Genesis chapters 1 and 2

Genesis and the Meaning of Life

The Biblical origin story is more or less completely defined in chapters one and two of Genesis. Within those few pages, the author of the Book has explained the major points regarding how the universe, the world, all life, and human beings were fashioned and created by God. Though there is some scholarly discussion regarding seeming contradictions between these two chapters, from a purely theological perspective the origin of all of reality is embodied in these two chapters. Interestingly, we also find that in addition to explaining the origin of everything, the first two chapters of Genesis also provide some theological insights into the nature of human life and its meaning. An examination of these points reveals that the purpose of humanity is to take responsibility for God's earthly creations in his apparent absence.

Genesis 1:26-28 clearly explains that Man's function in the world is, at least in part, to take charge of the world that God has created from the void:

Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the seas, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God created humankind in his image […] and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." ("Genesis" 3)

From this passage alone we might be able to discern that the meaning of life can be theologically determined in one simple maxim for all people: take charge of all of Creation. In other words, it would seem that God created humankind with the intention that all people would become the lords of creation, the kings of the world -- presumably only second to the divine authority of God. Of course, some critics have interpreted this passage somewhat liberally by asserting that being made in God's image is literary code for being an earthly representation of the divine. Subsequently, to be fruitful and subdue the earth is encouragement to spread that knowledge of God throughout the world (Lewis). The implication is that God may have created humankind, but apparently there already existed some other human beings who were unaware of God's divine authority and humankind's debt to him. Logically this approach falls apart when we delve deeper into specific examples from Genesis 1 and 2.

In chapter 2, God's creation of humankind and its apparent purpose in the world are discussed in more depth. But from being the master of the world, it would appear that God meant for humans to act as groundskeepers in his world: "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it" ("Genesis" 5). 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. 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.