Thursday, October 15, 2009

Creation Stories

From a modern day perspective, I cannot see how either the Navajo creation story or the story of Genesis could be true. In both stories, there are many supernatural things that occur. In the Navajo story, the people are able to crawl through holes in the sky and people can create mountains and animals out of random things. In the story of Genesis, Adam and Eve have a conversation with a talking snake. These aspects of the story are very hard to believe because in the modern world, we know that no one can crawl through the sky and no one can talk to snakes. Because of this, both stories seem unbelievable. There is also no evidence to back up these stories, adding to its incredibility.
If I had to decide whether one was more believable, I would choose the story of Genesis. The characters in Genesis, Adam and Eve, originated on earth, not within the earth. Also, Adam and Eve learned about life, whereas the Navajo’s somehow just had that knowledge in their brain. The Navajo’s would flee from every world when it became too violent and overrun with lust and envy. However, when Adam and Eve were placed on Earth, they did not know what lust or envy or violence was, they had to learn first hand about it. For example, they learned about desire when the snake told them about the forbidden fruit and how they were not supposed to eat it. This makes Adam and Eve seem more like humans, therefore more believable to humans of today.

4 comments:

  1. I agree with you when you said neither of them are true. I don't know what is the truth but I don't think I believe in either of these stories.

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  2. I found it interesting how you brought up the point that Adam and Eve seem more like humans of today; therefore, their story is easier to believe. The fact that they had to learn about things and didn't just already have power and knowledge helps us relate to them more.
    I also agree with you that neither story is very believable.

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  3. Daniel, I thought it interesting you thought humanity escaping from a hole in the sky far fetched. If you think about it, we currently have a hole in the sky (in the ozone layer) and we fly through it regularly on our way to space. If we ever start to populate other planets, won't the Navajo story suddenly look pretty forward thinking?

    Also, remember the question was about truth, not realism. Recall the words of the Rabbi in the PBS video on the early Hebrews? I'm paraphrasing here, but what he said was basically: "Just because something isn't factual, doesn't mean it's not true." He suggested it was immaterial whether Moses led 10,000 or 0 people out of Egypt. The story was true because it accurately depicted challenges all humans face when trying to hold on to their freedom.

    In terms of the stories I'm asking you about, consider them this way: one story says evil has been part of our nature since nearly the beginning (and explains how it all started), the other says evil and disorder comes and goes w/ different generations (certain generations literally climb out of the hole they're stuck in, but then evil creeps back into life). Which is truer? Sure the details of the story might seem a little "out there," but they're still trying to get at something fundamental that we can all have an opinion on. Your answer will reveal something about your fundamental beliefs in human nature.

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  4. Daniel,

    I agree that they are both a little far fetched. But do the navajo really have much knowledge about life? They know to leave, yes. But they dont have enough sense to fix the problems that they have. GOOD POST.

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