But when blindness became too proud, Doondari created sleep, and sleep defeated blindness But when sleep became too proud, Doondari created worry, and worry defeated sleep But when worry became too proud, Doondari created death, and death defeated worry. Then Doondari created blindness and blindness defeated man. And he took the five elements And he shaped them into man. Then the stone created iron And iron created fire And fire created water And water created air. At the beginning there was a huge drop of milk Then Doondari (God) came and he created the stone. Here is one from the Fulani people of Mali. The cultures of Africa present a rich collection of such stories. Virtually every culture in the world has a creation story that explains how the world came about. The creation account in the Qurʾan, the scripture of Islam, is similar: "Allah is He Who created the heavens and the earth and what is between them in six periods." Allah is Islam's name for God. This is depicted in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). In the book of Genesis in the Christian and Judaic scriptures, for example, creation occurred in stages over a six-"day" period, with God resting on the seventh day. This process is seen as having occurred over a period of time, often expressed as "days." This reference of day is generally interpreted in symbolic terms to refer to some span of time. "out of " and nihilo means "nothing." In other words, it is believed that nothing existed before God, who not only formed and structured the universe but also created from nothing the materials of which the universe is made. In the major monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, creation is seen as what theologians call ex nihilo. Used this way, myth connects more with "story," "narrative," or "explanation" than with "untruth." A myth expresses a deeper, more fundamental truth that actual facts do not always capture. Rather, the word suggests a culture's specific way of explaining the world and its origins, expressed in terms that were understandable even to people in a culture with no written language. Theologians (those who study religious beliefs and practices) and other scholars, however, use the word myth in a way that is not intended to dismiss a narrative as untrue. These creation and foundational stories are often referred to as "myths," a word that implies something fanciful or untrue. It provides support for the culture's way of viewing the world, in much the same way that the foundation of a house supports the structure. As a foundation myth develops over time, it becomes a way for people to understand the nature of the world they live in and their place within that world. Foundation myths in some way define the cultures that produced them. One noteworthy exception among major religions is Buddhism, whose scriptures, or holy writings, often refer to "beginningless time." This suggests that Buddhists do not believe in a single creation event or a single creator-god.įoundation myths differ from creation myths in that they do not necessarily focus on the creation of the world, but they have many characteristics in common with creation myths. In these stories, the origins of the world are generally the act either of a single supreme being (in the case of monotheistic religions, which believe in a single god) or of a group of gods (in the case of polytheistic religions, which believe in more than one god). A creation myth is a story that explains the origins of the world, the creation of humans, and the relationship between a god or gods and humans. Nearly every culture in the world has a creation myth. 5: Science and Christian Tradition.45Ĭollected Essays, vol. 1 Creation Stories and Foundation MythsTanakh (Hebrew Bible).5 Tales from the Kojiki.13 Qurʾan.23 Black Elk Speaks.33 Collected Essays, vol.
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