Is Genesis Unique?

I remember sitting in my history classes both in high school and college and hearing my professors talk about the ancient creation myths of other cultures and they would talk about how similar they are to the Genesis account; that some had their deity creating the world in 7 days or in others that the ancient god seems to create the world ex-nihilo (out of nothing).  I’ve seen many young men and women lose or struggle in their faith when they discover this information.  So I thought it would be fun to actually look at some of the ancient creation myths and then put them right up next to Genesis and see how similar they really are.  You see, I think looking at Genesis in light of both ancient and contemporary creation myths can be quite faith affirming.  I think the contrast is so stark between Genesis and the other creation myths that when they are put side to side the truth is pretty evident.  I might be wrong, but let’s at least put it out there and see the differences.

Egyptian Creation Stories

Now there are about a dozen ancient Egyptian creation myths, most of these myths are designed to assert the divine nature of whatever ruler is on the throne at the time, but let’s just look at a few; two of which many scholars feel influenced the Genesis account. 

The Heliopolis Cosmology[1]

This one is fun.  This view has a community of nine gods of which Atum is the creator God.  He creates the other gods to help him with creation by masturbating them out; hey he’s the only god, what’s he to do.  The actual text goes into pretty graphic detail.  From this emission comes the other gods who deify the rest of the created order (air, land, sea, ext). 

The Memphis Cosmology

In this version Ptah becomes the creator of the nine, and Atum is Ptah’s all powerful word (his lips and mouth) and the first thing they create is Ptah’s hands and penis so he can masturbate out the other gods who arise out of his semen.  Sorry, I know this is not G-rated.  In this version Ptah, thinks, speaks, and then he creates.  This is where we get the “incredible” similarity that our professors and teaches have spoken about.  Yet these creation myths only deal with the creation of the planet and do not deal with the creation of humanity or the animals.

The Hermopolis Cosmology

In this version you have four gods and their wives who form the elemental chaos (they are actually the chaotic elements themselves) who call creation into existence.

In all these cosmologies there is no thought to the creation of humanity.  The Egyptians do have a story of how humanity was created on a potting wheel by one of their lesser gods and a goddess breathed the breath of life into them.

Mesopotamia’s Creation Story

Mesopotamia is the culture out of which the city of Babylon and the Babylonian empire emerged.  This is the area near where Abraham of the Old Testament was born.  Their story begins with two water gods, one named Apsu who is male and god over the “sweet” water and Tiamat who is female and goddess over the salt water.  They give birth to all sorts of sea monsters and nasty creatures and out of this chaos Tiamat tries to take control.  Her descendants unite to overthrow her. They choose Marduk, the god of Babylon to lead them.  Marduk meets Tiamat and her accomplice Kingu in battle and kills them both.

He splits Tiamat in two and half of her becomes the heavens and the other half becomes the earth.  In the heavens he constructs a dwelling place for himself and the other gods and the gods realize they need servants and so out of the blood of Kingu they create humanity and then they make the animals and plants and such.

Indian Creation Myths

India, the birth place of Hinduism literally has a ton of creation myths.  Here are two just to give you a feel for their flavor.  

One early story has Purusha, a primal man, who is sacrificed to the gods (nothing like a little human sacrifice; not like the other cultures were squeamish about that, either) as the act of creation.  The sky comes from his head, the earth from his feet, the sun from his eye, the moon from his brain.  The four Hindu casts also come from his body and the animals and humanity are created from the fat that drips from his body during the sacrifice.  Now there is a beautiful and peaceful picture for you.

Another creation story involves the Hindu god, Brahma.  First out of nothing but thought he creates the waters, by that I mean Brahma is nothing but a thought.  In the water he deposits his seed that then grows into a golden egg.  He himself is then born in the egg and when the egg splits you get the heavens and the earth.

Greek Creation Myth

 

At least this one will sound a little bit more familiar because we have all had to read Greek mythology in school, or we’ve seen Wrath of the Titans or read Percy Jackson. 

 

“The story begins, like so many others, with a gaping emptiness, Chaos. Within this there emerges Gaea, the earth.

Gaea gives birth to a son, Uranus, who is the sky. The world now exists, earth and heaven, and together Gaea and Uranus provide it with a population, their children. First Gaea produces the Titans, heroic figures of both sexes, but her next offspring are less satisfactory; the Cyclops, with only one eye in the middle of their foreheads, are followed by unmistakable monsters with a profusion of heads and arms. Uranus, appalled by his offspring, shuts them all up in the depths of the earth.

Gaea's maternal instincts are offended. She persuades the youngest Titan, Cronus, to attack his father. He surprises him in his sleep and with a sharp sickle cuts off his genitals, which he throws into the sea.

