How Do You Reconcile the Two Creation Accounts?

Question: How do you reconcile the two seemly the two contradictory creation accounts found in Genesis1:1-2:3 and Genesis12:4-3:24?

Answer: How something is told reflects why it is told as in this case. The first story is a chronological account; whereas the second is a detailed list on how the creation relates to man. You will notice that in the first account speaks of day one, day two, and so on; whereas, the second account has none of that.

The two contradictory creation accounts:

The Book of Genesis begins with two contradictory creation accounts (1:1-2:3 and 2:4-3:24). In the first, God created humans (male and female) after he finished making all of the other animals. In the second, God made one man (“Adam”) and then created all of the animals in order to find a helpmeet for Adam. God brought all of the animals to Adam, but none of them appealed to him. So God made a woman from one of Adam’s ribs to serve his helpmeet.

1. In the first creation story, humans are created after the other animals. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and 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, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Genesis 1:25-27 The Creation of the World (1:1-2:3) is from a chronological perspective.

2. It does appear that in the second story, humans were created before the other animals. And the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him. And out of the ground 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: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, which was the name thereof ( Genesis 2:18-19 The Creation of Man and Woman (2:4-3:24) is from the standpoint of man.

Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe summarized some of the differences in Genesis 1-2 in the following chart (1992, p. 35):

Genesis 1		Genesis 2
Chronological Order		Topical Order
Outline		Details
Creating Animals		Naming Animals

As Kenneth Kitchen noted in his book, Ancient Orient and the Old Testament: Genesis 1 mentions the creation of man as the last of a series, and without any details, whereas in Genesis 2 man is the center of interest and more specific details are given about him and his setting. Failure to recognize the complimentary nature of the subject—distinction between a skeleton outline of all creation on the one hand, and the concentration in detail on man and his immediate environment on the other, borders on obscurantism (1966, p. 117).

The following chart should well illustrate the differences between Hebraic thought patterns and that of the Greek philosophers which we utilize.

Western    Approach	Hebraic     Approach
Life analyzed in precise categories.	Everything blurs into everything else.
A split between natural & supernatural	Supernatural affects everything.
Linear logic	Contextual or "block" logic
"Rugged Individualism"	Importance of being part of group
Equality of persons	Value comes from place in hierarchies
Freedom orientation	Security orientation
Competition is good	Competition is evil (cooperation better)
Man-centered universe	God/tribe/family-centered universe
Worth of person based on money/material possessions/power	Worth derived from family relationships
Biological life emphasis	Social life supremely important
Chance + cause & effect limit what can happen	God causes everything in his universe
Man rules nature through understanding and applying laws of science	God rules everything, so relationship with God determines how things turn out.
Power over others achieved through business, politics and human organizations.	Power over others is structuclear by social patterns ordained by God.
All that exists is the material	The universe is filled with powerful spirit beings
Linear time divided into neat segments. Each event is new.	Cyclical or spiraling time. Similar events constantly reoccur.
History is recording facts objectively and chronologically.	History is an attempt to preserve significant truths in meaningful or memorable ways whether or not details are objective facts.
Oriented to the near future	Oriented to lessons of history
Change is good = progress	Change is bad = destruction of traditions
Universe evolved by chance	Universe created by God
Universe dominated and controlled by science and technology	God gave man stewardship over his earthly creation. Accountability to God.
Material goods = measure of personal achievement	Material goods = measure of God’s blessing
Blind faith	Knowledge-based faith
Time as points on straight line ("at this point in time…"	Time determined by content ("In the day that the Lord did…")
Sources: Irrational Man, by William Barrett; Christianity With Power by Charles Kraft; Hebrew Thought Compared With Greek by Thorleif Boman; Judaism and Christianity – The Differences by Trude Weiss-Rosmarin, Our Father Abraham, by Marvin Wilson, God in Search of Man by Abraham Heschel.

This explanation should satisfy the honest enquirer.

Take care!

JimR_/-