| And God said, let the earth bring forth
grass, the herb yielding seed after its kind, and the tree yielding
fruit, whose seed was in itself, after its kind. |
| Creation of the solar system and of the earth was followed
by the creation of life. Plant life came before animal life. Even
among the plants first the simplest of plants followed by herbs and
bushes and finally large trees. It could be argued here that many
animal species had evolved before flowering plants came on the scene.
But what is important is that plants come before animals. Animals
depend on plants. Even among plants the grass is a flowering plant
that appeared much later. But the stages of evolution - simple to
complex - are brought out here. Instead of grass, herbs and trees
we may speak of ferns, conifers, and flowering plants to be more scientific.
|
| One point that must be emphasized in this context is
the fact that the appearance of life on our planet or elsewhere is
not just by the chance combination of molecules. Any one who knows
the complexity of the DNA or gene will understand this. Life is something
special that God created and put into the molecules so expertly synthesized
by Him. Inanimate matter on its own cannot become ‘alive’. |
| Biogenesis and evolution
of simple forms of life was the fourth phase in the story of our universe
- day four. |
| And God said, let the water bring forth
the moving creatures that has life, and fowl that may fly above the
earth in the open firmament of heaven. |
| After plant life comes animal life. Here again we must
note that life begins in water and then in air, and this is how it
was in actual fact. At least dragon flies occupied the air before
animals occupied land. |
| Evolution of animal life
in water and air forms the fifth phase - day five. |
| And God said, Let the earth bring forth
living creatures after his kind, cattle and creeping things and the
beast of the earth after his kind, and it was so. |
| Mammals, the highest of the vertebrate animals were
the last in the evolutionary ladder. Among these the highest were
the primates that included old world monkeys, apes and the hominid
ancestors of humans, but not humans themselves. Creation of humans
is treated separately in the next few verses. |
| And God said, Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all
the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
So God created man in His own image; in His own image He created them,
male and female he created them. |
| In the Bible humans are not considered to be animals.
To those who believe in the Bible, humans do not belong to the animal
kingdom but to a separate kingdom, the kingdom of God, the kingdom
of heaven. We are the ‘children of God’ created in his
likeness. In a household only the children resemble the father, not
the pets. Even so in this case only we humans resemble God. What was
created in His image was obviously not this body with a head, trunk
and limbs, but the spirit that is the true self of the human being.
If what was made in the likeness of God was the body the animals also
would be like God. |
| The creation of Homo
sapiens was the last phase in our story of Genesis - day five. |