Cronus frees his brothers and sisters from their dungeon, and together they continue to populate the world. But an inability to get on with their offspring characterizes the males of this clan. Cronus, who has six children with his sister Rhea, eats each of them as soon as it is born.

Once again maternal instincts intervene. To save her youngest child, Rhea wraps a stone in swaddling clothes. Cronus swallows the bundle and Rhea sends the baby to foster parents. He is Zeus. As an adult he overwhelms his father, defeats all the other Titans in a great war, and then settles upon Mount Olympus to preside over a world which has at last achieved a certain calm.

During this, imperceptibly, mankind has arrived on earth - it is not clear how. But men are certainly there, because a free-thinking Titan, Prometheus, smuggles them the valuable gift of fire. These first men are not considered direct ancestors by most Greeks, and there are several versions of how the present race of humans originated.” History of the World.net

The Contemporary Creation Myth

 

Wait, how can I call a scientific explanation of how the universe was formed a myth?  It’s actually very simple, the farther we go back in scientific cosmology (the closer we get to the beginning) the more guess work it becomes.  Look the scientists don’t know where matter got its origin and they are making a scientific guess; preachers call that a leap of faith.   What science says about the origin of the universe is a faith statement.  It’s their best guess.

 

The contemporary version of creation says once there was nothing.  Then there was something.  This something was super dense and volatile and exploded, and out of the pieces of this explosion the entire universe was formed. 

 

Now by a miracle of randomness one of these random remnants of the explosion formed a solar system where a planet cooled at the perfect distance from a star to form liquid water and out of this liquid water microbial life appeared.  Then over billions of years of wonderful accidents humanity emerged.  We are a lovely accident and there is no greater meaning to us and our existence than an accident.  I actually think I made it sound more positive than many scientists do.

 

What Do All of These Stories Have in Common?

 

First in all the stories that involve deities, these gods seem to be created in the image of man instead of vice versa.  We see pettiness, war, vengeance, violence, and murder in their character; these gods are very much like humanity. 

 

Creation is dark, whether we are the ejaculation of some ancient god, the rotting corpse of a murdered god, a human sacrifice, or an accident, the world envisioned is a random and dark place.  It is not good.  It is not created with intentionality.

 

Humanity, if it’s even discussed, is usually created to be a slave or a pawn of the gods.  At best, it’s an accident.  At worst, we are playthings.

 

The Genesis Account

 

Now into these stories there is one that is distinctly different.  What it envisions is so radically different that it remains relevant today.  Where the other ancient cosmologies are laughable in a modern context the Hebrew cosmology still paints a picture that challenges our modern creation myth.

 

In the Genesis account we read that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  Creation is not an accident, it was created.  It was created ex-nihilo, out of the all powerful word of God.

 

Everything that was created was made with great intentionality and all that was made was good.  The earth is not some dark place, but it is a good place, made by a good God who created a world that he could enjoy and that humanity could enjoy along with him. 

 

We learn that humanity is the pinnacle of this creation.  Humanity is not an accident, it was not created to be enslaved or to be a plaything, but rather humanity was created to bare the very image of God himself.  In ancient cultures kings would place statues of themselves throughout their kingdom.  These image bearing monuments were to remind everyone who ruled.  Humanity bears God’s image.  We were created to remind all creation of God’s goodness, love, stewardship, and benevolent rule of the earth.

 

So many say that the Bible holds a negative view of women; maybe we are reading two different books?  In Genesis both men and women bear the image of God equally.  In Genesis both are called to exercise his dominion over the earth equally.   Think about how radically different this view of women is to all other ancient cultures! 

 

Only in Genesis is man commanded to take a break and rest.  In Genesis we read about the importance of family and marriage as God establishes the covenant of marriage in the very beginning. 

 

Just a personal note here, can you see how Genesis 1 is beyond science?  Can you see that what it speaks to is much bigger than did God create the world in a literal seven days?  To focus on that is to miss the forest for the trees.  The Genesis account is not about the order of creation other than creation was done orderly and intentionally.  It’s about a good God that created all there is with His all powerful word; it’s about a God that created a good world not a dark sinister world.  It’s about a good God who created humanity to bear his image and share his rule.  It’s about a good God who tells us that both men and women equally bear His image and are to be accorded respect and honor.  It’s about a good God who gives us rest and family and community.

 

This story is different than all other stories of creation, both ancient and contemporary.  Are there some creation myths that have seven days, sure.  Do some of the gods create ex-nihilo? Yes.  But there is really no similarity in the stories they tell and the creation account from Genesis.  Genesis is still relevant today and paints a picture of a world very different than any other.   For me, this story is much more than a story, it is the truth, and how beautiful the truth is.