Q: In Genesis there seems to a contradiction. Gen 1:25 shows God creating animals first then Man, yet later in Gen.2:18 he creates Man first and then the animals. Please explain.
A: The creation process and order is summarized in Genesis one then in the second chapter the details are filled in pertaining to the first man and the Garden of Eden and later the first woman.
Actually 2:19 merely states that God ‘had’ already formed the animals and birds—there is no indication of order here—not that he was creating them right then. Only that he was bringing the animals and birds that he had created out of the ground before the man to be named.