Genesis creation narrative
creation myth of both Christianity and Judaism
The creation myth of Judaism and Christianity is found in chapters 1 and 2 of the Book of Genesis. While both faith traditions have historically understood the account as a single unified story, modern scholars of biblical criticism believe it to be a composite of two stories drawn from different sources expressing distinct views about the nature of God and creation.
According to the documentary hypothesis, the first account – which begins with Genesis 1:1 and ends with the first sentence of Genesis 2:4 – is from the later Priestly source (P), possibly composed during the 6th century BC. In this story, God (referred to with the title Elohim, a term related to the generic Hebrew word for 'god') creates the heavens and the Earth in six days, solely by issuing commands for it to be so – and then rests on, blesses, and sanctifies the seventh day (i.e., the Biblical Sabbath). The second account, which consists of the remainder of Genesis 2, is from an earlier non-Priestly source, traditionally the Jahwist source (J) dated to the 10th or 9th century BC. In this story, God (referred to by the personal name Yahweh) creates Adam, the first man, by "forming" him from dust – and places him in the Garden of Eden where he is given dominion over the animals. The first woman, "built" from a rib taken from Adam's side, is created to be his matching companion; after the couple are expelled from the Garden in Genesis 3 for disobeying God, Adam names the woman Eve.
The first major comprehensive draft of the Torah – the series of five books which begins with Genesis and ends with Deuteronomy – theorized as being the J source, is thought to have been composed in either the late 7th or the 6th century BC, and was later expanded by other authors (the P source) into a work appreciably resembling the received text of Genesis. The authors of the text were influenced by Mesopotamian mythology and ancient Near Eastern cosmology, and borrowed several themes from them, adapting and integrating them with their unique belief in one God. The combined narrative is a critique of the Mesopotamian theology of creation: Genesis affirms monotheism and denies polytheism.
Composition
Genre
Scholars view Genesis as belonging to the literary genre of myth, a type of folklore consisting primarily of narrative that plays a fundamental role within a society. For scholars, this is in contrast to more vernacular usage of the term myth, which refers to a belief that is not true.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Genesis creation narrative” is creation myth of both Christianity and Judaism. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Genesis, creation and narrative, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “creation myth of both Christianity and Judaism” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q137651. The Library of Congress control number is no2009187513. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Genesis creation narrative” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.