Genesis Critique

CRITIQUE OF GENESIS
God gives Adam life, Michelangelo

MOSES NOT AUTHOR OF GENESIS

Dr. T. C. Schaber holds the position that Genesis was written by ancient Talibani trying to explain their world and the phenomena around them. What they wrote was scientifically inaccurate due to their limited knowledge of natural law. There is no way this mish-mosh of simpleton observations could have been divinely inspired.

It is obvious that Genesis One and Two were written by AT LEAST two different people. Chapter Two changes the order of important events and has Eve created long after Adam and doesn't even refer to the days of creation.

WHY would the same person start the same story over again?
Why would he write two such discrepant accounts?
Why would he use such different style?

You have to admit that to someone who is seeking God, this does not inspire confidence in His word.

DISCREPANT ACCOUNTS IN GENESIS ONE AND GENESIS TWO
(Showing only the verses where "creation" takes place.)
(Click on the blue links for Dr. Schaber's observations)

DAY	GENESIS 1
1	HEAVENS, EARTH, LIGHT, DAY, NIGHT 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
2	FIRMAMENT 1:7 And God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so..
3	LAND, WATER 1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
	PLANTS 1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
	1:12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
4	SUN, MOON, STARS 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
4	1:17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
5	FISH, FOWL 1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
5	1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
6	LAND ANIMALS 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
	1:25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
	1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
	MAN, WOMAN 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
7	Continued in first four verses of Genesis, Chapter 2

GENESIS 2
Day 7 - same author. 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.
NOW STARTS A DIFFERENT AUTHOR!
2:5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb Of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
WATER 2:6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
MAN 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
PLANTS 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed
2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
2:11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 2:12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
LAND ANIMALS, FOWL (no fish!) 2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
WOMAN 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

How long is a day?
A day is 24 hours in Genesis
EXODUS 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
For an interesting discussion of how long is a day, see Apparent Age by Dr. Jack L. Arnold in "Equipping Pastors International Theology Proper",Lesson 13
Viewed in the context of two authors, Genesis I and II make perfect sense. This "non-Moses authorship" idea is also held by modern scholars who generally agree that the book is a composite of at least three different literary strands: J (10th century BC), E (9th century), and P (5th century). Now, I ain't no modern scholar but even I, a mere reader of the text can see that it was not written by a single individual. As further evidence, consider the practical issues of Moses around that ancient time (approximately 1300 BC). There were no organized written languages! Written language was developed around 400 to 600 years later. Only symbol systems such as Egyptian hieroglyphics existed,(see history of written language below) and they were not really languages. They were not capable of expressing sophisticated concepts such as the Sabbath. (It would likely take hundreds of picture symbols to express the single sentence, "Honor the Sabbath". ) In addition, Moses was busy leading a group of people across a desert and had many more urgent things to be dealing with than carving hieroglyphic symbols into stones! And worse, carrying large numbers of such stones with him through the desert!

The Order of Genesis Chapter One

Day One: Heavens, earth (including water), light.
Day Two: Firmament separating waters.
Day Three: Dry land appears vegetation, fruit trees (Talmud: Plant life remained under soil until the arrival of man.)
Day Four: Creation of sun, moon and stars (Talmud: Created on the first day and set in place on the fourth.)
Day Five: Fish and aquatic life; birds, flying insects.
Day Six: Terrestrial mammals, terrestrial insects and reptiles.

The Order Given by Science

14 billion years ago: Universe begins.

4.5 billion years ago: Formation of the earth (Day One) and of the moon and sun (Day Four)

500 million years ago: First fish (Day Five)
438 m.y.a.: First land plants (Day Three)
434 m.y.a.: First terrestrial insects (Day Six)
400 m.y.a.: First flying insects (Day Five)
360 m.y.a.: First trees. (Day Three)
300 m.y.a.: First terrestrial reptiles (Day Six)
200 m.y.a.: First terrestrial mammals (Day Six)
150 m.y.a.: First Birds (Day Five)