The Creation Story

Genesis, Chapter 1: 1-31

The difference in beliefs in regards to Genesis, Chapter 1—the creation story—isn’t divided so much along the lines of Jewish and Christian variances, but along the lines of conservative and liberal.

Religious conservatives, of both the Jewish and Christian variety, tend to believe the Bible is inerrant, transcribed by Moses and directly inspired by God. The creation story is seen as absolutely and literally true, but the concept of what “time” and “day” means in Genesis 1 is hotly contested. To many religious conservatives, the points in which Genesis conflicts with evolution, the theory of evolution is assumed to be wrong.

Having said that, it is much more common for an Orthodox or conservative Jew to believe in the compatibility of evolution and Genesis 1 than a conservative Christian. Many prominent Orthodox rabbis believe the world is older, and that life has evolved over time. In Judaism, I believe it is more common to find rabbi’s embracing science as a way to learn about God’s creation, even in conservative synagogues. Over the last 10 years, I have been to quite a few synagogues, participated in an interfaith mother's group when my child was born; said child is currently attending Hebrew school. I have a very strong impression that one of the underlying tenets of Judaism is that not all details of "life" are revealed for us to understand. Which leaves plenty of room for interpretation and intellectual discourse in regards to the creation story, kwim?

Classical Rabbis hold that God created the world close to 6,000 years ago. The basis for this belief is based on a chronology that developed in the Seder Olam midrash. (A midrash is a form of rabbinic literature—ancient commentary of biblical text). It is interesting to note that a small group of classical rabbis did believe the world to be older, and life did not exist in the way that we know it today!

I grew up in a home that believes in the creation story as literal truth.

On the other hand, religious liberals (both Christian, Jewish and Muslim, who also share the same creation story), as well as Agnostics, Humanists, and others, reject inerrancy and divine inspiration. This is where my personal belief lies. In no way do I believe that Genesis 1 is a factual account of the physical origins of life on earth. Rather, I feel it is a myth, a story, that symbolizes the mysterious nature (especially at the time it was written!) of life on earth.

I do not believe the Torah/Pentateuch (and the Creation story is no exception) was divinely inspired. I think that the ancient Hebrews who wrote Genesis and the other books in the Pentateuch were partially adopting the cosmology of pagan cultures. In my next post I will delve into a Babylonian creation story that may have influenced the writing of Genesis 1.

Something new I learned: I did find an answer to an unasked question that has apparently been stewing in my subconscious. I never quite knew why Shabbat, and all other Jewish holidays begin at sundown. In all the times I've read Genesis (many, many times prior to my 16th birthday, hardly at all since, but always from a Christian perspective), I never made the connection. But each day of creation is stated thus, "and there was evening, and there was morning--the first day." (and second, third, fourth, etc)

Differences between NIV (Christian Bible) and JPS (Tanakh): In Genesis 1: 21, I found it very interesting that the Tanakh described the creation of animals that live in the sea in this way: "God created the great sea monsters, and all the living creatures of every kind that creep". This is compared to the NIV version: "So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing which the water teems". I can't help but think of the Loch Ness monster when I read the Tanakh version!

Aha! This is where the idea of a day beginning at sundown comes from!

And that opinion, as you might guess, will guide much of my framework for further readings!

Commandment 1 of the 613 Laws in the Torah: To have children with one's wife.
"God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it." (Gen 1:28)

Item Created (in Biblical Order)	According to Genesis/Bereishit	According to Evolutionary Theory
Heavens and earth	Earth covered in waters, came before other planets, sun, and stars. created on 1st day.	Earth is billins of years younger than the universe; started out dry and volcanic, not covered in water.
Light	Seen as separate from the sun. 1st day. Theologically – light viewed as initially coming from God, separate from the sun, stars, and planets.	N/A Primary sources of light – sun, planets, stars – do not appear in the Biblical Creation story at the same time as light, but later.
Sky	The sky (atmosphere) came after the oceans. 2nd day.	Atmosphere existed before oceans.
Land	Separated the waters to create land. Sun still hasn’t made an appearance! 3rd day.	Earth formed after the sun.
Plants/Vegetation	Seed-bearing plants and trees. 3rd day.	Plants evolved from algae. Trees evolved later than other plants, after fauna (trees came about after appearance of vertebrates).
Sun, Moon and stars	Finally! 4th day.	Sun present before planets, including earth.
Creatures of the sea	5th day.	Marine organisms evolved before plants.
Birds	Created before land animals. 5th day.	Birds appeared after land animals, durimg the Jurassic period. They evolved from a group of theropod dinosaurs called Maniraptora.
Land animals	Wild animals and livestock* 6th day.	Land animals evolved prior to trees (but not all flora). Domesticated agriculture, “livestock”, came about approx. 10,000ya with the invention of agriculture. All livestock descends from wild animal species.
Humans	Adam and Eve created to rule over all other living creatures. God created all other living creatures for humans. 6th day.	Evolved from (extinct) hominin species. Apes and humans share a common ancestor. The world was not created for humans to be the masters over everything else; we have slowly evolved to become the top of the food chain.

*Domesticated agriculture (aka livestock) didn’t exist prior to 10,000 years ago. It is a human invention.