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The God of the Bible's creation account in the book of Genesis is represented in the original Hebrew by the plural word ''Elohim'' ('gods', or 'spirits'). This does not, however, have anything to do with the Christian idea of the Three-in-One God, i.e. the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, since the concept was unknown until the second century AD.
The creation account in [[Genesis]] describes the origin of the [[world]], [[life]], and [[mankind]]. Much of the rest of [[Scripture]] builds on the foundational [[history]] recorded in Genesis.
== Summary of the creation account ==
=== Creation week ===
Genesis 1:1 to 2:3 describes how God created [[light]] and darkness, [[heaven]] and earth, the [[sea]]s and [[plant]]s, the [[sun]], [[moon]] and [[star]]s, the [[fish]]es and [[bird]]s, the [[animal]]s and ''then'' man over the course of six 'days' (Hebrew ''yom''), before resting on the seventh day.
=== Adam and Eve, and the Garden of Eden ===
From Genesis 2:4 to the end of the chapter, the creation of the first man and [[woman]], [[Adam]] and [[Eve]], is described, along with the [[Garden of Eden|garden]] into which they were placed. The account also records that God brought various creatures<ref>''All the beast of the field and all the birds of the air'', so clearly a subset of all the creatures.</ref> to Adam to name. None of them made a suitable helper for Adam, so God created a woman for Adam.
=== The Fall ===
Although God had told Adam that he could eat any of the trees in the garden except one. However, Genesis 3 describes how Eve then Adam disobeyed God and ate from that one tree. In response, God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden and imposed other punishments.
=== Children ===
Genesis 4 relates that [[Cain]], one of Adam and Eve's children, murdered his brother [[Abel]]. God punished Cain by causing his crops to fail, forcing him to lead a nomadic lifestyle. He did, however, protect Cain from others killing him. Some of Cain's descendants are listed, along with some of the accomplishments of him and his descendants.
Adam and Eve had a replacement son, Seth.
=== Chronogenealogy ===
Genesis 5 contains a [[chronogenealogy]] of Adams descendants extending to [[Noah]]'s sons. Biblical scholars have used these and other chronogenalogies and other time indicators to calculate the [[date of Creation|date of creation]] backwards from later events to conclude that creation occurred around 4,000 B.C.
== Doctrine ==
The creation account provides the basis for much of doctrine discussed later in the Bible, including the origin of [[sin]], [[marriage]], and [[clothes]].
== Original manuscripts ==
As for the rest of the Bible and virtually all other ancient documents, the original manuscripts have not survived. Instead, we have copies, and various ideas exist regarding what form the originals took.
The traditional view, still accepted by many Christians, is that the [[Pentateuch]] (Genesis to Deuteronomy) was written by Moses, possibly by direct revelation from God. Jesus endorses this, referring to Moses' writings.<ref>For example, Mark 12:26 (ESV): ''And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?'', a reference to the events of [[Exodus]] 3.</ref>
Citing Moses as the author does not preclude him using older documents as sources, and a related view is that Genesis was compiled by Moses from documents that dated back to the persons who's history they describe. In this view, Genesis 1:1 to 2:3 could have been written by God Himself (as there were no other eyewitnesses), and Genesis 2:4 to the end of chapter 4 would have been written by Adam. These documents would have been handed down generation after generation, until coming into the possession of Moses as leader of the Israelites at his time.
In 1886 [[Julius Wellhausen]] promoted the idea that the the Pentateuch was written by a number of different but unknown authors at a later time than Moses. This "[[Documentary Hypothesis]]", as it has become known, is widely accepted and taught, particularly by more-liberal colleges.
According to this theory, the creation account is a combination of two different and inconsistent original accounts. Supporters of the theory point to what they see as discrepancies, such as Genesis 2:19 being worded as though God created animals and birds after Adam, whereas Genesis 1 indicates that man was created after the birds and animals. Opponents of the Documentary Hypothesis say that Genesis 2 is not intended as a chronological account, and should be read in the context of the preceding narrative, thus reading Genesis 2:19 the way that the NIV translates it: "Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air."<ref>As well as derivatives of the NIV, the [[English Standard Version]] includes this translation in a footnote, and Darby's translation also uses this wording.</ref>
== References ==
== References ==