Creation of the World
Missing Works Cited
Powerful mythologies are normative, as Mircea Eliade described, defining for their societies how the world may be ordered. Myths provide the living backdrop on which people may act. In the Christian societies of Europe and America the “origin myth” that defines the divine order that Christians should follow is laid out largely in Genesis, and the worldview expounded within it in some sense provides the baseline from which “scientific” alternatives must deviate, at least within the Europe and America.
In Genesis, the world, created wholly by God, is described by a divine order composed of a series of superiority relationships—that is to say, of hierarchies. As the Creator, God has authority over literally everything, but he soon imbues a similar authority into newly created Man by giving him “dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth” (Genesis 1:26).
Man, in this instance, can be taken as emblematic of humankind in general, as the proclamation of Man’s dominion occurs at a very early stage of Creation, when Man still consists of only one individual. As Genesis moves farther in time, it redefines Creation with increasing specificity as it also delineates new hierarchies. For example, in the third chapter Man (in the male sense) is given dominion over Woman (Genesis 3:16) and as mankind grows into varied tribes these too are given a kind of structure, as when Ham’s descendents are made subservient to the other children of Noah (Genesis 9:25). Indeed, much of Genesis is comprised of relating genealogies, which are hierarchical by nature.
Genesis’ worldview is not merely hierarchical, but statically so; the divi...
... middle of paper ...
... “biology as destiny” and leaves room for imperfection—in the form of political repression, I imagine Gould would say. The dominant paradigm of a culture or society needn’t be definitionally just by virtue of existing or even tending to exist. Even modern interpretations of religious doctrine, on the other hand, are incompatible with such an outlook. Creation “scientists,” for example, by relying on a literal reading of Genesis are obliged to accept, if in slightly modified form, the vision of the world presented there, and it generally precludes the flouting of God’s will in any sense. That both viewpoints coexist in contemporary America is a great source of the tension that is felt, mostly at the local level (Ruse, Darwinism Defended), by proponents of either side. Despite the growth of new rationales and worldviews, the old never actually died in the first place.
The National Institute of Mental Health: Eating Disorders: Facts About Eating Disorders and the Search for Solutions. Pub No. 01-4901. Accessed Feb. 2002.
Boyer, Pascal. Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2001.
Shapiro, C. M. (2012). Eating disorders: Causes, diagnosis, and treatments [Ebrary version]. Retrieved from http://libproxy.utdallas.edu/login?url=http://site.ebrary.com/lib/utdallas/Doc?id=10683384&ppg=3
The Florida Manatee’s popular marine species in the tropical environment of Florida are currently considered an “endangered species”. The ecology (the relationships between living organisms and their interactions with their natural or developed environment), for the manatee (trichechus manatus), requires and is generally restricted to the inland and coastal waters of peninsular Florida during the winter, when they shelter in and/or near warm-water springs, heated industrial effluents, and other warm water sites (as stated in Research Gate (1997) Hartman 1979, Lefebvre et al). The Florida (West Indian) Manatee, An Endangered Species, has no known predators other than humans; in the past, humans hunted
The values in Genesis are disobeyed by yet another woman who does not conform to the female model of a fertile mother. While fertility is an overriding value in god’s human construct that women in Genesis threaten to undermine women also obstruct the “natural” course of history which god has set in motion as part of his ideal world. After god reconstructs the world through Noah and then Abraham, the divine element withdraws from the world slightly, and a natural historical course begins to play out through the momentum that god has initiated.
In his article “internet addiction”, published in 2010 by Reason Magazine, Greg Beato tries to show how internet addiction, an excessive behavior brought up by the psychiatrist Ivan Gilbert, is an important issue for the society and why it should be considered as a behavior disorder. He supports his thesis by using a lot of evidence such as graphics, statistics, and researches. Although, Beato’s arguments about the causes of internet addiction and the reasons why it should add to the DSM are mostly true, some of his observations on the future are pessimistic.
