Which Came First, Beast or Man?

Supposed contradiction and verses:

Which came first, beasts or man?
Genesis 1:25-26

And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 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 creepeth upon the earth.

Genesis 2:18-19

And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

Answer:

• Genesis 1
  - Day one - Heavens and earth are created. 
  - Day two – Water on Earth separated from that in the atmosphere.
  - Day three - Land comes up out of the seas separating them.  Vegetation/plant-life is created. 
  - Day four - Sun, moon, & stars are created. 
  - Day five – Fish/ocean life and birds created.
  - Day six - Animals, creeping things, and man (male and female) are created.
• Genesis 2
  Tells us that heaven and earth were created, but there was no rain, plants, or man as of yet; although we are told of a mist rising that watered things on the ground. God forms man from the dust of the ground and breathed His breath into his nostrils life, and Adam became a living soul!  Then God made Eve.

Genesis 1 is an in depth account of creation and as you see, goes day by day in doing so.  The second chapter of Genesis is kind of a summary and focuses more on the 6^th day of Creation, which is when Adam and Eve were made. Look at Genesis 2:4,

" These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens."

Moses then goes in depth about Adam and Eve in verses 7-24. Animals are not talked about until AFTER the creation of Adam, which is evidence that this is not a creative account as Chapter 1 is. Now, why are the animals mentioned in this chapter after Adam? Well, he named them and gave their purpose, so in this account, they did not need to be talked of until after Adam since this is not chronological order. No contradiction!!!