The Two Versions Of Creation. Essay, Research Paper
The Two Versions Of Creation.
The two versions of creation in the beginning of Genesis can be distinguished in
various ways. The two stories differed in how they were told, how humans were created,
a human s purpose in life, and the image and role that God played. In Genesis I, God
seemed more distant from humankind, and man and woman are considered equal. In
Genesis II, God seems to be more of a father figure, and man seems to be more superior
than woman. Both versions were the same in the way that humans felt that it was their
duty to serve God and to do what God wants. The story: The Fall From Innocence,
shows that humans who dishonored and disobeyed God were punished. In both the
second story of creation, and the story The Fall From Innocence, women are looked
down upon and viewed as inferior to men.
Genesis, the first book of the Bible, tells of the beginning of the world from the
time when God created the heaven and the earth. This first story of creation, Genesis I,
tells what is created day by day. In this story, men and women were both created in God s
image and likeness. Human purpose in life was to have dominion over everyone else. The
humans were portrayed as individuals who needed to be stronger or more powerful than
every other living thing. God said: Let us make humankind in our image, according to
our likeness; and let them have a dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of
the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. Humans were also given the responsibility to
look after and take care of everything they owned. In Genesis I, God seemed more
delighted, pleasant and upbeat to be giving and creating the things he presented the
humans with. God said things such as: this is yours and I have given you every plant
yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, you shall have them for food. Man and
woman are portrayed as equals in the first creation story. So God created humankind in
his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. In
Genesis I, when God talks of humans he uses words like, humankind and them which
refer to both sexes, not one in particular.
Genesis II, the second story, doesn t give a step by step summary, but more of an
overall story of creation. Human purpose of life was to till and keep the garden. The
humans here believed that cultivating the land was an extremely important task. In the
second story of creation, God seemed very authoritative, like the relationship a father
would have with his own son. An example of this is after God put Adam in the garden of
Eden and said: You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of
knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall
die. God created all living animals throughout this story and gave Adam the job of
naming them, whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. In
Genesis II, a woman was created from a single rib only to help the men with their different
earthly activities.
In the story The Fall From Innocence in the Garden of Eden humans were told
by God that they could eat the fruit of any of trees in the garden except from the tree in
the middle of the garden. If they were to eat or even touch this tree in the middle they
were to be cursed and they shall die. A serpent tricked Eve and told her that You will
not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be
like God, knowing good and evil. The woman who wanted to be wise and who was
tempted by this delight to her eyes took fruit from the once forbidden tree. She took
enough fruit for both her and her husband; they both ate it. Seeing this; God comes down
and confronts Adam and Eve and curses them both for breaking his rules. God took the
father-type role and punished the woman by making future child-birth much more painful.
At the same time, he put a hex on Adam by making it harder for him to cultivate the land
and grow food. Adam and Eve made an innocent mistake, they had no idea that the
serpent was providing them with false information, they simply wanted to improve their
own knowledge. The Fall From Innocence accounts for parts of human nature including
why we sin. A sin is something someone does that is looked upon as bad or wrong.
People commit sins all the time because they are curious or want to try things they have
never done before. We as a society are fallen in the way that we can t tell the difference
between right and wrong. Many people including political leaders of our country can stay
true to their spouse and cheat on him or her. This is wrong, and we know it s wrong, but
for some reason we still do it.
In all of these stories, humans had a job and a purpose for being where they were.
When reading these stories one gets a sense that the humans believed along the same lines
as the Egyptians had, both thought man was better than woman. The purpose behind both
stories was for the humans to serve God and to do what God wants. God wanted the best
for humankind; he wanted to reshape the human s lives and thought they should strive
towards perfection. One of the main messages in these stories was the idea that God was
perfect and that people should model their lives after him. The humans believed that God
only loves those who obey him, so they worked very hard at making themselves perfect
people in order to have God love them.
Women are clearly portrayed as inferior to men in the stories of creation along
with the story: The Fall From Innocence. In the second story of creation, the first man
was created long before the first woman. The first woman was only created because God
didn t think that Adam should be alone in the Garden of Eden. God said: I will make him
a helper as his partner. The role of the woman (Eve) was to help the man (Adam) with
his different earthly activities, such as tilling and cultivating the soil. This at last is bone
of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one
was taken. Women were made to look unintelligent in The Fall From Innocence. God
made Eve not Adam, the one who was stupid enough to interact with the misleading
serpent. God also mad sure that Eve was the one who actually picked the fruit from the
tree in the middle of the garden. God tries to portray the woman as being selfish, by
making it seem that she was only trying to improve her own knowledge. In most cases,
these stories were written to portray man as superior to woman.