Frankenstein was written by a woman named Mary Shelley. This story is considered to be one of the earliest examples of science fiction. Mary Shelley did not have a good life. There were always bad events occurring in Shelley’s life. Before the age of 30, Mary Shelley had lost her mother, sister, father, husband, and three of her four children. She battled depression all of her life and finally died in London at the age of fifty-four. After all of these terrible things that happened to her, people can probably understand how she came up with such a horror story like Frankenstein. In this novel, the main character is Victor Frankenstein. After Victor mother dies, he leaves and goes to England. In England is where he created this monster that he soon regrets. Victor abandons the creature, and the creature makes it his duty to find his creator and wreak havoc along the way. This horrifying sci-fi story could only be written and told by Mary Shelley, an individual that had such a horrible life.
As human beings, we are designed to belive in something. Although the belief in a higher power or religion is diverse, many theologies share common themes. “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and the Hebrew book of “Genesis” are seemingly polar opposites. Christianity, demonstrated in Genesis, is monotheistic, and the Hebrews base their faith on their relationship with God. On the other hand, Sumerian philosophy, found in Gilgamesh, is polytheistic, and the Sumerian people base their theology on fear. Ancient polytheistic literature forms an archetypical pattern of the mortals trying desperately to please the gods. A mortal’s entire existence rests in the hands of the sometimes childish gods. In spite of this, these two stories
The West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus) is a marine mammal that lives in the coastal waters and around the offshore reefs of Belize. Manatees have large gray bodies covered with algae or barnacles. They are herbivores that consume marine vegetation such as sea grass and surface regularly to breathe. They reside in sea grass beds and in mangroves that provide them with shelter. The West Indian Manatee is listed as vulnerable under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and may eventually be listed as endangered. They are at a huge risk of decline due to coastal development and other changes to the environment (Auil). Manatees are facing countless risks and deaths as the human population increases in varying locations. According to the National Geographic, in the year of 2013, there have been a total of 829 known manatee deaths which has been the highest toll since biologists started to keep records of this species. Manatees have no natural enemy, so their deaths are caused by human interaction. These are entanglements in nets, destruction of habitat, collisions with watercraft, and hunting.
Creation and Science We have all heard about the evolution vs. creation debate. Two sides opposing each other in fits of heated passion. One group believes that humans developed from monkeys, and the other group is a bunch of religious fanatics. Does this sound somewhat familiar?
Oxtoby, Willard G., and Alan F. Segal. A Concise Introduction to World Religions. Oxford, Canada: Oxford University Press, 2007.
The relationship between God and his creations humans can be said to be a very complex relationship. Genesis shows us many examples of God's interaction with humans and human's interaction with each other. From the creation of Adam and Eve and all the events that follow afterwards, I shall show what the relationship tells us about the nature of God and mankind.
The Creation Stories Did the creation of the earth and life begin by itself? Or did God create them? In the beginning, civilization started to question who created earth. There were many different views. In Genesis, Jinasena, and Buddha have their own thinking. There were some differences as well as similarities. In Genesis, it was stated that God created heaven and earth. Everything we saw is God's work. Even ourselves is come out from him. In one week, Days and Nights; Skies and seasons, land and water; living creature; And humans, were created by God. An example, "Let there be light" then light came out. Everything he thought of happened instantaneously. However, there is no stating how he accomplished all this. Furthermore, there is no evidence that God's breath gave life to a living soul to man. Genesis is in a third person type of writing. Every paragraph start with "And God said..." Overall of the story, God is powerful and perfect. He had done everything we need. Jinasena is a Jain myth and it is called "There Is No Creator". As the title states, the myth does not believe in god. There is a line say in the myth that set states this, "...if it is complete the individual jiva (soul) is released from the cycle of rebirth to a state of isolated, eternal, and omniscient inactivity." This line is saying that everyone has a soul. However, with the end of each lifetime, another spirit will start again. In another word,...
We model God’s supremacy and authority however our influence and authority is miniscule in contrast to the great creator; nevertheless these traits still point to Him. Being that we are to oversee over creation, this fact gives us a huge awareness to exactly how imperative God intended us to be as we pace along earth. Yes true, we aren’t anything but “filthy rags” in the sight our Lord according to Isaiah, however, we filthy rags have been entrusted to administrate one of God’s highest creations. God equipped the human race with power over all the creatures and earth itself…just that simple. We must keep in mind, conversely, that the earth still belongs to God; because He is the definitive ruler and has authority of all things. He just gave man his own petite corner of creation to watch
The Cosmos: Creation Where is the universe from? Where is it going to be? How is it put together? How did it get to be this way? These are big questions, too.