Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay on different creation stories
Essay on creation stories
Essay on creation stories
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Essay on different creation stories
No one is exactly sure how but the universe was created billions of years ago for some unknown reason. Every culture from around the world at one point starts to wonder where did it all come from? Who or what created the world we know today? The story of the creation of our world has been repeatedly told in a variety of religion, folklore, mythology and science as well. Although told in different languages and separate parts of the world similarities arise as all of the creation stories attempt to answer the great mystery of life “Where did we come from?” Stories of our creation of the world create a spiritual and mystical bond that unites people together. At the center of almost every culture there exist a creation myth or story that explains how world came to be. Several of these cultures where separated by geographical barriers but have somehow developed similar creation stories that involve the same basic elements.
Several of the creation stories use the basic elements of life to describe the beginning of the universe. Water is the most important resource and often is a symbol for life. Life as we know will cease to exist without water. In the article “Creation of the Universe” it is stated, “Before the creation, according to the myths of ancient Egypt, there dwelt in Nun-the primal oceanic abyss” (Edward Harrison pg.515) In Egyptian beliefs there was the Null a form of water before anything else in the universe. Also in the Sumerian culture there existed “an encircling watery abyss” referred to Apsu. There two cultures believed in there was some sort of form of water that was involved in the creation of the Universe. Aside from being essential to all life as we know it water has been use to symbolize growth. In these culture...
... middle of paper ...
...details in the creation myths vary, but either the basic outline is similar, or at least they share common elements. A creation story cannot be considered correct or incorrect because the myths are written by people who come from multiple cultures and divergent beliefs. Whoever or whatever created the Human mind designed in such a way that encourages curiosity. It does not really matter who or what created the universe we are all looking for the answer to the same question “Why are we here?”
Works Cited
Breugel, Will van. “Mask of the Cosmos: Cosmologies since the Beginning of time.” University of Merced. 5200 Lake Rd, Merced, CA 95343. 21 January 2014
Harrison. Edward R. “ Creation of the Universe”
Hawking, Stephen W. “Our Picture of the Universe.” Explaining Sciences and Technologies, 2001. PDF.
Sagan, Carl. “Can We Know the Universe.” Broca’s Brain 1979
Christian Beliefs in the Origins of the World “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. ” A Description of Christian Beliefs About the Origins of The World Christians believe that God created the universe. In Chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis, we are told that God creates both the universe and everything that is in it.
Have you ever wonder how the universe was created? Some people believe in the Earth creation by the Supreme Being, some believe in the scientific explanation of Big Bang explosion theory. Every civilization in the world has its own story of how things are created. Each story reflects how people see and think the world at their time. In this essay, I am going to compare two myths of how man was created – the creation tale of Mohawk Tribe and the Hebrew Bible creation story. There are a lot of similarities as well as differences between these legends. While some differences between the two tales are the development of the stories and the meaning behind the stories, the similarities between them is the concept of creationism.
Although the myths share many similar ideas, the myths are created differently with contrasting ideas and parts. For example, one difference between the two myths is in Genesis, God created the Earth, while in The World on Turtle’s Back, a woman created the Earth. Regarding creators, there is only one God and creator in Genesis, while there are multiple in The World on Turtle’s
In Genesis chapter 1:2 God 's spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters." before God changed anything water existed on the Earth. In the sky tree it says that "In the beginning, earth was covered in water." so water had always been on Earth since the start. In the creation story in How the World Was Made it states " in the long time ago, when everything was all water" once again water was before anything else. Another way that these creation stories are similar is that the land came from beneath or was brought up above the water. In Genesis 1:9 "God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear '" here God pulled the water away from some land and it became dry and livable. The Sky Tree depicts that "all of the water animals began to dive down and bring up soil... and placed the soil on Turtle 's back." this is what created the
In Genesis, god created merely by speaking. It was god who created the heavens and earth also known as cosmos. Water was already pre-existent matter; everything else was created by god. It all began when god spoke in the darkness and said let there be light and there was light. God saw that the light was good. During the day there would be light, and the darkness would be at night. By the second and third day, god created a firmament (dome) which separated the waters from the waters. God called the firmament heaven and said that all the waters under heaven should be gathered as one allowing for dry land to appear. This created one place for the water and another place for dry land. It was the dry land that beca...
