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Augustine allegorically interpreted the first creation account in Genesis 1 - 2:4 but seems to have literally interpreted the second creation account in Genesis 2:5-3:24. Origen allegorically interpreted both stories.

"The sacred writer was able to separate in the time of his narrative what God did not separate in time in His creative act." (St. Augustine, The Literal Meaning of Genesis, translated and annotated by John Hammond Taylor, S.J., 2 vols. (New York: Newman Press, 1982) (pg. 36) The Contemporary Relevance of Augustine's View of Creation

Did any other church fathers reject a literal interpretation of at least one of the creation accounts in Genesis, or were these two the only ones to do it?

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    I suggest that considerable substantiation is required to verify the claims made about Augustine's and Origen's interpretations. I am looking for further detail, myself, the results of the research behind the question.
    – Nigel J
    Commented Feb 1, 2023 at 20:23
  • @NigelJ "The sacred writer was able to separate in the time of his narrative what God did not separate in time in His creative act." (St. Augustine, The Literal Meaning of Genesis, translated and annotated by John Hammond Taylor, S.J., 2 vols. (New York: Newman Press, 1982) (pg. 36) asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1988/PSCF3-88Young.html
    – Terjij Kassal
    Commented Feb 1, 2023 at 20:42
  • @NigelJ He held that the six days in Genesis 1-2:4 did not refer to literal days.
    – Terjij Kassal
    Commented Feb 1, 2023 at 20:44
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    I believe it's a bit more nuanced regarding Augustine. He thought it could be six literal days, or it could be a single instant that logically followed the progression in the six day account. The latter because he thought time was an extension of the mind, and humans didn't exist to perceive time until the sixth day, so time didn't exist until humans existed. He didn't think creation took longer than six days, and elsewhere says the history of the world was no more than 6000 years, contrary to atheists of his day who believed in an eternal universe.
    – yters
    Commented Feb 2, 2023 at 7:30
  • @yters Is there any place where it says that creation could have took 6 literal days?
    – Terjij Kassal
    Commented Feb 2, 2023 at 15:32

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