Talk:The Creation

Harmonizing Genesis 1 and 2
I noticed that there was some awkwardness in writing this article. It seems that the problem may be in harmonizing the order of events in Chapter 1 with those in chapter 2.

If we try to read chapter 2 as a chronological account, we see it this way: It seems that everything jumps from days two (sky and sea) and three (earth) all the way to day six.
 * 2:4-6 God had created the earth and sky, along with unsown seeds of plants and herbs that could not sprout due to no water.  And so God created a mist to water the plants.
 * 2:7 God formed a single man from the ground, giving him life.
 * 2:8 God planted a garden "eastward in Eden" and placed the man in it.
 * 2:9 God made the trees to grow in the garden
 * 2:10 God made the river to irrigate the garden, and then split it to irrigate the rest of the world
 * 2:18-19 God formed the domesticated animals (living things of the field) and birds (flying things) from the ground.
 * 2:22 God made a woman and brought her to the man.

The way to harmonize these is to consider that chapter 2 is organized by priority with mankind being the most important thing of creation! God creates the atmosphere and plenty of food and water so man can survive. Then he creates a special place for him. Chapter 2 is the story about man and the garden, not all of creation.

Harmonizing days 2 through 6 with chapter 2:

Day 3: God pushes land out of the sea and plants seeds in the ground, sending the fog over the earth to water those plants.

Day 4: God "populates" the heavens above the earth with stars and planets (and probably "angels")

Day 5: God creates sea creatures and "sea" birds out of the sea.

Day 6: God makes wild animals and "land" birds from the ground. He plants fruit trees (and berry bushes?) in the garden, pushes the great River out of the ground for irrigation, and creates Adam to guard and keep the garden. Then, God brings the animals and birds to be domesticated (companions). These are the animals Adam names, and thus reduces the time needed to name them. Near the end of the day, Eve is created.

Day 6 would be very "busy." The only thing to really struggle with is to separate "sea birds" from "land birds." Taken literally, though, this distinction has to be made.

It is possible that the "flying things" of the fifth day are insects, while those in chapter two are birds along with flying reptiles and mammals. This is where context helps in harmonizing what might be considered "contradictions" by skeptics.

I will hold off on substantial edits to this very important article for now, but hopefully others will read this note. SouthWriter (talk) 01:35, January 26, 2016 (UTC)


 * I looked into this some time ago when atheists brought it to my attention. Some Christians say that the Genesis 1 is a historical account while Genesis 2 is more poetical. Others say that Genesis 2 adds more details as of what God did during creation. Others (not trying to harmonize the two chapters) say that two different writers wrote the two chapters, expressing their own views as of what happened during creation. I personally hold to the idea that Genesis 2 goes into detail more of what God was doing. A Child of God (talk) 14:16, January 26, 2016 (UTC)