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.