Have you ever wondered how life on earth started? How the plants, animals, and even the littlest insects were made? How humans began walking on the face of earth? I know I have. When I was a child, I remembered having so many questions about God on how he created us. It was during my grade school years when the story of creation was introduced to me. Some of my questions were answered and some are not. Then recently, I found out that there were two stories of creation in the bible, which just made me more puzzled. Therefore, when I was given this essay, I made it an opportunity to learn and understand these two different stories. At first, I immediately thought that I was going to have a boring time with lots of reading and writing. And yes I was right. Except the part where I thought, it was going to be boring. After reading the two stories repeatedly, there were certain things that I was interested in that I wanted to start writing this essay so I could put my thoughts into paper.
The two stories have their share of differences and similarities. The first creation account, Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:4A was written during or after the Jews' Babylonian captivity. This fully developed story explains creation in terms of the “ancient near eastern worldview of its time.” according to Rev. James W. Watkins. The story pictures God building the cosmos as a supporting ecosystem for humanity for six days then finally man and woman is created. The second Creation story, Genesis 2:4B to 2:25, found its written form several centuries before the Genesis 1:1 story. This text is a less developed and is a much older story. The Lord God forms man out of the dust of the ground, creates an oasis-like Garden of Eden to support the "man whom he had formed" in a matter of one day. In this story, God creates animal life while trying to provide the man "a helper fit for him.” God takes a rib from the man's side and creates the first woman. These two creation stories clearly...