Many different cultures have their own speculations in how the existence of man and universe came to be. These beliefs greatly influence the understanding of individuals through their religion and their God, ultimately affecting their lives as well. The Rig Veda and Genesis are two ancient texts that address the concept of creation. Although both texts share similar creation myths, both texts have differ in religion and different theory of creation of man. Both the Rig Veda and Genesis share similarities about the creation myth, speculating about how the world was created. Both manuscripts deliver poetic descriptions to include that there was darkness and nothingness before God or the creator, .“The non-existent was not; the existent was not …show more content…
Genesis is the first Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament and Christianity and Judaism are a monotheistic religion, meaning there's only one God. On the other hand, the Rig Veda is Hindus texts and Hinduism is a polytheistic religion, meaning there's multiple gods. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (King James Bible, 1:1), states that God was the one and only who created Earth; one superior being to rule all the realms of earth and heavens. However, in the Rig Veda, “Whence is this creation? The gods came afterwards, with the creation of the universe” (Doniger 10.129.6), implies that the gods were not the source of creation but creation from the creator. When the creator was first born, he gave to birth or created more gods in order to fulfill his desire of more companions and, “bond of existence in non-existenence” (Doniger 10.129.4). Also similar to the Greek gods, the Hindu gods have one superior deity to rule over the rest of the gods, and each gods have their own unique roles that helped humanity and the universe grow. Although both texts differ in terms of religion and culture, both have their own perspective of how the universe was created, which reassure people the creation of the universe to a certain
Most cultures have a creation myth, a story of how humans came to exist in the world. Often, they involve Gods of some capacity who exist without much question or explanation. Many myths have a common idea for the origin of the world, like Earth being born from water, a golden egg, or a great monster. The Mayan creation myth and the Babylonian creation myth are similar in that they both begin with water, and account the creation and purpose of man. They also differ, as the Mayan Popol Vuh chronicles a peaceful tale of trials to forge the Earth and sentient beings to worship the gods, while the Babylonian Enuma Elish tells of wars between gods that lead to the creation of Earth and of man as a servant to the gods.
Creation texts and most early pieces of literature all share many of the same themes, mythology, and to an extent, the same characters. In the days that early texts like The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Bible, and Popol Vuh, epistemology was of high interest to many philosophers and writers. To answer the questions of “How did we get here,” “Why are we here,” “What do we do here,” and other ontological ponderings, texts like these were written to give some reason. One consistent theme from early literature and creation texts is that early people had the tragic flaw of a thirst for knowledge and a lack of willpower, which is shown in The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Bible, and Popol Vuh.
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.
Creation stories have profound effects on humans. Those associated with ancient cultures/civilizations aim to ensure the successful survival or well-being of themselves and that particular culture/civilization of their association, but not all are beneficial, prosperous, or fortunate. Mesopotamia’s “The Gilgamesh Epic”, Egypt’s “Hymn to the Nile-Documents”, and Mesoamerica’s Mayan and Aztec creation stories/religion are influential to establishing significant relationships within society, whether that is between humans and nature or humans and their “god(s).”
This essay will compare and contrast Greek mythology’s The Theogony by Hesiod and the Babylonian creation story found in the Enuma Elish. Both creation myths start off with an empty universe in a formless state. Two chief god entities materialize from this state of nothingness, one represented as a male and the other as a female.
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.
But all share common themes, such as a form of chaos or nothingness before life is created. Joseph Campbell notes that “. the idea of an absolute ontological distinction between God and man – or between gods and men, divinity and nature - first became an important social and psychological force in the Near East, specifically Akkad, in the period of the first Semetic Kings, c. 2500 B.C.,” showing another similar trait – a god or set of gods exists to create in each story (626). Joseph Campbell makes a comparison of how both Genesis and the Book of the Dead of Egypt share the same idea of their bodies belonging to their god in some way, or being reabsorbed into them at death (630-631). Others, like the Japanese and Iroquois creation myths, claim the Earth was once covered entirely of water before land was formed.
