Bible Contradiction VII

While displaying ignorance in multiple areas, atheists demonstrate this deficiency frequently in their description of Biblical “contradictions.” What is a contradiction? A simple definition comes to us from Stanley Jevons’ Elementary Lessons in Logic: “Nothing can both be and not be” (1928, p. 117).

I’ve been asked about the supposed “contradiction” in the two Creation Accounts that are found in Genesis One and Genesis Two. An atheist states:
- Man was created after the other animals - Gen 1:25,26,27
- Man was created before the other animals - Gen 2:18,19

Without any expertise required, most people can see that Genesis One and Genesis Two are NOT contradictory stories. They are Two Separate Stories talking about two very different things. In fact they are so dissimilar it’s hard to understand how atheists can attempt any comparison at all.

. Genesis Chapter One is talking about the creation of the universe, the earth and the creatures that inhabit the earth, including humans. As noted, in this account humans are created last.

. Genesis Chapter Two is centred on and talks about Adam and Eve. They are TALKED about first but as verse 19 shows, the animals are clearly already in place. It is so clear that I’m tempted to believe that any obfuscation on the part of the atheist is deliberate.
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. Chapter One is talking about the order of Creation.

. Chapter Two is talking about the Creation of human kind.
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. Chapter One gives the outline of Creation,

. Chapter Two gives details of Creation.
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. Genesis 2:18 says, “The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Whatever helper God is going to make, it obviously hadn’t been created yet.

. Genesis 2:19 says, “Now the Lord God HAD FORMED out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air.” Notice that it doesn’t say, “The Lord THEN formed . . .” Because, from Genesis One, we know that the animals had already been created, the word “Now” is describing past tense, not present. This is clear to anyone not attempting to obscure the meaning.

That is what atheists are attempting to do, but anyone who can comprehend at an elementary school level will be able to understand that animals were already in place.

In review:
. Chapter One, is the account of Creation in general, including the creation of the universe and the animals.

. Chapter Two, is the account that deals specifically with Adam and Eve. It talks about bringing the animals (already created) before Adam thereby allowing him to find out experientially that none of them made a suitable helpmate for him.

Reasonable people can understand that. So why not atheists? Well it’s not a lack of intelligence, not usually anyway. Rather, because of their pre formed, sustained and substantial bias against Christianity, all that atheists are able to see is a contradiction where none exists. They can grasp on some level that both stories involve creation. The details however just escape their grasp.