How is this NOT a Bible contradiction?

Question

Gen. 1:25 - 27 -- man and woman created AT THE SAME TIME after animals.

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 the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Gen. 2: 18 - 22 -- Male created BEFORE THE ANIMALS, female created AFTER

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.

Dear readers, both these quotes discuss THE SAME EVENT and were taken from different chapters of the SAME BIBLE.

This is a contradiction in the Bible. Many of you think Creation should be taught along side evolution, well, which version should we teach? Chapter 1 or chapter 2?

The second can't be an explanation of the first. It is totally different than the first.

DJ - Started to re-read the Bible to find contradictions, and I was stunned that the first two chapters did not agree.

Answer 1

I have studied the Bible alot, perhaps more than most folks on here. I have learned that there is always an explanation, often more than one, for any contradiction or illogical part of the Bible. Terri (above) gives one example. Some Christians believe that there were two creations. God didn't like the first one, so he destroyed all He had made and started over again. Enter Adam and Eve. Dinosaurs, of course, were part of the first creation. An excellent and very convenient explanation. The only problem is, that the Bible doesn't say that at all. It is just a made-up way to rationalize away various contradictions in the creation myth, and to explain the existence of dinosaurs.

Not all Christians believe that theory, though. But some say that dinosaurs lived alongside man, an idea even more fantastical and far less rational or realistic. Many believe that scientists just make all this stuff up just to attack Christianity and the Bible. Never mind that many scientists are Christians too. Or that scientists' observations and deductions leave room for the existence of God, but they also make perfect sense on their own, and don't require an invisible being to speak life and the universe into existence.

Answer 2

Genesis 1:25-27 states that God created the animals and that he created man - male and female. It does not mean that this was done in any particular order - just that he created them.

Genesis 2:18-22 states that God created woman after man. The NIV version of the bible states the following:

Genesis 2:18-22 (New International Version)

18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
But for Adam [a] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs [b] and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib [c] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

Note the phrase, "Lord God HAD formed out of the ground all of the beasts..."meaning that the beasts and the birds had already been created, but had not been named.

I'm sorry, but I dont see the conflict. The first set of chapters mearly state what God created but do not infer a timeline or order - other than God created the beasts and then man. It merely states that God also created female and male. Later as you noted in Chapter 2, it goes on to explain how and why woman was created.

Answer 3

Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Later, in Genesis 2:4, it seems that a second, different story of creation begins. The idea of two differing creation accounts is a common misinterpretation of these two passages which, in fact, describe the same creation event. They do not disagree as to the order in which things were created and do not contradict one another. Genesis 1 describes the “six days of creation” (and a seventh day of rest), Genesis 2 covers only one day of that creation week—the sixth day—and there is no contradiction.

In Genesis 2, the author steps back in the temporal sequence to the sixth day, when God made man. In the first chapter, the author of Genesis presents the creation of man on the sixth day as the culmination or high point of creation. Then, in the second chapter, the author gives greater detail regarding the creation of man.

There are two primary claims of contradictions between Genesis chapters 1-2. The first is in regard to plant life. Genesis 1:11 records God creating vegetation on the third day. Genesis 2:5 states that prior to the creation of man “no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground.” So, which is it? Did God create vegetation on the third day before He created man (Genesis 1), or after He created man (Genesis 2)? The Hebrew words for “vegetation” are different in the two passages. Genesis 1:11 uses a term that refers to vegetation in general. Genesis 2:5 uses a more specific term that refers to vegetation that requires agriculture, i.e., a person to tend it, a gardener. The passages do not contradict. Genesis 1:11 speaks of God creating vegetation, and Genesis 2:5 speaks of God not causing “farmable” vegetation to grow until after He created man.

The second claimed contradiction is in regard to animal life. Genesis 1:24-25 records God creating animal life on the sixth day, before He created man. Genesis 2:19, in some translations, seems to record God creating the animals after He had created man. However, a good and plausible translation of Genesis 2:19-20 reads, “Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.” The text does not say that God created man, then created the animals, and then brought the animals to the man. Rather, the text says, “Now the LORD God had [already] created all the animals.” There is no contradiction. On the sixth day, God created the animals, then created man, and then brought the animals to the man, allowing the man to name the animals.

