A Comparison of Different Creation Theories

Throughout history, there has been various interpretations in order to understand the way that life and the universe was constructed. Some base their beliefs off of reasoning and scientific evidence and others base their beliefs on spiritual forces."So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate" (1999).

This quote in particular originates from the Bible. It is believed in modern day Christianity that in this book, Eve was tempted by the serpent to doubt the word of God as he deceives her to eat from the fruit of the tree that God had commanded Adam and Eve to not eat from. Falling for temptation, Eve took the forbidden fruit and ate as well as giving some to Adam, her husband. Because they disobeyed God, the future of humanity changed, not only punishing Adam and Eve, but all of humanity that will soon come after them.

The beginning of life and creationism is not a new concept. Stories have been past around for thousands of years dating back to the ancient Egyptians, Hebrews and in Mesopotamia. For example, the story of Atrahasis and Human Creation. Although a polytheism story, it describes the decision to create man. The lower-class gods were tired of doing what was deemed as "hard work" and went on strike. The upper-class gods caught wind of this and decided to sacrifice one of the rebel gods and make mankind by mixing the sacrificed god's flesh with blood and clay. The intent of creating mankind was so that they could bear the load and work of the gods.

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As with the Egyptians, the creation story differs. At the beginning of time, there was only Nun, which were waters of the unmanifest. Within these waters were eight gods which were made of of four serpents and four frogs. "There names were Nun and Nunet, deities of the watery abyss; Heh and Hehet, deities of infinite space; Kek and Keket, deities of darkness; and Amon and Amonet, deities of the invisible" (Foutz).

These gods swam in the waters while guarding the Great Egg, which contained the Creator. When the egg began to hatch, it split in half dividing the waters into two different divisions, the upper and the lower. From the egg, a blue lotus had arose. Rising from the dark abyss and opening its petals, out comes a young god named the Creator, Amen-Re. Amen-Re had begun to reconstruct the island for himself to live on and as time passes by he becomes lonely. He wanted to share with others, therefore his creation began.

He then created the goddess Maat, Shu, Tefnut. Once these gods were lost to the waters of the abyss, He began to create more. He created Hathor to retrieve Shu and Tefnut. Shu and Tefnut then created twins, Geb and Nut. Amen-Re took Nut for his wife, although Geb was who she wanted and when Amen-Re found out, he punished them. When Thoth hears of her suffering, he told her to gamble her part of light with the moon goddess Silene. By doing this, Nut was able to bear her children from her union with Geb and out of these children that were born were Osiris, Horus, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. After the creation of all the gods, spirits, demons, and lesser deities, the creation of Man and other creatures on Earth were created last.

Many of these creation stories that came before the ancient Hebrews and Christians demonstrate polytheism. The main purpose as mentioned before for the Mesopotamians were so that mankind could bear the work of the gods and the purpose for the Egyptians were because the young god Amen-Re was lonely. It is believed that with the origins of ethical monotheism is with Abraham and the covenant around 2000 B.C., which also began the start of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Because the Hebrews migrated to Egypt, it is believed that there could have been some influence by the Egyptian beliefs, which in turn the Hebrews had influenced Christianity. The main purpose of creation of mankind in Christianity is not because he needed mankind or because he was lonely, but because he has an eternal plan for mankind. The Bible is full of instructions that tells people how to live their lives.

The long term influences that the Bible has upon western civilization are the social influences within society. Such creationist movements can influence political beliefs opposed to science and biology. Such controversial views on abortion, pornography and so on are influence people by offering a different perspective from these religious communities. "Although there have been a number of institutional and philosophical analyses of creationism, there has been surprisingly little effort to trace social influences on what I term beginning beliefs in the general population" (Eckberg, 146). Not only does it have long term influences on political beliefs, but it has also brought upon conflict between cultural modernism and cultural fundamentalism, particularly with the curriculum that is taught in public schools.

Creationism, which is placed in a religious document such as the Bible, is internalized by a community of people who share the same thoughts and thoughts become a way of life and commitment for those who believe as well as it becomes a social interaction. Because these beliefs are continuously supported from the community, these beliefs remain socially credible. This makes it hard for those who believe in reasoning and scientific evidence and threatens the teachings of biology. "In the extreme case of conversion and anticipatory socialization experiences lead to a shift in reference group alliances, a redefinition of self, and hence changed beliefs and attitudes" (Eckberg, 148).

As mentioned before, the beginning of life and creationism is not a new concept. These stories of creationism are learned and are social beliefs. Beliefs are a long term interaction with the people around you. People such as your mother and father, who first forms your beliefs in your early childhood and as you get older, these beliefs become modified over time. "There is an ancillary question of whether an effect of denomination would come from social background or would be a clear effect of the creation myth in Genesis I; furthermore, these accounts must be believed as factually true if religious faith is to have any meaning" (Eckberg, 149). Whether people believe in creationism, evolution or both, these beliefs affect the social lives of society as well as influence decisions and political beliefs.

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