In Judaism, the cosmology is told in the book of Genesis, the first book of the Torah. Genesis tells the creation story twice, in Genesis chapter one and two, but with each time it is told with a new focus (Sacks, 2004, 78). The first chapter of Genesis gives a full, over-all story of the creation of the heavens and the earth and man’s position within it. In the second chapter of Genesis, the story focuses of the creation of man and the result in God creating woman. The third chapter tells the story of how Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden and the inevitable change for man. Man followed the Divine Command of God before eating from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil and is both animal-like and God-like, made in the image
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It is still unclear as to how, and in what extent, was man created by God in his image and likeness. There is still an ambiguity if it is in His physical form, moral likeness or characteristics, but man is sovereign over earth and all its living creatures just as God is sovereign over all of creation. Man is the climax of creation as God created all things before man and for man (Zornberg, 1995, 7). On the sixth day man was created, alone. This is “not good” as man was created to be many, but only in Genesis chapter two when man understood solitude and desired a partner did God create Eve. God thought it was not good for man to be alone and therefore God made man a fitting helper (Zornberg, 1995, 14). When Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil they are banished, by God, from the Garden of Eden but with this they gain the knowledge of good and evil. The question and tension arises whether man is now more in the likeness of God with the gained knowledge. Man is both God-like and animal-like as man is blessed by God and told to be fruitful and to multiply. The nature of man evolves in Genesis chapter three as man now gains his own knowledge and no longer follows the Divine Command given by God. Man has free will and choice but in this man becomes workers for the land after being banished from the Garden of Eden. Some of the text in Genesis is ambiguous about God’s creation of the heavens and the earth. Man is like no another animal or creature on earth, nor like any of creation in the heavens. God created man in his image and therefore man is both earthly and heavenly and therefore there are many questions and tensions that arise from it. Man is unique and complex therefore there is not just one question and one answer, but numerous tensions which are still questionable
It is still unclear as to how, and in what extent, was man created by God in his image and likeness. There is still an ambiguity if it is in His physical form, moral likeness or characteristics, but man is sovereign over earth and all its living creatures just as God is sovereign over all of creation. Man is the climax of creation as God created all things before man and for man (Zornberg, 1995, 7). On the sixth day man was created, alone. This is “not good” as man was created to be many, but only in Genesis chapter two when man understood solitude and desired a partner did God create Eve. God thought it was not good for man to be alone and therefore God made man a fitting helper (Zornberg, 1995, 14). When Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil they are banished, by God, from the Garden of Eden but with this they gain the knowledge of good and evil. The question and tension arises whether man is now more in the likeness of God with the gained knowledge. Man is both God-like and animal-like as man is blessed by God and told to be fruitful and to multiply. The nature of man evolves in Genesis chapter three as man now gains his own knowledge and no longer follows the Divine Command given by God. Man has free will and choice but in this man becomes workers for the land after being banished from the Garden of Eden. Some of the text in Genesis is ambiguous about God’s creation of the heavens and the earth. Man is like no another animal or creature on earth, nor like any of creation in the heavens. God created man in his image and therefore man is both earthly and heavenly and therefore there are many questions and tensions that arise from it. Man is unique and complex therefore there is not just one question and one answer, but numerous tensions which are still questionable