The Creation

This article attempts to give an outline account of only the Judaeo-Christian myth of The Creation.

In the Book of Genesis in both the Jewish and the Christian scriptures, there are two separate stories of how God ("The Creator") formed the world in which we live. According to current textual scholarship, the first of these (in chapter 1) was written later, during or after the exile of the Jews to Babylon. It was written by a priestly editor of the texts of the scriptures (and thus referred to as 'the P- writer), building on a tradition (the E- source) from the north of Israel which uses the name 'Elohim' for God. The other account (in Chapter 2) originated probably from the southern part of Israel, where the name used for God approximated to 'Jehovah'; writings from this source are usually designated as being by the J- writer.

• In the first chapter, the P- account tells of how God (Elohim)reated the heaven and earth, formless, with waters over which the Spirit of God moved.
  • In the first day, He created light, calling the light 'day' and the darkness 'night'.