...milarities. Their single god creates a firmament, luminaries, dry land, and the people that inhabit that land. Chinese and Egyptian mythology also share an uncanny amount of coincidences, such as the presence of a dog-headed god, or the creation of Earth and the heavens from a cosmic egg. Norse, Japanese, and Greek mythologies, too, agree on a lot of ideals. They each contain a clash of gods and the death of certain gods in order to form life. The list of creation myths, and myths in general, that relate to each other could stretch out for miles. With these parallels, humanity can better understand earlier cultures and document the method to how mythologies change over time.
All three of the creation stories, How the World Was Made, The Sky Tree, and Genesis, share several common characteristics. One of these characteristics includes how, when the world was first created, the earth was all water before any land was created. For example, in How the World Was
Though the two Creation stories are supposedly intended to be connected - even interchangeable - the only similarity they share is the presence of the omnipotent God and His role in the creation of the earth. Where the first creation describes a detailed, six-day process in which God first delineates day and night, establishes the physical world, and then finally creates man, the second creation is a much simpler process, one almost contradictory to the first story's strict schedule.
The creation myths that I have studied are similar in many ways. They also have differences that show an inherently different way of thinking about the world. All have creators-gods that make the world into what is now. There are conflicts within their world, and these conflicts change the face world. God to god or human to god maybe be involved in these conflicts. Their bloody struggles prove who is more powerful, causing change in the control of the world. Some gods are beneficial to man and others are self-serving, using man only as a tool.
The first creation myth I will begin with is Hebrew in origin and comes from the Old Testament book of Genesis, specifically chapters one through three. Chapters one and two focus on Jehovah’s (God) creation of the heavens, earth and all living things. After man (Adam) is created Jehovah, gives him a single command: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of he tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die (The Revival Study Bible, Genesis 2:16-17).” Jehovah then creates a mate for the man, woman (Eve). Throughout this creation story the reader is given the impression that the creation itself is perfect i.e.: following creation God declares everything good, man has a close friendship with his creator, man and woman were naked and experienced no shame. Unfortunately that perfection ends when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They then felt shame, cast blame to others rather than to themselves and hid from God. As a result of their disobedience God punished them according to his law. Both Adam and Eve and their offspring after them were sentenced to a life of pain, suffering and death.
The most common mythological theme across different cultures is the creation of humankind because everyone has always questioned how the earth was created and so forth. Creation myths are “usually applied to a mytho-religious story which explains the beginning of humanity, life, the earth and the universe as being the result of a deliberate act of supreme beings or being” ("Creation myths," 2007). Individuals from different cultures believe in a higher power known as God and they believe that the higher power is the creator of earth, animals and humankind, however each culture believe in different Gods but they all believe that God is the creator and that is the universal theme across different cultures.
A creation myth is an explanation of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it. Every creation myth is different, but there is similarity in most of them. Motifs are recurring ideas that help develop a theme and these motifs are common in many creation myths. Three similar motifs are the idea of a supreme being, the idea of people being created from organic material, and the idea of rulers being overthrown. These concepts appear in the Inuit, Greek, Hindu, Chinese, Norse, and many more myths. These three motifs connect to one another and are common in many creation myths.
The two creation myths chosen to compare and contrast focuses on the Norse culture of Iceland Vikings and the Genesis creation of the Hebrew origin of Christian culture. Both creation myths begin with an empty void where chaos or conflict develops. The Norse myth narrates a conflict between the fiery realm of Muspell and the dark, cold realm of Niflheim within the emptiness called ginnungagap and where nothing could grow. The Genesis conflict was between God and nothing, loneliness, and the need to create something beautiful.
Just look at two creation stories side-by-side and you should easily see their similarities. Perhaps the easiest way to do this would be to take one unknown creation story and compare it to one from one’s own culture. Below is an example of a Mongolian creation myth:
Every ancient society and civilization has creation myths that were passed down and keep alive throughout the passing of time by word of mouth. These myths are the world’s oldest stories and are vital to these cultures because they explain their beginnings and give purpose to their existence. By analyzing and interpreting different creation myths it becomes easier to understand different cultures and their connections and relationships with heir beliefs and god(s).