[Celtjew Libertarian]

The misplacement of the creation of plants aside, Genesis 1 seems a very good overview of creation. Personally, it leads me to believe that the Bible is a divinely inspired document that was corrupted by human error, before reaching the earliest versions we have. Switch the second part of the 3rd day and 4th day around and you have.

Day 1: You don't need a sun for light. You need energy, like and explosion -- a big bang. Day one is the creation of a universe in a "Big Bang" of light.
Days 2 and First part of 3. Matter in its various forms is organized out of the energy that formed the Universe.

Day 4. Matter is organized further into the astronomical bodies.

The focus now moves from the universe in general to the Earth in particular.

Day 3 part 2. Plant life -- the simplest form of life -- is created.

Day 5. The early forms of animal life are created. Creatures of the water and things that creep.

Day 6 Part 1. Mammals are created.

Day 6 Part 2. Humans -- or, more significantly, intelligent, spiritual, creatures in God's image are created.

As for the second creation story, Talmudic teaching is that the two creation stories are the same creation told from two different points of view. The first being the God-centered, broad view; the latter being the narrower, human-centered view. I've covered earlier in this thread, why I think the second creation story also describes evolution.

In any case, the creation story was not written as a modern, scientific text. It was written as a broad overview for a primitive society. Read that way -- something that partisans of both side of this debate fail to do, IMO -- it is remarkably accurate.

[andysandmikesmom]

And there is another explantion for the seeming disparity between the two chapters concerning mans creation...

I have been lately watching a particular preacher on TV, name Arnold Murray...not saying that I believe what he teaches, but he teaches the following so far as I am able to make out...

That on the sixth day of creation, God created all the various human races...men and women...plural....

Then the seventh day God rested...

Then the next day, after the seventh day, which would be the eighth day, God then created the special Adam, the created the special Eve, from his rib...

Murray also will say, that this explains where Cain got his wife from...rather than buy into this oft offered explanation that Cain married his sister(thus committing incest), Murray maintains that Cain married a woman from one of these other pre-existing races....

He also uses this to explain how the diversity of races came to be after the flood...that altho Noah took on board his wife, his 3 sons, and his three daughters-in-law, he also took on board two of each specific human race...two blacks, two hispanics, two Native Americans, two Asians, and so on and so forth...Murray does say this explains the diverity of the races on earth today, as no one could possibly believe that all the races alive today, actually came from Noah and his family...

One can believe Murrays teachings or reject them...but they do present an interpretation quite contrary to mainstream Christian religions, and Murray does have a very large following in real life in his own church, and on his TV evangelical show...

So, there are various and quite differing interpretations in Genesis, all coming from different and varying Christian teachers...Murray does not appear to base any of his ideas on just pure whim...indeed he backs up everything he says, with Biblical Scriptures...

Each person can read, and decide for themselves...