Creation stories chart
I know this is a strange request but I was curious if anyone knew of a resource or chart that compares major religion creation stories. I tried a few searches in logos but nothing that I felt was great came up. Anyone know of any searches I can do or sources/websites?
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A search for Headings of "Creation Myths" is quite useful
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I searched for creation myth chart, and found that:
Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology by John H. Walton has a chapter called "Creation in Ancient Near Eastern Literature". It has a couple charts comparing non-Biblical cosmologies. (The Primary Sources headings have annoying layout issues--their word order is reversed and contains annoying spacing).
MacBook Pro (2019), ThinkPad E540
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Thank You Graham and Todd. I appreciate it. I'll try looking for those to get a better look at them. I found some more things in a Relgions Encyclopedia under cosmology which was pretty good to. I was hoping for a short summary of something like Buddhists believe this and Hindu's this in some type of chart but I have found this surprisingly hard to find online. Wikipedia had some interesting notes but I try not to use them all that often. I'll keep searching!
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Hey Graham... if you don't mind me asking what articles were found under your bibliotheca sacra heading? I've been meaning to purchase that set but it never goes on sale
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I was hoping for a short summary of something like Buddhists believe this and Hindu's this in some type of chart but I have found this surprisingly hard to find online. Wikipedia had some interesting notes but I try not to use them all that often.
Ah, I mistakenly thought you were talking about ancient religions instead of modern ones.
I've found nothing in Logos with regards to a comparison of origin stories of modern religions. The Apologetics Study Bible has a chart comparing religions, but creation/origin is not one of the topics compared.
But I found this wikipedia article to be more helpful and concise than anything else I could find:
MacBook Pro (2019), ThinkPad E540
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Hey Graham... if you don't mind me asking what articles were found under your bibliotheca sacra heading?
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_creation_myths and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_myth both provide some classification information although not in chart form. The former has links to standard reference books on the topic.
Buddhist view:
Unknown Origins
Atheists believe that the universe came into being through a natural phenomenon, while most religions teach that an all powerful God or gods brought it into existence. Officially, Buddhists don't subscribe to either of these views. Instead, Buddhism teaches that the origin of the world is unknowable. In one foundational Buddhist story, Buddha refused to answer a follower's questions about the origins of the universe, stating that the past and the future are unimportant when compared to liberating oneself from the suffering of the present. To illustrate this point, Buddha told the follower the story of a man who refused to remove an arrow from his foot until he found out who shot it; by the time he discovered the shooter, he was dead.
The Cycle
Although the original creation of the universe is unknowable, Buddhism does teach that the universe is one of many that have come before. This means that this world came into being following the destruction of another and will be followed by yet another universe. The pattern of death and rebirth is eternal, and so it is pointless to single out any one beginning. Furthermore, the energies of this world are infinite and interrelated to other planes of existence, which Buddhists believe exist parallel to our own.
Hindu view:
The act of creation was thought of in more than one manner. One of the oldest cosmogonic myth in the Rigveda (RV 10.121) had come into existence as a cosmic egg, hiranyagarbha (a golden egg). The Purusha Sukta (RV 10.90) narrates that all things were made out of the mangled limbs of Purusha, a magnified non-natural man, who was sacrificed by the gods. In the Puranas, Vishnu, in the shape of a boar, plunged into the cosmic waters and brought forth the earth (Bhumi or Prithivi).
The Shatapatha Brahmana says that in the beginning, Prajapati, the first creator or father of all, was alone in the world. He differentiated himself into two beings, husband and wife. The wife, regarding union with her producer as incest, fled from his embraces assuming various animal disguises. The husband pursued in the form of the male of each animal, and from these unions sprang the various species of beasts (Shatapatha Brahmana, xiv. 4, 2). Prajapati was soon replaced with Brahma in the Puranas.
In the Puranas, Brahma the creator was joined in a divine triad with Vishnu and Maheshvara (Shiva), who were the preserver and destroyer, respectively. The universe was created by Brahma, preserved by Vishnu, and destroyed for the next creation by Shiva. However, the birth of Brahma was attributed to Vishnu in some myths. Brahma was often depicted as sitting on a lotus arising from the navel of Vishnu, who was resting on the cosmic serpent, Ananta (Shesha). In the very beginning Vishnu alone was there. When Vishnu thought about creation, Brahma was created from a lotus that came from his navel.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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compares/contrasts the Biblical account to the Egyptian and Mesopotamian creation stories
Figure 10. Parallels Between Biblical, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian Creation Accounts
Genesis 1:1–2:3
Egyptian accounts
Mesopotamian accounts
Formless, void, darkness, deep (1:2)
Watery, unlimited, darkness, imperceptibility
Infinite (?) watery chaos, (darkness?)
“The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (1:2)
The god of wind/breath on the waters
God creates by divine command (1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14–15, 20, 24)
Atum (or Ptah) speaks creation into existence
Marduk destroys and restores a constellation with his word; creation is done by crafting
Light is created before the sun is in place (1:3)
Light is created before the sun rises in its place
Light, day, and night exist before the luminaries are created
God creates by separating the waters to create an atmosphere (1:6–7)
The gods create by separating the waters to create an atmosphere
The gods create by separating the waters to create an atmosphere
God creates by separating the land from the waters (1:9)
Initially in creation, the first little hillock of land (primordial mound) rises out of the water
God creates plants (1:11–12)
God creates the sun, moon, and stars for signs, seasons, days, and years, and to give light (day 4) after the light (day 1) (1:14–18)
The sun rises on the first day
The gods create sun, moon, and stars for signs, seasons, days, and years, and to give light
God creates fish, birds, and animal life (1:20–25)
The gods create plants, fish, birds, and animal life
God creates mankind in his image (1:26–28)
The gods create man in their image, formed out of clay
The gods formed man from clay (and blood of a god) to do their work
After completing creation, God rests (2:1–3)
Ptah rested after completing his work of creation (Memphite Theology)
The gods rest after man is created, and gods typically rest in temples they build
Out of desolate, empty, dark waters, God creates light, atmosphere, land, plants, the luminaries in the heavens, creatures, and man, and then he rests (1:2–2:3)
Out of unlimited, imperceptible, dark waters, the god creates himself (including light), atmosphere, land, and luminaries in the heavens (the sun rises), followed by plants, creatures, and man, and then he rests
From primeval waters the gods create atmosphere, land, luminaries in the heavens, creatures, and man, and then they rest
God as Creator claims sovereignty over all creation and so over all nations (1:2–2:3)
The creator god claims sovereign rule of state
The gods claim authority over their realm of creating
Johnny V. Miller and John M. Soden, In the Beginning … We Misunderstood: Interpreting Genesis 1 in Its Original Context (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2012), 125–126.
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... what articles were found under your bibliotheca sacra heading?
Search for:
creation WITHIN 2 WORDS (account,myth)
found more articles, including one in Biblliotheca Sacra Volume 109
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How do I search Heading Text? When I click on everything that option doesn't show
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How do I search Heading Text? When I click on everything that option doesn't show
One option is changing Everything to All Resources (or a collection) so can choose search fields
Another option is specifying fields to search:
([field heading,largetext] creation) WITHIN 2 WORDS ([field heading,largetext] account,myths)
Keep Smiling [:)]
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