam to see what he will call them.
13.
In the first, man at the creation is given both fruit and herbs
to subsist upon. "Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed,
... and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed;
to you it shall be for meat" (i, 29).
In the second, he is given fruit alone for food. Not until after he
sins and the curse is pronounced does God say, "Thou shalt eat the
herb of the field" (iii, 18). According to this writer the use of
herbs and grain for food was a consequence of man's fall.
14.
In the first, man may partake of the fruit of all the trees. "Every
tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it
shall be for meat" (i, 29).
In the second, he is not permitted to partake of the fruit of all the
trees. "Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden" (iii, 1). "Of
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it"
(ii, 17).
15.
In the first, "God made the firmament, and divided the waters
which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the
firmament" (i, 7). When moisture was needed "the windows of heaven
were opened" and water discharged from the reservoir above. When
enough was discharged "the windows of heaven were stopped, and the
rain from heaven was restrained" (viii, 2).
In the second, when moisture was needed, "There went up a mist from
the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground" (ii, 6).
16.
In the first, man is given dominion over all the earth. "Let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air,
and over the cattle, and over all the earth" (i, 26).
In the second, his dominion is confined to a garden. "And the Lord
God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it
and keep it" (ii, 15).
17.
Both cosmogonies are theological rather than scientific. The real
purpose of the first, in its present form at least, is not so much to
explain the creation of the universe as to inculcate a belief in the
divine institution of the Sabbath. It belongs to the Priestly code,
and one of the chief pillars of priestcraft is the Sabbath.
The second contains no recognition of the Sabbath. The chief purpose
of this account of the creation, if we include the third chapter,
which is really a continuation of it, is to establish the doctrine
of the Fall of Man.
18.
According to the first the Creator is an optimist. He views all his
works and declares them "good."
According to the second the Creator is a pessimist. He sees in his
works both "good and evil;" the good continuing to diminish, and the
evil continuing to increase.
To establish the credibility and divine origin of Genesis it is
necessary not merely to harmonize its theories with science, but to
reconcile its statements with each other. The latter is as impossible
as the former. Dean Stanley, in his Memorial Sermon on Sir Charles
Lyell at Westminster Abbey, made this frank admission:
"It is now clear to diligent students of the Bible that the first and
second chapters of Genesis contain two narratives of the creation,
side by side, differing from each other in most every particular of
time, place, and order."