Where did creation stories come from?

Answer 1

Tradition says that the Book of Genesis, which opens with an account of creation, was dictated by God to Moses. On this view, the story of creation comes from God, although some notice that there are really two quite different and contradictory histories of the creation and say this is part of the evidence for at least two authors of what is now the Book of Genesis.

Scholars recognise that the creation account in Genesis 1:1-2:4a is different in tone, content and style from the creation account that begins in Genesis 2:4b. They say that the second account is much older in Judaism, and attribute it to an anonymous source now known as the Yahwist ('J Source'), writing in the southern Hebrew kingdom of Judah in the ninth century BCE. They see similarities in this history to earlier Canaanite and Mesopotamian account, from which it may have been derived. Scholars attribute the first creation history to an anonymous source now known as the Priestly Source ('P Source') writing during the Babylonian Exile.

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

Answer 2

Creation stories came from the need to understand why we are here. The creation stories of one culture were usually influenced by the creation stories of ancestral and neighbouring cultures. So, the second creation story in Genesis (Gen. 2:4b onwards) came largely from the Canaanite milieu.

The first creation story in Genesis (1:1-2:4a) is much more recent and comes from Babylon during the Babylonian Exile. Its anonymous author, now known as the Priestly Source, preferred to call his God by the name El Shaddai (God Almighty) and this is reflected in the story. Whereas there were limits to the powers of God in the second story, such as the need to make living creatures out of the pre-existing dirt, in this story God could just speak them into existence.

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

Answer 3

Creation stories are a worldwide tradition going all the way back. Every ancient people has one; no exceptions. This is because they were based on fact. However, as nations slid into idolatry, their creation-accounts turned into grotesque parodies of the original, which eventually survived only in the Torah. See also:

What_are_some_proofs_offered_by_Creationists

http://judaism.answers.com/jewish-philosophy/can-you-prove-that-god-exists

http://www.allaboutscience.org/intelligent-design.htm

http://www.pathlights.com/ce_encyclopedia/sci-ev/sci_vs_ev_26.htm