The History of the Creation Story - Genesis

The book of Genesis is the first of five books in the Pentateuch which is found in the Old Testament. The stories found in Genesis are thought to be narrative based rather than that of a scientific nature. It is evident that there is a flow of stories when reading the book of Genesis. The book of Genesis can be seen as a narrative based on beginnings and is held together by a series of genealogies and births. It is vital when focussing on Genesis that we take into account the authors' purpose of writing such a text, the way it is structured, how both humans and God have been represented in the text and the significance Genesis has on the contemporary reader in order to view the text critically and to enable us to analyse and make comparisons.

Biblical texts can be seen as a vehicle in which ancient writers expressed themselves to particular audiences. Genesis 1: 1-2a:4 was written as an explanation to highlight the importance of how earth came to be in God's hands rather than how creation could be viewed scientifically. The pre-historical account discusses how heaven and earth came to be connected through God. It is important for us today to understand the literary origins of Genesis in order to gain an understanding of the purpose for which this text was written and the impact the text has on us today. Modern scholars believe that the first chapter of Genesis was written around the time of the Babylonian exile between 586 and 530 B.C.E. The exiles who had been taken to Babylon witnessed a city that was great and prosperous. The Hebrews were faced with the image of Babylon as a wealthy and advanced civilisation and this worried Hebrew leaders as they believed that the people of Jerusalem would begin to compare their way of life to that of the Babylonians. They did not want the exiles to think that the Babylonian Gods were more powerful than their own God and this in turn led the religious leaders at the time of the exile to write the story of Genesis to remind the Hebrew people of the greatness of God.

At the time of the exile, the Priestly writer wanted to portray their God as the source of all existence. To do this, the priestly writer created stories that could be re-told highlighting the greatness of God. In Genesis 1, the creation story exemplifies the belief that God ended chaos on earth and brought peace his world. The story of creation has been written in a "...rhythmic, repetitive, prose pattern..." and highlights the oral traditions that would have been prevalent at the time of writing. In stating "And God said..." (Genesis 1: 6, 9 ,14, 20, 24, NSRV) and also "Then God said..." (Genesis 1: 3, 11, 26), God is portrayed as the master of creation and that when he speaks good things happen. The priestly writer was looking to bring hope and belief back to the Hebrew people and through writing statements such as this, they were expressing the power God held over