One More Time

After reading the creation account in the first chapter of Genesis, we are surprised to find another account of the same thing in the second chapter.  Of course, they are radically different.  The first is beautifully written with images that point to a literary master.  The second seems more like someone sitting beside a campfire who is spinning a yarn.  The second account of creation is obviously the work of a master story teller.  One of the first mistakes many make at this point is trying to reconcile the details of both accounts so that they make one telling of the creation. 

 

Actually, the second account of creation is a story.  And it bears the markings of someone who might have been asked by someone of a younger generation, "Grandpa, how did all this come to be?  Who made the stars?  And, how about us?  How did we get here?"  We sometimes fail to take into account that this written book we know as the Bible was first nothing but oral tradition passed from one person to another.  Long before anything was being written, the Word as we know it was being passed from mouth to ear, from one generation to another. 

What we have in the first two chapters of Genesis are two windows through which we can catch glimpses of the creative work of God that brought all that is into being.  One does not negate the other, but enhances the other.  Instead of trying to reconcile them into one statement about creation, it is better to understand that each one contains an important truth the Holy Spirit wanted to impart to the generations of people who would be reading the Word.  The Holy Spirit is not seeking to confuse us through the two accounts of creation, but is seeking to bring us to a greater depth of understanding.