Apparent contradictions in Genesis

Vic Hays · 06-13-2011, 15:18

Japle wants some answers:
quote:At the risk of hijacking this thread, I’ll give a brief answer.

As I recall, I was bothered by multiple contradictory accounts in Genesis.

Genesis 1:25-27
And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image.... So God created man in his own image.
In this version, Humans were created after the other animals.

Genesis 2:18-19
And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
In this version, Humans were created before the other animals.

Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
In this version, man and woman were created simultaneously.

Genesis 2:18-22
And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them.... And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
In this version, man was created first, then the animals, then the woman from the man's rib.

God created light and separated light from darkness, and day from night, on the first day. Yet he didn't make the light producing objects (the sun and the stars) until the fourth day (1:14-19).

How could there be "the evening and the morning" on the first day if there was no sun to mark them? Quote:

1. There seem to be differing accounts of creation in Genesis.

Answer: The method of writing is not the same as our western method of writing. Often the story is told one way and then other details are written about later. This is parallelism.

Check carefully. The accounts do not necessarily give the order, only that it was the sixth day of creation week.

2. The evening and the morning were the first day. How could there be night and day without the sun moon and stars which were created on the fourth day?

Answer: Light was created and contrasted with the darkness. It was explained to me that the account of creation week was from the point of view of being on the surface of the earth. The earth was without form and void. Apparently it existed before it was changed into something able to support life. Is it possible that the atmosphere was not transparent enough to see the sun moon and stars? The fourth day it does not say that God made the stars on the fourth day. It says that God made the stars also.

Creation week is mostly about getting the earth ready to support life and the creation of life.

rgregoryb · 06-13-2011, 15:31

Jedp...............

Brasso · 06-13-2011, 15:57

The light created before the sun was created was the Torah / Messiah. The light is separate, or set apart (holy), from the darkness.

greenlion · 06-13-2011, 16:06

Pink unicorns are hollow. That is why the blue glitter unicorns weigh more and leave footprints behind, whereas the pink ones do not.

That answers all your questions right there.

Japle · 06-13-2011, 17:19

Vic, I've heard those "explanations" and many others over the years.

They are, to put it mildly, not convincing. They require that you read a lot into Genesis that isn't there.

You can also explain that Mercury could fly with those tiny wings on his heels because he ate a lot of beans and was getting considerable thrust from the resulting gas.

That isn’t mentioned anywhere in my copy of Bullfinches’ Mythology, but as good an explanation as you’re going to get.

Harper · 06-13-2011, 17:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vic Hays

Check carefully. The accounts do not necessarily give the order, only that it was the sixth day of creation week.

NIV does though. What's with that?

25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Norske · 06-13-2011, 18:04

Because they were written by a bunch of barely literate goat herders who were trying, for the first time, to write down myths that had passed down to them, generation by generation, verbally, for thousands of years.

And no, they were NOT the revealed words of "God".

The OT is the written -- wildly successful -- historical political propaganda of the Israeli People.

It is the biggest example of the saying that the "The Victors write the Histories".

Or in this case, "The Survivors write the Histories".

achysklic · 06-13-2011, 18:08

All I can say is I am glad I invested in a translation of the bible that actually translated Gen. correctly so there is no doubts and contradictions.

You get what you pay for.

achysklic · 06-13-2011, 18:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norske

Because they were written by a bunch of barely literate goat herders who were trying, for the first time, to write down myths that had passed down to them, generation by generation, verbally, for thousands of years.

And no, they were NOT the revealed words of "God".

The OT is the written -- wildly successful -- historical political propaganda of the Israeli People.

It is the biggest example of the saying that the "The Victors write the Histories".

Or in this case, "The Survivors write the Histories".

Why speak it makes you look foolish, Gen. along with the first 5 books of the bible had only one writer.

***ArtificialGrape*** · 06-13-2011, 18:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by achysklic

All I can say is I am glad I invested in a translation of the bible that actually translated Gen. correctly so there is no doubts and contradictions.

You get what you pay for.

Don't hold out, which translation are you using?

Thanks!

rgregoryb · 06-13-2011, 18:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by achysklic

Why speak it makes you look foolish, Gen. along with the first 5 books of the bible had only one writer.

I'll bet you are going to say Moses, incredibly he wrote about his own death.....how did he do that?

J (for the writer or writers who referred to God as Jahweh/Yahweh, "the Lord"), E (for the writer or writers who referred to God as Elohim, "God"), P (for the writer or writers who were concerned with priestly matters) and D (for the writer or writers of Deuteronomy).
JEDP

Ramjet38 · 06-13-2011, 18:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArtificialGrape

Don't hold out, which translation are you using?

Thanks!

Mushinto · 06-13-2011, 21:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brasso

The light created before the sun was created was the Torah / Messiah. The light is separate, or set apart (holy), from the darkness.

Beat me to it.

Animal Mother · 06-13-2011, 22:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vic Hays

1. There seem to be differing accounts of creation in Genesis.

Answer: The method of writing is not the same as our western method of writing. Often the story is told one way and then other details are written about later. This is parallelism.

Check carefully. The accounts do not necessarily give the order, only that it was the sixth day of creation week.

Man and woman being made together and in the same way is not parallel to man being made first, then animals, then woman being made from man's rib.

This was recognized in Jewish folklore, where Lilith takes the role of the first wife and Eve is created to replace her.

Vic Hays · 06-13-2011, 22:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Japle

Vic, I've heard those "explanations" and many others over the years.

They are, to put it mildly, not convincing. They require that you read a lot into Genesis that isn't there.

It is best not to conjecture. There is plenty in the Bible to strengthen your faith. There are some areas that can cause doubt. Which do you want, faith or unbelief? It is basically a choice. I choose to believe that I have value and purpose. This is not blind faith. Like I said there is plenty in the Bible to hang your faith on.

Tilley · 06-13-2011, 23:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norske

Because they were written by a bunch of barely literate goat herders who were trying, for the first time, to write down myths that had passed down to them, generation by generation, verbally, for thousands of years.

Kinda like-------------->

Japle · 06-14-2011, 06:15

Quote:

Posted by Vic Hays:
It is best not to conjecture. There is plenty in the Bible to strengthen your faith. There are some areas that can cause doubt. Which do you want, faith or unbelief?

I want the truth.

achysklic · 06-14-2011, 07:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArtificialGrape

Don't hold out, which translation are you using?

Thanks!

http://www.restoringtheoriginalbible.com/

Vic Hays · 06-14-2011, 10:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Japle

I want the truth.

Jesus is the Truth. Do you want Him?

Norske · 06-14-2011, 11:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by achysklic

Why speak it makes you look foolish, Gen. along with the first 5 books of the bible had only one writer.

Are you referring to Abram, later alias "Abraham"?

The same guy who pimped his wife Sarai, later alias, Sarah, to Pharoah in exchange for new flocks of sheep and goats and manservents and maidservents, etc.?

If you really believe that Pharoah laid all those riches on Abram because he really, really liked Sarai's pretty face, I have a bridge you might be interested in buying in lower Manhattan.

The Bible says he liked her "face" but I'd bet that it was a mistranslation of "head".