The bible account lists 10 major stages in this order:
(1) a beginning
(2) a primitive earth in darkness and enshrouded in heavy gases and water
(3) light;
(4) an expanse or atmosphere;
(5) large areas of dry land;
(6) land plants;
(7) sun, moon and stars discernible in the expanse, and seasons beginning;
(8) sea monsters and flying creatures;
(9) wild and tame beasts, mammals;
(10) man.
Caveat: I am aware of Rule 7. The lighthearted tone of my post below is intended to show how random guesswork couldn’t be a basis for a creation myth. It’s not meant to cause offense.
Just for fun, I randomly drew out the ten ‘stages’ from a bag and guessed at my own Creation story. Here’s how it happened according to that method:
1. A beginning.
Honestly, I
did draw this first. So we’re in agreement that starting the story with “In the beginning...� is the way to go. Off to an excellent and thoroughly logical start, then.
5. Large areas of dry land.
Makes sense, right? Look at what we’re standing on. Must have been around before, you know, all the things that are
on it. So God is
literally laying the
groundwork for his creation.
8. Sea monsters and flying creatures.
What monsters, now? What’s this ‘sea’ business? Sure, get some flying things in here, though. God’s above us in heaven and needs to demonstrate what’s ‘above’ by filling the air with wondrous creatures.
4. An expanse or atmosphere.
Phew! Couldn’t come along soon enough, if you ask me. God realised that those flying creatures have to be flapping about in
something - makes perfect sense to give them an atmosphere to live in. Maybe the sea monsters will be ok with that too, do you think? Or do they get the ‘expanse’ (whatever that is)? Is it an either/or thing, or just separate terms for the same thing, I wonder. Whatever, we’ve got land and air - that’s the basics in place and the story’s shaping up well.
3. Light.
Oh, wow. How’d he miss that? Can’t deny it’s useful. I would have popped this in on Day Two if it were me, just to make the rest of the week a little easier. That third day must have been pretty unsettling for the flying creatures that were left in the dark with no atmosphere, but what’s forty eight hours when they then get air
and light? I’m still a bit concerned about the ‘sea’ monsters though - isn’t there something missing?
2. A primitive earth in darkness and enshrouded in heavy gases and water.
Duuude!!! - who switched out the lights? And what happened to the atmosphere? And the
land? C’mon! Is this just overcompensation for the sea creatures, now? I’m not sure many survived the three days without water anyway, but I know some Australian lungfish [strike]evolved[/strike] were created to survive a drought, so perhaps there’s a few that made it through that weird period of suffocating darkness before the Big Day of Light and then final, moist salvation. Kinda like a mini-story of suffering then happiness, so I get that God’s still got a plan here. Clearly not just chucking things into existence willy-nilly.
10. Man
OK, this is logically where we come in. We were created in darkness, there’s water everywhere... and the atmosphere is
heavy, man - although for some reason we’re not allowed to call it an atmosphere, ok? Yeah, it was primitive times for sure, but God had a plan for us - everything will make sense by Day Six or so, trust me.
6. Land plants
Aaaand.... boom! The land’s back! Got plants on it, too. Check it out. Sure, still in darkness and a pretty heavy vibe going down, but we’re all vegetarian (plus fish-eaters, of course) and things are coming together nicely. I say ‘fish’, but mostly it’s ‘sea monster’, which tastes the same but is a bit chewy, if I’m being picky.
Not that I’m complaining. God’s doing great work. Got a nice ‘night garden’ going.
9. Wild and tame beasts, mammals.
Bit of a ‘mixed bag’, if I’m honest. The tame beasts are
great - got all sorts of big plans for using them. Not quite sure why we needed the wild ones as well though. For one thing, some of them are quite ‘bitey’ and want to eat the tame beasts, or us. And trying to catch fish or tend the garden in the dark has got a lot harder when there’s wild beasts sneaking around. The mammals - well, we’re still sorting them out from the other beasts, as some of the mammals are tame, and some are wild. Difficult to tell (especially in the dark). Did we get our atmosphere sorted, by the way? Still seems... stuffy, if you know what I mean.
7. Sun, moon and stars discernible in the expanse, and seasons beginning.
Holy c**p! What was
that??? The light’s back! What are those sparkly things? So many questions...
It’s pretty obvious that this was just ‘
God’s Great Surprise! Sure, it may not make much sense read ‘literally’, but this shows how God works in mysterious ways, tests his people and then provides a big ‘reveal’ at the end. It all makes perfect sense this way.
