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The Bible, which is the foundation of our faith and the wellspring of theology, is a rather troublesome book. First of all, it is a collection of 73 books. Very often, the things written in one book contradict another. For example, wine cheers life in Ecclesiastes but ruins your life in the Proverbs . OK, you may dismiss it as a matter of opinions but both are the revelation of God. What about historical events? Those of us who have studied the Synoptic Gospels know all too well the problem. Did Jesus heal one blind man or two in Jericho ? Was Jesus riding one donkey or two donkeys into Jerusalem ?
Worse still, the same book may contradict itself. For example, while most known translations of the Parable of the Two Sons in Matthew say that the first son did the will of the father, the Catholic Chinese version思高版says it was the latter son. So, what did Jesus actually say?
Many people have made a resolution to read the Bible from cover to cover. This is an admirable resolution but most of them are still struggling and have not yet moved beyond Leviticus. So, those of us who have read Genesis chapters 1 and 2 will not fail to ask the following question: was man created last or first?
The truth is nobody was watching when God created the known universe. Therefore, what we read in Genesis 1 and 2 can only be a work of imagination, a work of human construct. Similarly, nobody was present during the Big Bang, the hypothetical beginning of the universe as we know it. Therefore, the Big Bang Theory is also a work of human imagination --- a hypothesis. Yet, nowadays, very few people question the truthfulness of the Big Bang Theory but many dismiss Genesis 1 as a myth. Since the main focus of this article is the apparent contradiction between Genesis 1 and 2, the present author will do no more than commenting in passing that Genesis 1 is the source of inspiration for the Big Bang Theory and Darwin's Evolution Theory.
According to Genesis 1, God created light on the first day. Big Bang Theory says that in the beginning was the explosion of a Super-atom which evolved into a universe suitable for the emergence of a self-conscious life form called man. Genesis 1 says that man was created last on the sixth day of Creation. Evolution Theory says similar things that man is the final product of a long chain of evolving primates. People of the last two centuries who have been surrounded by technological convenience prefer Darwin's imagination and the Big Bang Theory. In previous generations, when people were living in a divine milieu, they did not question the Biblical presentation of the reality.
Some scholars suggest that the two versions of Creation of Man are a matter of perspectives. In Genesis 1, man was the apex of creation. Man was created last so that he might enter into dialogue with God. In Genesis 2, man was the centre of creation. Everything was created for him and around him. When you look at Creation as a pyramid, man occupies the apex. When you take a bird's eye view of this same pyramid, man occupies the centre. That is a good harmonization. However, the present author would like to offer yet another perspective, a psychological perspective. Genesis 2 unfolds a gradually heightened awareness of man.
Biblical scholars who support the Documentary Hypothesis of the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses) tell us that Genesis 1 comes from the Priestly Document while Genesis 2 and 3 from the Yahweh Document. Therefore, Genesis 2 and 3 were written from the same perspective, the psychological perspective. Why? Let's begin with something familiar, the story of the Fall of Man in Genesis 3.
In telling the story of the Fall of Man, the Yahwist author wrote a lot about what was going on in the mind of the woman. The Serpent played on the psychology of the woman. It said deliberately something not totally correct, enticing her to contradict its words but falling even deeper into its trap. The woman was unable to resist the temptation of the desirable Forbidden Fruit and love drove her to share the good of the Fruit with her man. When the man was confronted by God with his disobedience, his anxiety drove him to push the blame on the woman, who in turn pushed the blame on the Serpent. What a psychological masterpiece!
The name Adam appeared only after the man had eaten the Forbidden Fruit and gained knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:17). Now, the man had an identity --- Adam. He is not some faceless man with whom you rub shoulders in Central one afternoon. His self, his ego was completed. He was unique. Adam also gave his wife the name Eve (Genesis 3:20). Previously, he only called her Woman (Genesis 2:23). Armed with the knowledge of good and evil, this first couple had entered a much deeper relationship. The Yahwist author was a mentalist.
Now that we have established the hypothesis that the Yahwist author was very perceptive and skillful in describing human psychology, it is natural enough to read Genesis 2 from the psychological perspective.
Child psychologists tell us that in the first weeks of its birth, a baby is not able to differentiate itself from the surrounding. The environment and it are one. Gradually, the baby is able to discover the boundary of its body. It is able to coordinate his eye-sight and limb movements gradually. It takes time for the baby to build up its ego. Then, its interaction with its mother enables it to know its power to manipulate the surrounding with the movements of its limbs and its cries. Similarly, when God created man and put him in the garden in Eden to till it and keep it (Genesis 2:15), man was like a new born baby, not aware of the boundary between himself and his environment. Imagine what the first man saw and felt when he first opened his eyes --- the trees and the grass, the smell of the soil, the hardness of the rocks under his feet and the sound of the flowing river etc. Through exploration, man gradually discovered trees and their fruits which were not parts of his body. He discovered a river that watered the garden and parted into four and the gems. God began to interact with him and commanded him not to eat the fruits from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Now that the man was able to satisfy his physiological and security needs, God planned to meet his social needs. One by one, God brought different animals before the man for him to name them. Indeed, the animals were created before the man but from his point of view, God created them after him. In the process, the awareness of the man became more heightened. He found that those animals did not fit him as helpers. So, God put the man to sleep and made a woman for him. The rest is history.
In conclusion, since Genesis 1 and 2 come from different sources, they describe the Creation of Man in different perspectives. From a cosmic perspective, man was created last because he is the apex. From a psychological perspective, man is the centre from which he enlarges his awareness and social network to encompass the whole Creation into his mind.
Let us step back and take a good look at the Bible as a whole. Truly there are apparent contradictions among the books. But this is the beauty of the Bible. It encompasses many perspectives for us to learn to overcome our tendency to think in a linear manner and to seek uniformity. Our God is one but there are three Persons. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, is also one but he is fully human and truly divine. Our attempts to harmonize them will pay off. May the almighty Trinite God be praised forever and ever. Amen.
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