by Elsewhere 8 Replies latest jw friends
I noticed that in the two creation accounts in genesis, the order of creation is not the same. For instance, in Account #1, Animals are created before humans, and in Account #2, Animals are created after humans.
Account #1
Animals created Gen. 1:21
Humans created Gen. 1:26
Account #2
Humans Created Gen. 2:7
Animals Created Gen. 2:19
Any comments on this?
"As every one knows, there are mistakes in the Bible" - The Watchtower, April 15, 1928, p. 126
Believe in yourself, not mythology.
<x ><
Genisis speaks of the sea monsters being created first...then the land animals....then humans
The creative 'days' could have overlapped each other so while there would have been land animals before Adam was created but after he was made, it's highly likely that the creation process for the animals was not yet finished. One creation day doesn't end and then another begin like our days....they overlap into many milleniums, and over each other.
That's how it was explained to me.
This is going back some 20 years or so when I was taking a post high school English course called The Bible as Literature.
There is some scholarly evidence that there are two creation accounts because there were two different authors, neither of whom were Moses, as the WTS and Judaism attest.
Love, Scully
David, a good book on this is, appropriately enough, 'Who Wrote the Bible'.
It shows rather convincingly that the Genesis account, up to and including the flood account, is a compilation, a cut&paste, of at least two, if not more, different writings.
Who wrote the bible? Funny how we didn't even ask that simple, basic question as witnesses, eh?
SixofNine: JWs were told that Jehovah wrote the Bible, via radio-style electrified brain zapping with holy spirit ... and presto ... the hands pick up the quills, and the ink hit the sheep skins ... but, they refined this to allow for 'some' style personalization ... and now ... we begin to realize the real questions as you point out ... who really wrote the Bible?
I was doing some research the other day on the writings found at the Ugarit and happend upon this websight. Needless to say I got stuck there for quite some time. This guy or group are christian yet seem to look at the bible in a really different light. It is an interesting read for believers and dis-believers alike. He has a VERY in-depth breakdown on the first 2 chapters of Genisis, most likely more then you will want to read in one setting. It is interesting his hypothysis as to whom Adam was, as well as goes into the biblical flood (in a different article).
Have fun
Seedy
i think something that takes a lot of us by total surprise when we first learn about them after opening our minds to the outside world is people who are very devout chirstians and at the same time do not believe that the bible is the inerrant word of god. it certainly took some time for my black-and-white trained mind just to recognize that habitable space existed between the two extremes. a book i recently read struck me by how much room their was for a consistent and well thought out religious worldview in that gap: Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture by John Shelby Sprong (1991). he spends a great deal of the book exposes the ignorance of the fundamentalist belief in the bible as inerrant, while espousing the need for christianity to adapt in order to survive. though i do not agree with his theology, i respect what he is trying to do and found his writing skilled and fascinating.
mox
Elsewhere,
There is much evidence to suggest that Genesis is compiled from 4 main sources. Many of the accounts are told twice. The creation account has two separate tellings. The flood account has two stories from two sources woven together.
When you read Genesis as literature and study its origin it is somewhat different to the literal and real history belief of JWs.
I see your problem, you've started reading the Bible on your own.
Thirdson
{{{Pay No Attention to those thoughts in your own head}}} {{{Ask someone who thinks they have all the answers.}}}
TimB