By considering the two creation accounts individually and then reconciling them, we see that God describes the sequence of creation in Genesis 1, then clarifies its most important details, especially of the sixth day, in Genesis 2. There is no contradiction here, merely a common literary device describing an event from the general to the specific.

Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/two-Creation-accounts.html#ixzz3Hl3VXLq1

Answer 4

If you read like one should normally read (from the of the page down), since the second passage comes after the first, it should therefore be taken in context of the first. The first set of verses (18-22) describe the creation account in detail, the second set (25-27) basically summerizes the major events of the first. It is also written in a different literary style. Furthermore, without reading into them, the later verses of Genesis (25-27) do not tell when the first woman was created, but only reaffirm that she was created as stated in the first part of Genesis (18-22). So, when read in context and without added meaning and there is no contradiction in those verses.

And if you don't like my answer, look up a few and read what christ_rose posted.

Edited to add the following statement:

atheist, from your added details it is apparent that you don't understand the reasoning that is being presented. Clearly, verses 25-27 DO NOT specify a time frame for the creation of humankind but ONLY repeats that God created humankind, thus it DOES NOT conflict with the first set of verses , and even if it did specify a time frame it would appear the "them" of verses 25-27 is refering to just the animals.

To proclaim that they are in conflict is absurd, it would be as ridiculous as claiming that since the first set of verses is essentially a repeat of the first, therefore God must have created all animals and humans twice. I'm sorry but I must be blunt, you are being illogical.

Furthermore, if the Bible is written by a person and not inspired by God, then what person would knowly countradict themselves in the most critical portion of the book they are writing. No compiler would make such a stupid error. So the contradiction is wishful thinking, it is in your head, imaginary.

I must ask you, why are you trying so hard to discredit what you would probably claim to be just a fairy tale? Why the need to 'convert' people to your view? Don't you realize it is people like you who force Christians to feel like they need to fight back to even have a voice in this country? It is the imposition of secular ideology that has forced Christians to react.

So go ahead, believe what you want and say what you want. But, don't ever accuse me of forcing my religion on you, when you are the one making absurd arguments in an attempt to undermine my beliefs. If you must be absurd, then at least be consistent!

Answer 5

Ma'am,
It's not a contradiction.
After all, he did indeed create both in divine image. Which by the way is listed in Galations. The fruits of the spirit.

There is no time manner as you are implying with Gen 1:25-27.
Gen 1 gives some details. Gen 2 gives other details, or expands on details.

Take the verse for what it says. He created both in divine image. That's what happened as far as I am concerned.

Answer 6

Gen. 1:25 - 27 is a general over view
Gen. 2: 18 - 22 is more in detail
Many people that think there are contradictions in the bible only look in the English version. The problem is it was written in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Semitic and they don't take that into count.

Answer 7

Wow, out of the whole bible this is all you could come up with? If you notice in the first paragraph, its doesn't say THEN. Which means it doesnt imply time at all.

It doesn't say :And THEN God said, Let us make man in our image.... So THEN God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

It is just saying he created them. Just like you would say (not in chronological order) I went shopping today. I ate at Taco Bell today. I saw a bird. I saw a dog. In this example you don't know what order you did what. You are just stating what you did and saw. Just the same as in the bible paragraph.

The second paragraph the text is saying it in order to give the details, just like you would say how your day went: I saw a bird. Then I went shopping. Then I saw a dog crossing the street on the way to Taco Bell, which is where I ate.

So you see, it is not a contradiction when you look at it this way. One paragraph is stating what happened but not in order or in a time frame. The second is stating it in order.

Answer 8

The Old Testament (just to keep things simple as there's a New Testament), or so I heard, is a compilation of writings by different people/parties throughout Mesopotamian history. These parties had different visions about God, which is why you get contradictions, such as God-as-loving-deity and God-as-wrathful-punisher. So the two creation stories likely were written by different parties. As to what that means for the believers...

Answer 9

Gen. 1:27 says "in the image of God he created him" meaning Adam, and goes on to say "male and female he created them" meaning animals.

Gen 2:22 later goes on to say "THEN the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man." (emphasis added).

Looks pretty clear to me.

Answer 10

Chapter two is not chronological. It simply says God brought the beast and fowl for Adam to name as an introduction that Adam did not have a mate but the animals did.