A myth can be defined as early science that attempts to explain why things are the way it is; A philosophical story that interprets creation, unexplained occurrences and/or supernatural beings. They are tales of the past that concern the origin of life and nature that are connected to religion, values, and morals. Different cultures believe in many different myths. Today, I specifically want to compare and talk about creation myths.
To follow along, you can read the myths here https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzfhDrOy2CjDX3dLdnB4dW5mRFk&authuser=0
The link I’ve provided includes many myths but I want to take a look at a more commonly known one, the biblical creation. To summarize it, one God by the name of Yaweh creates the heaven, Earth, and all living things in the course of 6 days. He does this by speaking a command and it came to be (Ex. “Let there be light”). Within the sixth day of creation, Yaweh made Adam from mixing dirt with his spit to make mud. From the mud, he molded a man in his image and breathed the breath of life through his nostrils. He then made Eve out of Adam’s rib. This was the first man and woman. God looked at his creation at the end of the sixth day and was satisfied. On the seventh day, he rested.
Many cultures look at the book of Genesis in different ways therefore, creating other Christian denominations.
For example, the Talmudic creation account. As a result of rabbis debating and analyzing the focal points of the book of Genesis, the theology of Judaism came to be. In this myth, the story line changes. Yaweh doesn’t just say commands, he created the universe through physical actions. God threw a rock into a void and that became the center of the universe. He then created a human. He scooped up soil and molded a man and joined the body with a soul. This was the first man, Adam. There was no account of a woman being made. God then commanded man to look over the animals and beast.
In another interpretation, some say that God saw that there were both male and female beasts but only a male human looking over them. Therefore, he created a woman by the name of Lilith to govern over the female beast.
Some cultures take the book of Genesis very literally. They believe that God made the Earth within 6, 24 hour days. However, if you look at the myth at a modern standpoint, you may realize that time is made up. It wasn’t till eons later that humans decided there would be 24 hours in a day. Also, science shows that things don’t magically appear. Mass can neither be created nor destroyed. This has sparked a modern interpretation to the myth. So to speak, God could have taken what is a thousand years to us, to create Earth. Further more, the reason it could have taken so long was because God placed cells and organisms that spawned together into what we know to be plants and animals rather than life just appearing.
What’s so significant about about the biblical creation myth is that there are hundreds of christian denominations that are all based on the same text. Other myths are exactly as it’s told but there are so many unseen layers to the book of Genesis than meets the eye. It seems so objective yet it’s subjective and open for interpretation to different cultures. I’ve met people who grew up believing in something only to later analyze the text themselves and change what they believe completely. I find that so significant. Overall, I think this is a very important myth to remember because discoveries are still being made.
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