One of the most debated topics known to mankind is the one that seeks an answer or explanation for the origin of man. The most common approaches to this topic are often religious and/or scientific approaches. Here in this paper, enfaces is placed on the religious reasoning's; more specifically, the creation stories found in the book of Genesis of the Bible. There are two stories which are both found in Genesis; the first between chapters 1 & 2:1-3 and the second in 2:4-25. By contrasting the two stories, hopefully we can induce a clear significance of the stories as related to the origin of man.
Beforehand, the reader of the Bible must take caution as to how they translate the text. The Bible should not be considered "1 book" but instead a mini library of many books with many different authors. Even though the book was supposedly divinely written, it really has no clear format; especially chronological. Who is to say which creation account was written first. After re-reading both creation stories, it seems as if the first is a clearly outlined process while the second follows no specific outline and adds a few more details and events. For example, the second account does not mention time (days) but it does mention specific locations such as rivers and the Garden of Eden.
Traditionally, the order of things created in first of the two creation stories is as follows: .
Day 1 Earth (day and night) .
Day 2. Heaven.
Day 3. Land, water, foliage .
Day 4. Sun, moon, stars.
Day 5. Fish, birds.
Day 6. Cattle, Man.
.
Day 7. Rested .
Although the second story tells about the same creations as the first, there is no real order in which these creations occur in the second account; it's like a brief summary of the things that God (or Yahweh as the author scribes) had created. The first thing that stands out in the second account is the creation of man (Adam). Formed from dust, Yahweh "breathed into his nostrils the breathe of life; and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7).
