Five Creation Narratives

There have been speculations about creation for years. Since the dawn of man, actually. Today we will be discussing two of them. We will be comparing and contrasting the bible's story of creation and the native american story of creation.

For thousands of years, scientists have tried to interpret the concept of creation. However, before people had access to modern scientific equipment, they told creations stories. A creation story is a myth that explains how and why the earth was made. A few cultures with differing opinions on creation are Europeans, Cherokee Indians, West Africans, and Hawaiians. Europeans tell the story of Genesis and God creating the earth in seven days and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Cherokee Indians believe that the earth was created by a water beetle. In West African culture, they teach the Golden Chain story, and Hawaiians have the Kumulipo story to explain their beliefs on creation. Although each story follows a basic guideline, they all have distinct disparities.

In the book of Genesis, we are introduced to everything. From the creation stories to the sagas in between Genesis is an opening to the old testament and an opening to the book of exodus. This essay will contrast each creation story and describe each stories interest, explain how Genesis 12: 1-3 links the stories of 2: 4b-11 with the ancestral narratives in 12-50 and connect the sagas of Abraham/Sarah, Isaac/ Rebecca and Jacob/ Racheal.

One of the fundamental questions that religions seek to answer is that of origin. How was man put on earth? Why and from what was he created? Who created him? What does his creation imply about the status of human beings? Some or all of these questions are answered by a religion’s creation stories. Every religion’s creation myths attempt to give solutions to problems present to that religious society. Because of this, each religion may have one or more creation stories, each of those different from one another in the questions they ask and the answers they give.

All in all creation stories are a load of bull and should only be taken figuratively and read when discussing how they influenced the religion or culture. As in religion in general it is only a moral code to help humans make the right decisions and to have something to look forward to i.e. the afterlife which doesn’t really exist.

Creation is the number one aspect that is represented by Genesis. Both creation stories have drastic differences from one another and that alone gives different meaning to each story. Because the order of creation is changed in the second story, the meaning of importance of humankind to God is exemplified. That is not to say humans were not important in the first story; however, they were created last but man and woman were created equally

Throughout history, a number of different cultures have developed their own versions to how the world began. Two to be compared are the Genesis account, found in the Bible and the Mayan creation story, known as the Popul Vuh (Book of the Community). From reading these accounts of creation, one can achieve a deeper understanding of the people that the story was written for, including their beliefs, values, and traditions. Not only that, the similarities between the two stories just seem to prove that overall, everything points to God, the Creator.

When discussing different cosmic creation myths, something to remember is the style of creation myth it is. There are nine different styles of myths when talking about creation: accretion or conjunction, secretion, sacrifice, division or consummation, earth-diver, emergence, two creators, deus faber, and ex nihillo. For the purpose of discussing the Norse creation myth, and the Genesis myth focus will be on secretion, division or consummation, deus faber and ex nihillo (Leonard, 2004).

For example, in the Lakota creation story the Great Spirit flooded earth by singing since he was displeased. Than the only survivor the crow asked him to make him a resting place but the Great Spirit decided to create the world once again. From his pipe bag he choose an otter, turtle, and beaver and ordered them to get mud to create land (“Lakota Creation,” 2014). However, the turtle was the only one who was able to get the mud and the Great Spirit made land and created oceans out of his tears then added more animals from his pipe bag. In contrast, in the Roman Catholic bible the world is created within six days because God created the world.

In Genesis, the first book of The Bible the Christian and Jewish creation story is told. God spoke and his Word was done. He made the heavens and the earth. He made light and drove away the dark. On the earth he created the waters and lands and man and beast.

This essay will compare and contrast the Biblical creation myths with other creation myths from Greece and the Ancient Near East. It will first discuss the initial creation of the universe followed by the creation of mankind and finally the recreation of man whilst drawing parallels to Sumerian and Babylonian texts, The Old Testament and Hesiods Theogony. In paying particular attention to the chronology of each myth it will be shown that the creation myths regarding the universe and mankind evolved from as far back as the Sumerian stories.

The Drama of Scripture written by Bartholomew and Goheen takes the reader on a journey through the entire Bible in six short “acts.” The first Act discusses creation and the establishment of God’s Kingdom. In the beginning was complete darkness. Then, God created light and divided the heavens and the earth. He then split the waters and the seas, creating dry ground on which the rest of creation could walk. He proceeded to make plants and flowers and the sun, moon, and stars. He created days and seasons and animals of all shapes and sizes. And then, to add the finishing touch, God created men and women, male and female, He created them. The book states that “the Genesis story is given so that we might have a true understanding of the world in which we live, its divine author, and our own place in it” (Bartholomew, 29). Genesis 1-3, the story of Creation, is prevalent because it introduces the author of creation, humanity, and the creation upon which humanity’s drama unfolds.

One reason that both Greek and Genesis creation stories are different is because the Gods in both stories create the universe in different ways. For example, “one half of the shell rose into the air and became the sky and the other became the earth.”(Greek) another example is, “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This shows that both stories are different because the earth was created in different way in both stories. Another difference that both creation stories have is that they both have different amounts of time in which they created the earth. For example, “with the wing she laid a golden egg and for ages she sat upon the egg.”(Greek) another example is “God saw all that he made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day.” This shows that both creation stories are different because it took ages to create the world in the Greek creation story, but in Genesis it only took 7 days to make the

Throughout history many civilizations and cultures have had their own ways of explaining the world and its creation. Each of these civilizations has created unique descriptions and accounts of such events. However, when comparing them to each other, are they really different? Look at the ancient Greco - Roman creation myths as told by Hesiod in his Theogony and Works and Days and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, when compared to the creation myths as seen in the Old Testament’s book of Genesis they may not be as different as one would think. Taking a more in-depth look at both Genesis and Hesiod’s and Ovid’s work more closely, the reader can see that on multiple occasions the myths have almost identical similarities which reflect their views in

A creation story is a supernatural story or explanation that describes the beginnings of humanity, earth, life, and the universe. Religion plays a significant role in the establishment of Creation for both the Native Americans and the Puritans. “The people known collectively as the Iroquois were made up of the Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga, and Cayuga nations.” (Cusick 21) “The Iroquois creation myth exists in some twenty-five versions.” (Cusick 22). However, there was no concrete indication from a Native American that coincides with the Iroquois’s belief as of how and when the creation of the world began until David Cusick, transcribed and translated an Iroquois cosmogonic myth in the nineteenth century. David Cusick became the first Native American to record on Atotarho. Grounded in nature the Iroquois religion portrays the natural foundations of the world and continue to believe that all things/people should live in harmony. The Iroquois believes that The Great Spirit would indirectly guide the lives of ordinary people and opposed that The Great Spirit and other forces of good were Evil Spirit and other lesser spirits responsible for disease and other misfortune. Corn, beans, and squash were referred to as the three sisters and thought of as deities or spiritual beings. The Iroquois believed that ordinary humans could not communicate directly with Great Spirit but could do so indirectly by burning tobacco, which carried their prayers to the lesser spirits