Genesis and the Meaning of Term Paper

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After finishing chapter 1 of Genesis it seemed clear that when God created human beings it was with the intention of their purpose being to master and reign over the world. During chapter 2, the clarity of this meaning becomes a bit more muddled. We are left with the uncertain conclusion that God's creation needed regular upkeep and that humankind was put on the earth to make sure that it happened. Some theologians have argued that the subsequent naming of all of the animals in Genesis 2:19-20 suggests dominion over the world through the act of naming. However, in contrast to the explicit earthly authority granted humans in Genesis chapter 1, the "power to name animals" rings a bit hollow.

Nonetheless, despite these contradictions between chapters 1 and 2 in Genesis, a rough picture of the purpose -- if not the explicit meaning -- of life for human beings takes shape. Nowhere in these two chapters is the meaning of life explicitly laid out for readers. Thus we have to extrapolate the general meaning of life from what scant insight there is into God's intentions when he created human beings. After all, God could have simply stopped creating the day before forming Adam from the clay of the earth ("Genesis" 4). Therefore, it may be possible to determine something of the meaning of human life through the intended purpose of humankind's existence.

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The two passages already quoted indicate that God created humans as: 1) the masters of all of earthly creation, or 2) as workers who could adequately tend to God's earthly creation.

In either eventuality, we are left with the basic theological conclusion that God's purpose in creating humankind was to act as earthly proxy for the day-to-day management of his creation -- specifically the animals of the sea, land, and air. Man is alternately told to either subdue the world or till the fields and name the animals. Though it may be something of a logical leap to suggest that the meaning of life can be developed from this conclusion, it is nonetheless perhaps the strongest theological basis that exists in Genesis 1 and 2 as to the precise meaning of life. If we assume that God had a purpose in creating human beings and placing them on the earth, and that this purpose would define the meaning of human life, then it stands that the purpose for humans outlined in the creation story would provide the strongest evidence for life and its meaning.

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