I find it very difficult to believe that the Navajo story or the book of Genesis could possibly true. Science of today has provided completely different possibilities that are much more reasonable and realistic. However, I do believe that if you have to choose, the story told in the book of Genesis is more believable than the creation story told by the Navajo Native Americans.
Genesis answers more questions than does the Navajo creation story. The Navajo story doesn’t go into any detail as to where humans really came from. It simply tells us that we started out in worlds deep within the one we reside in today. But how did we get to that first world? Also it gives humans the power to create everything from mountains to colors and hours. If we had this power then, why do we not have it now? The book of Genesis answers these questions. It attributes all of these things to a greater power beyond all of us the put us on this earth along with everything else. This just seems so much more realistic than humans having the power to create everything at one point in time but not anymore.
The Navajo story also doesn’t really explain why humans stopped moving foreword in the cycle and stayed in this world. It says that the reason they always fled from the worlds was because lust and envy took hold and made people violent. No one can deny that lust and envy are very present in our world and people are violent. So why didn’t we continue to move on when lust and envy took hold of this world?
There are simply too many holes in the Navajo creation story for it to be very believable. Unlike the book of Genesis it leaves many questions unanswered.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I like how you brought up the idea of modern day science. It's true that with the explanations we now have as to where we came from, like evolution from apes, that overrules both of the creation stories. I also agree with what you said about the Navajo's magical powers. If the Navajo's were able to create mountains and hours and such, why cant they now?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on how science made it possible to realistically map out humans history and the world.
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job explaining the differences between the Navajo and Genesis, anyone could pick up on the differences by reading this and not being in our class. The Navajo story left way too many unanswered questions in their creation story. However it could be that those anwsers were lost over time or something. christians are able to answer every question about the creation story, sometimes in different ways. Which makes one have to guess which one is true.
If humans EVER had the powers that the Navajo say we had, im sure that there wouldve been stories from every culture about their powers. or give us a reason as to where they might have gone and so on.
I agree with you and i also agree with the science part of your argument
ReplyDeleteIngrid, you write, "The Navajo story doesn’t go into any detail as to where humans really came from." Does Genesis go into any detail as to where god comes from? If not, why does the book of Genesis get a pass from from you?
ReplyDeleteAlso, 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 fighting for and 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.