The Genesis stood out to me the most from the creation stories. Specifically from chapter one to four. These stories stood out because in western culture and religion the Genesis is the most popular belief. In the first chapter it describes and accounts the act of God creating the world and everything that exists throughout seven days. Over the seven days God creates the various creatures and plants that exist on earth and the earth itself. After everything had been created God created a human. In this culture there is a belief in only one god rather then many as some of the other creations stories. This God controls and creates all life rather then having various gods that each serve a different purpose. After god creates a human he keeps in constant contact and closely watches over for him. The human is provided for and God creates a garden for him to live in with everything he could need. Shortly after a woman is created and this leads to the downfall of the human. From this it could be taken that this society did not have a high view of woman and blamed them for societies issues. The downfall comes when the woman is tempted by a serpent, who is thought to be the most cunning of all beasts created by God. In the garden God had created for both the man and woman there was one tree which the were forbidden to eat fruit from. The serpent tempts the woman to eat from this tree regardless of God’s warning. After this moment comes a turning point in the Genesis. Before this God had been very nurturing but after eating from the tree he turns away from them. They are both cast out of the garden he had created to provide for them and curses them to “dust” which can be inferred as mortality. Through this story of creation some questions arise. One question is, why if god created and controls all does he not know they will be tempted to eat from the tree? If god created all then the serpent would have been created by him leading to the temptation of eating from the tree? Why even have the tree in the garden in the first place if it was forbidden? Shouldn’t God have known they would be tempted to the tree if he had created them? In parts 1-4 these questions do not have clear answers but it is clear that after this incident God seems to turn away from nurturing the humans and allow them to fend for themselves. The last question left is, why did God take the time to create any of this? What purpose does it all serve?
Hi Jon, these are questions that a lot of people have asked about these stories: it’s an especially big question of whether God knew this would happen and if so, why not prevent it (or avoid creating humans at all). One things I’d point out is that you say that God in these creation stories not only creates but “controls” all. I’d look back at the text and see what evidence you have for God as controlling all: can you find that evidence? If so, where is it?
It’s important to note, too, that there are TWO creation stories here: one in Genesis ch. 1 where God creates the earth in 7 days, and a second on in Genesis 2-3 where he creates Adam and Eve out of dust. The God in Genesis 1 acts much differently from the God in Genesis 2-3 (who seems to walk around on earth at one point in the story), so you might want to think about these stories separately.
I also was very interested in this piece for one of many reasons. In regards to your questions of why God puts the tree in the garden, I think it is to emphasize the free will that all humans have. In the beginning chapter of Genesis, God does not command the Adam and Eve to not take fruit from the tree, he warns them not to. The difference between command and suggestion is an important one because it greatly emphasizes free will and the consequences that all actions have.
I also found this piece very interesting because it is one of the very books in the Old Testament, in which God can somewhat be depicted as a God of love when compared to his actions in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, God is the one that destroys the world with the flood and destroys almost everything that he has created. While in the New Testament, God demonstrates his compassion for mankind through Jesus. But in Genesis, we see a glimpse of Gods love that isn’t greatly emphasized in the Old Testament in comparison to the New Testament.
I agree with the previous comment answering the questions but, still, I can see your point. In a way, the tree seems kind of baiting. However, I do think it’s a testament, more or less as said, about free will and how we in the end control our actions and are responsible for them.
Hey Jon,
I agree with you in a sense. You wrote ” They are both cast out of the garden he had created to provide for them and curses them to “dust” which can be inferred as mortality,” and I think this is a good point. This is the turning point of the first chapter of book of Genesis. What I talked about a bit in my post is that this seems to be a people/civilization’s attempts to explain why there is so much suffering in the world, in terms of death, pain, hard labor, etc. I think if you think about the stories like this it begins to make sense. I can see people asking why they must praise and worship a God that allows them to suffer these evils, and some scholar/ prophet using this as a reason why there is evil in the world, similar to this is the story of Cain and Abel, which isn’t included in the Anthology, but could give a bit more insight into the culture this was written for, and the questions they were asking.