Versions of the Creation Stories in Genesis

The creation stories in Genesis indicate that the human being was created by God and provide a specific description of this process. The account as it now stands was written by looking backward from Israel's experience of God's action in creating and saving it as a people, and the account is derived from different traditions which now present God as the utterly transcendent Creator and Lord of the entire cosmos. The story was written by more than one hand over a period of time, and different versions of the stories in Genesis were combined. The Yahwist tradition, as it is called, was the first to combine the national story of Israel with muythic stories about primeval history. The Priestly tradition has been attriubted to the priets of Jerusalem and takes a different point of view from the Yahwist tradition. The stories offer explanations on different levels for aspects of the human condition and for the establishment of a relationship.

Diversions between the Old Epic version and the Priestly version help to identify when passages were written and by whom. Williams (1972) states that even readers of an English translation can discern variations in style as well as inconsistencies and breaks in the text, such as those that involve references to God as Yahweh in such a way that it is implied that the name "Yahweh" was not known to Israel before this time. Scholars thus designate the writer of this passage as E and attribute to him many of the passag

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ey remained there until 1863 when George Smith, a young English engraver, pieced together the tablets. He revealed what he had found in 1872--he had found the Mesopotamian version of the Flood. Gibson writes about the archaeological evidence for the Flood and notes that evidence for an inundation in Mesopotamia is clear and has been attributed to circa 3500 B.C. Indeed, at least three such floods have been discovered in the region dating from different periods, though none of these could have been more than local (Layard 175-176). There are other flood traditions as well. In Iran there is a tradition preserved by Zoroaster with a counterpart to Noah called Yima/Yama, the first man and the first king, entrusted with government as well as religion. Yima helps expand the overburdened earth in three stages to accommodate the growing population, and he live for 1200 years before he is directed by Ahuramazda to prepare for an impending flood brought about by melting snow. Ahuramazda offers detailed instructions on how to make an enclosure in the mountain so Yima can save himself and "the seed of small and large cattle and the mortals and dogs and bird and the red burning fire." In the end, it appears that Yima is still in the en

Category: Philosophy - V