Very often creation stories have some distinct similarities, while others are completely different. The Genesis creation story and the Yahweh creation story have some distinct similarities, but also some differences. They are both associated with obedience, however they portray this in a different ways.
Both the Yahweh and the Genesis creation stories discuss obedience. For example, the Genesis creation story says “So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female, blessed them, and said, ‘Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals…’ ” Although God does not state the consequences for being disobedient or not doing as he says, he still demands obedience by the people. In the Yahweh creation story Yahweh says to the snake, “Because of what you have done, you are cursed more than any other animal, and you will have to crawl on your belly in the dust, and you will be beaten by the offspring of this woman” This describes how the snake has been disobedient and therefore suffered punishment. Both stories speak of the
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One example is, in the Yahweh creation story, the snake and the humans did something wrong and were punished. Yahweh said this about the humans “This man has become like us, knowing good and evil - next he will seek the tree of life and try to live forever.” This shows that man disobeyed Yahweh, thus kicking them out of the Garden of Eden and assigning a winged half-human, half-lion creature to guard the gates in order to keep them out. The Genesis creation story differs from the Yahweh story by reason of, in Genesis, God did not state consequences for disobeying him, and it was not stated that he was disobeyed by
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
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 God of Genesis is portrayed very differently. God is a forgiving God. One sees this when God states, "of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die" (Genesis 2:17). However, when Adam and Eve do eat the apple-though he does make them mortal-God allows them to live. God also does not strike down Cain. The God of Genesis is also a personable God. God talks directly to the h...
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:
The two world creation stories from the Judeo-christian and the Iroquois do have quite different perspectives how the world has been created. But, are they some similar parts as well in the stories? And do you see these similar parts even in the culture too? Where are these differences and similarities?
In Popol Vuh, the gods created the mud people to have them worshipping the gods, “Thus, let us try again to make one who will honor us, who will respect us; one who will be a provider and a sustainer” (Popol Vuh 89). However, the mud people had no knowledge while speaking; they could only look in one direction, and they could not worship the gods. Because of that, the gods punished the mud people by toppling them, “Therefore they undid it. They toppled what they had framed, what they had shaped” (Popol Vuh 94). Nevertheless, in Genesis, Yahweh created humans, so they would be happy. The only thing He asked them was to not disobey Him, “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16,17). Because they disobeyed Yahweh, they were punished by having to leave the garden and “suffer.” The differences in the types of gods punishments is that, in Popol Vuh, they punished the mud people because they were not capable of worship them; it was the gods’ fault in creating people like that. In Genesis, Yahweh punished Adam and Eve because they chose to disobey him, and not because Yahweh created them
Myths – as they are known to most of the world – give insight into the pasts of various countries and religions as the people saw them. They have been used to explain phenomenons in nature or describe the tales of courageous and important men and women throughout history. Creation myths in particular define how the Earth itself was created, along with the universe, heavens, hell, people, and creatures that exist today. Genesis of Christian mythology, for instance, tells the story of how the single deity God spoke and formed everything from day and night to man and woman. Various African creation myths, such as with the Yoruba, explain the creation of the Earth through at least a couple gods working together and all life sprouting from a seed. But all share a 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. Adam and Eve of Genesis and Izanagi and sister Izanami of Shintoism provide examples of myths that share both a passive and active pair of people who eventually create the Earth's population. In any case, certain popular creation myths, some closely tied to prominent religions, share more common characteristics than others. An entire sub-study, called comparative mythology, gives insight into this subject.
story. The account of Adam and Eve in Genesis 1-3 is extremely similar to the
The most apparent difference, is how the Earth was created. In How the World Was Made and The Sky Tree, the earth is created by animals. “The Sky Tree” describes how a group of animals, “Beaver, Mink, Muskrat, and Otter each brought up pawfuls of wet soil and placed the soil on Turtle’s back until they had made an island of great size.” Then it describes “the great tree” falling on the earth and taking root, creating the plants. And How the Earth Was Made tells how a water beetle dove to the bottom of the ocean and brought the mud up where it then “began to grow and to spread out on every side until it became the island we call earth.” That earth was then “fastened to the sky with four cords.” While these two stories are vaguely similar, the book of Genesis differs extremely. In Genesis an omnipotent being commands the earth to appear. It states that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” and that “On the seventh day, God finished his work which he had made.” Another example of the many differences of these stories, is why the earth was made. For example, in The Sky Tree, Turtle sees a woman falling from the sky and has his friends “bring soil up and place it on Turtle’s back,” so that the woman would have something to land on. They created the earth to save the woman’s life. In How the World Was Made, the story stated that the sky world that the
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.
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.
Do you think creation myths are similar in any way or are they the same in all ways? All myths are similar in at least one way. Theogony starts this way as well as unorganized chaos, and the flood. The creation myth of unorganized chaos is an example. The flood is another example for a creation myth. Both the flood and the chaos cause a lot of horror and trouble for everyone, and it also causes a lot of destruction. I think the motifs in mythology are very interesting, and they explain so many things. Concerning creation myths, there are three main motifs. One motif is the idea of unorganized chaos. The second motif is the idea of people being made from organic material. The third motif is the story of a flood.
...y the evil one. This story of creation is very similar to the story written in the book of Genesis with slight differences. However, in both stories, pride was the reason for its fall.