What are the similarities and differences between the creation stories from around the world?

Answer 1

Although the two biblical creation stories are quite different and even contradictory, there are some similarities, the most important being that the earth itself was uncreated.

In the first story (Genesis 1:1 to 2:4a - up to first sentence of 2:4) there was a pre-existing watery chaos. The ocean was already present and a wind moved across the surface. The seas rested on the dry land, which appeared on day 3 when God gathered the waters together. In the second story (Genesis 2:4b to 2:20), there was pre-existing dry land, but God had yet to make it rain for plants to grow.

Many experts in Hebrew have carefully examined the texts and confirm that this is what they say. In neither creation story was creation ex nihilo.

Both creation stories tell us that God created man and every living thing. In the first creation story, God created man last, to have dominion over all other creatures. In the second story, God created man (Adam) first of all, but woman was created last. In this story, man was not given dominion over all other creatures, but they were created as possible companions for him.

For more information, please visit: http://christianity.answers.com/theology/the-story-of-creation

Answer 2

According to tradition, there is only one Genesis creation-narrative, with ch.2 serving as an expansion of the brevity of ch.1, not a separate set of events (Rashi commentary, Gen.2:8). Both chapters mention the creation of mankind, plants and animals.
It was people such as Wellhausen (the father of modern Biblical-criticism, 1844-1918) who suggested splitting the narrative among various authors, despite the Torah's explicit statement as to its provenance (Exodus 24:12, Deuteronomy 31:24). Wellhausen's claims have been debunked one by one, as Archaeology and other disciplines have demonstrated the integrity of the Torah. No fragments have ever been found that would support his Documentary Hypothesis, which remains nothing more than an arbitrary claim, whose falsehood has been pointed out:

http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=6&article=1131(a Christian author)

http://www.whoreallywrotethebible.com/excerpts/chapter4-1.php

http://www.pearlmancta.com/BiblicalcriticswrongRShlomoCohen.htm

Answer 3

Leon R. Kass (The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis) says that pious readers, believing that the text cannot contain contradictions, ignore the major disjunctions between the two creation stories and tend to treat the second story as the fuller, more detailed account of the creation of man (and woman) that the first story simply reported. On this view, the two stories are identical, although a more careful reading shows them to be different not only in content but also in tone, mood and orientation.

Kass says that to understand Genesis we must scrupulously avoid reading into the second story any facts or notions taken from the first, and vice versa. When the two stories are read separately and without presupposition, they have little more in common than the creation of humans and animals, but even these events take place in a completely different sequence and in a different manner.

For more information, please visit: http://christianity.answers.com/theology/the-story-of-creation

Answer 4

According to tradition, they are one and the same, with ch.2 serving as an expansion of the brevity of ch.1, not a separate set of events (Rashi commentary, Gen.2:8). In ch.1, God created the universe from nothing (Exodus 20:11, Isaiah 40:28; Maimonides' "Guide," 2:30; Targum and Nachmanides on Gen. 1:1; Rashi commentary, Gen.1:14), and in ch.2, God performed specific acts within the broader picture.
The same literary devices which the Torah employs to enrich its text, have been used by Bible-critics in an attempt to reassign its authorship.

The Jewish sages, based on ancient tradition, identified many of these devices, which include:

recapping earlier brief passages to elucidate,

employing different names of God to signify His various attributes,

using apparent changes or redundancies to allude to additional unstated details,

speaking in the vernacular that was current during each era,

and many more. While Judaism has always seen the Torah as an intricate tapestry that nonetheless had one Divine source, some modern authors such as Wellhausen (the father of modern Biblical-criticism, 1844-1918) have suggested artificially chopping up the narrative and attributing it to various authors, despite the Torah's explicit statement as to its provenance (Exodus 24:12, Deuteronomy 31:24). This need not concern believers, since his claims have been debunked one by one, as archaeology and other disciplines have demonstrated the integrity of the Torah. No fragments have ever been found that would support his Documentary Hypothesis, which remains nothing more than an arbitrary claim:

http://religion.answers.com/theory/debunking-the-jepd-documentary-hypothesis

http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=6&article=1131(a Christian author)

http://www.whoreallywrotethebible.com/excerpts/chapter4-1.php

http://www.pearlmancta.com/BiblicalcriticswrongRShlomoCohen.htm

And see also the wider picture:

http://judaism.answers.com/hebrew/does-archaeology-support-the-hebrew-bible

Answer 5

It is not possible to identify and compare all the creation stories belonging to the various cultures on all the continents of the world, but it is possible to look at a few examples to identify some areas of similarity and difference.

All creation stories try to explain why we are here and where the creatures of the earth came from. Many also explain how the sun, moon and stars were placed in the sky.

Many of the earliest creation stories explained creation as coming about through conflict. In Greek mythology, we see the Titans giving rise to the gods, who defeated them and thus ruled the universe. In much of the ancient Near East, the gods had to fight chaos monsters. We can see fragmentary evidence of this in the Book of Psalms and in the Book of Job, where God tells Job that he, not Job, had defeated the Leviathan. Various Australian aboriginal dreamtime stories tell of primeval conflicts between evil spirits and innocent victims.

As people became more sophisitcated, the original chaos stories became less relevant and were moderated or even replaced. The biblical, Yahwist story of Adam and Eve lacks conflict between God and monster, although the serpent still plays an evil part. The much more recent creation story in Genesis chapter 1 lacks even this colour.