Hesiod’s Theogony and the Babylonian Enuma Elish are both myths that begin as creation myths, explaining how the universe and, later on, humans came to be. These types of myths exist in every culture and, while the account of creation in Hesiod’s Theogony and the Enuma Elish share many similarities, the two myths differ in many ways as well. Both myths begin creation from where the universe is a formless state, from which the primordial gods emerge. The idea of the earth and sky beginning as one and then being separated is also expressed in both myths.
Both the Theogony and the Creation in Genesis show nature as a blessing for humans but with negative affects, However the myths differ in the ways that the Earth and humans were created and how humans interact with the deities of the creation stories. These differences include how Gods treat humans and why the Gods/God created Earth. These stories are still being passed on in today’s world and are two of the most influential creation stories to have ever been written. The similarities and differences in the creation stories show that different cultures and religions throughout the world really aren’t that far off from each other.
The questions about the existence of life and the creation of the world are always mind-boggling and fascinating, however, the real answer to these questions may never surface. All there is to rely on are the myths, stories and legends passed on from generation to generation by ancestors and the clues they have left. This essay will try to uncover the ancient Mesopotamian and Hebrew views on existence and creation by looking at sources like the Genesis and other ancient Mesopotamian texts and poems. Mesopotamians and Hebrews had contrasting views on how they explained the events in their lives, and through analysis of ancient sources, those differences will be outlined. In such populated and booming areas, human conflict was inevitable and some of the law codes that were placed in effect to establish order within the society will be examined. Throughout it all, god and religion played a central role in these ancient civilizations.
There are about three hundred millions of Gods in Hinduism, but “these gods are just an incarnation of one God— Brahman” (TheBuddhaGarden). This is similar to the Christian’s concept of Trinity. The bible used the word “God” to describe Father, son, and Holy Sprits, but there is only one God because there is only one universal form of all Gods. Accordingly, both religions believed that God has been manifested in different ways. Even though it seems like the Hindus are worshipping different Gods, whether it is Shiva or Vishnu, they are just different forms of Brahman and “Brahman is the supreme God that cannot be fully know or understood” (Cooper 1). Therefore, Hinduism in one way is considered as
Within the texts of Genesis which belong to the biblical scriptures of the Hebrews, and the myths of Egyptian origin, there are a multitude of similarities and differences. When compared side by side, the most obvious factor of both texts is that a single God was the creator of all that we know today. In Genesis that creator is simply referred to as God, while in Egyptian mythology, the creator is known as Neb-er-tcher. Both creators have striking resemblances, such as the ways they went about the production of the world.
In this paper I will discuss three similarities and four differences between Enuma Elish-The Epic of Creation (King,1902) and Genesis 1:1-3:24 as described by Michael Fishbane (Fishbane, 1979). These writings are selected to describe the story of creation of the earth and the inhabitants of the earth. However, each author has a very different view and way of explaining what they have interpreted the sacred texts to mean.
Genesis is the first creation story. God creates, establishes, and puts everything into motion. After putting all of this in motion he then rests. He creates everything on earth in just seven days. Before creation Gods breath was hovering over a formless void. God made earth and all of the living creatures on earth out of nothing. There was not any pre-existent matter out of which the world was produced. Reading Genesis 1 discusses where living creatures came from and how the earth was formed. It’s fascinating to know how the world began and who created it all. In Genesis 1 God is the mighty Lord and has such strong power that he can create and banish whatever he would like. His powers are unlike any others. The beginning was created from one man only, God.
In Hindu mythology, one god created the world and is three people as one. How Hindu’s believe the earth was created by a single god that was three gods together, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Vishnu was cradled by a snake he was sleeping in, when a loud sound came from nowhere and awoke him where then a lotus flower grew from his navel with Brahma in it. Vishnu commanded Brahma to make a world, and so Brahma took pieces o...