CONVERSATIONS IN THE PANTHEON - The Truth about God and Religion

More Creation Stories

Mary: Last week, Mathew, you raised the question of credibility of the creation stories we recounted. Thomas and I know that they're mythical, but not more mythical than the Old Testament creation story. While we find them fascinating, we don't believe any of them. But you hold steadfast on your belief that the story found in Genesis is true. I find that hard to believe.

Mathew: The Old Testament story is well documented and is the foundation of Judaism as well as Christianity. The book is considered holy by many. It was written by wise men whom god considered worthy of the task. They were all chosen by him. You can't possibly put this in the same category as those fairy tales, interesting as they may be.

Mary: Well Mathew, that being the case, let me tell you another fairy tale, the Polynesian creation story. I'm sure that you will like this one because you're a sentimentalist. It also starts ..... In the beginning ..... the sky (father) and the earth (mother) were pressed together into a union of man and woman, and in their close embrace they produced many wonderful children, all of them gods. Their offspring set to work and produced many things, such as plants with beautiful flowers, trees bearing fruit, wild animals to roam the land and fish to swim in the sea. Everything grew and everything was good, but the new world was cramped by the tight embrace of father and mother, so the children begged them to give them more room for earth to grow, but to no avail. Finally, with mighty determination the children succeeded in prying them apart. Then light and air began to fill the earth.

Earth flourished but there was something missing – humans – so the children asked their mother for help and she told them what to do. They went to the designated place and collected some red clay from which they shaped the figure of a woman. When they were finished they breathed life into the figure and the first woman was born. Then they did the same for man.

They next affixed the golden sun and silver moon on their father's head, crowning and honouring him. And while their parents were proud of what they had achieved, they were sad to be separated. Every night father cries and in the morning earth is damp with his tears; and the morning mists are the sighs of sadness from mother, longing for father's embrace.

Mathew: It's truly a touching story. You know me well enough. It must also be one of your favourites, not only because it's sentimental, but also because the gods first created woman and then man. I suppose that the Old Testament authors could have learned much from the Polynesians. However, I don't know why you're telling me all these stories. What good will it do?

Mary: Just be patient a little longer and you will see why they're important.

Thomas: I noticed with interest how the concept of human creation from clay spread from Africa to Polynesia tens of thousands of years ago. It's truly amazing how the concept was preserved from generation to generation passed on only through the oral tradition. For these stories to have lasted so long simply underlines how important they were to them. Today, because of our collective scientific knowledge, we know them to be mythical, but to the ancients they were the gospel truth. They would not have survived if it weren't so.

This one is for you, Mathew, the Old Testament Creation Story.

In the beginning god created the heaven and the earth, says the author of Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament. He also tells us that Yahweh created everything in six days and rested on the seventh.

Before creation, there was just a large mass of water and nothing else. On day one, God created light (day) and darkness (night). On day two, God created the firmament (dome) in the middle of the big mass, separating the water above and below it. On day three, God caused the water under the dome to recede to the edges, exposing the dry earth, resulting in a big mass of land surrounded by water. On day four, God created the sun to reign during the day and the moon during the night. On day five, God created all living creatures except humans. On day six, God created humans (in his image) to have dominion over all other living creatures.