Creation Part 1

Creation: Part  1

When one looks up the definition of creation one discovers two separate, yet similar definitions on google: "The action or process of bringing something into existence; and the bringing into of existence of the universe, especially when regarded as an act of God."  (Google) The common factor in both of these definitions is existence.  Where before there was nothing, suddenly, miraculously, something occurs, in which man cannot explain, but seeks answers to do so.  This has been an area Mankind where man has been seeking answers for thousands of years, no matter the culture; the ideologies can find similarities in the paths they cross.  To exist is to live, but how did we come to live.  Who, or what, granted us mere mortals’ life?  Durham wrote in his essay "Rudolf Otto's The Idea of the Holy" that "religious growth has occurred not because of any development in human capacities, but because of a predisposition towards religious experience that was always present but only gradually awakened. The writer emphasizes that this predisposition is a characteristic not just of some individuals, but of the whole human species."  He goes on to further state that "to identify and discuss a series of phenomena he associates with the earliest expressions of the human predisposition for religion. His eight phenomena are not part of religion as he understands it, but of pre-religion. He begins with: magic, worship of the dead, ideas regarding souls and spirits, belief that natural objects have powers that can be manipulated by spells etc., belief that natural objects like mountains and the sun and the moon are actually alive, fairy stories (and myths). A little more advanced are: belief in daemons (pre-deities, so to speak), notions of pure and impure." (Durham, pp. 3) As one begins to look at the comparisons between these weeks creation selections, one can spot various similarities in themes within the texts: Each text attacks time in its own manner.  Yoruba does not specify exactly how long it took to create the heavens and earth, only that it took Odumare several thousand years to create Earth; and so The Heavenly Bodies came into being: Who was the first to speak? Ela was the first to speak Who was the first to communicate? Ela was the first to communicate? Who is this Ela? It was the Hoo which descended That we call Ela.(Verbal and Visual pp. 126) The "He Pule Hoolaa Alii" (The Hawaiian Creation Myth) is similar and yet dissimilar in its telling to both the Christian and Yoruba Creation Myth.  Evolution or rather time tells its own story, in truth begins this prayer in a very similar way to that as the "Genesis": At the time that turned the heat of the earth, At the time when the heavens turned and changed, At the time when the light of the sun was subdued To cause light to break forth, At the time of the night of Makalii (winter) Then began the slime of which established the earth, The source of deepest darkness. (The Kumulipo) The Christian path reads of darkness also: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God move upon the face of the waters." Whether it is Darwinism, Scientology, Wicca, belief in the Norse Gods, Judaism, all beliefs in religion evolved from a basic understanding principle that man came from somewhere.  Though each of these myths has its own ideologies, in which allows contrasts based upon individual cultures and societies, not to mention governments, outside influences within todays' modern age helps to allow for a more mixed influence.  Where one society may have been less able or unwilling to associate with the outside world, the modern age and future will not enable such progress, nor will religion.  Take for example the various forms of religious service one sees on television and internet.  Imagine 20 years from now what will be available? Cite: Abiodun, Rowland. "Verbal and Visual Metaphors: Mythical Allusions in Yoruba Ritualistic Art of Ori." Mythology and Modern Life - Selected Readings. SUNY Empire State College, 2011. 123-141. Print. http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Genesis-Chapter-1/ Durham, John. "Rudolf Otto's The Idea of The Holy." Bytrentsacred. 28 Jan. 2012. Web. 10 Feb. 2015. . The Kumulipo (, (Liliuokalanai tr.) Index) http://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/lku/index.htm