Harry3142
Regular Member
WilliamB-
Were the creation stories (there are two) found in Genesis the first creation epics? No, they were not. The people who originally read Genesis already were quite familiar with an earlier creation epic, one that they had learned during their stay in Egypt. Here is that epic:
www.theologywebsite.com/etext/egypt/creation.shtml
Note that in the egyptian creation epic the gods and goddesses spent the vast majority of the time creating other gods and goddesses. It was only on the final day of creation that they createed all the different species of animals, including man, and then 'dumped' them onto the planet which they had created.
The egyptian pantheon of gods and goddesses (there were over 40 0f them) were all represented by something that people could see. The sun, moon and stars were supposed to be deities. The animals that the peopls saw around them represented other deities. Even the atmosphere was identified as a deity.
The author of Genesis methodically stripped the sun, moon, stars, and all the animals of their divine connections in Genesis 1:1-2:3. By the time that the reader was through, celestial objects were simply means of obtaining light, and the animals that the saw around them were merely other species, and nothing more.
This rebuttal of the egyptian myths they had learned continued in Genesis 2:4-2:25. In the egyptian creation epic man was simply one of the animals created on the final day. But in Genesis Adam was created seperately from all the other animals. He alone could talk with God, and God with him. He was given the authority to name other animals, which was a symbol of power over them at that time period. He had a special place where he could live comfortably. He also had the capacity to disobey God.
Genesis 3 tells us how man came to the knowledge of good and evil. But the story itself is blatant plagiarism. The serpent's name in egyptian mythology was Sebau, and it was Ra who defeated him and then force him to crawl on the ground:
www.africa.upenn.edu/Books/Papyrus_Ani.html
Go to the fifth paragraph (A hymn to Ra) and you will read the original version.
So what do we know? We know that at a certain time in prehistory man became aware that certain acts were to be seen as good, and other acts were to be seen as evil. Did Adam and Eve really exist as described in Genesis? Did their sons really exist as described in Genesis? No, they did not. But that was never the point of the exercise.
The point of the exercise was to make the people understand that there is only one God, and he cannot be represented by any animal on earth, or any celestial object in the sky. They were also made to understand that at one time they were as innocent as all the other species of animals. But unlike every other specie of animal, man became cognizant that there are actions which should be seen as righteous, and there are other actions which must be seen as evil. He lost his innocence, and very quickly descended to such a depth that he was willing to even commit murder.
Were the creation stories (there are two) found in Genesis the first creation epics? No, they were not. The people who originally read Genesis already were quite familiar with an earlier creation epic, one that they had learned during their stay in Egypt. Here is that epic:
www.theologywebsite.com/etext/egypt/creation.shtml
Note that in the egyptian creation epic the gods and goddesses spent the vast majority of the time creating other gods and goddesses. It was only on the final day of creation that they createed all the different species of animals, including man, and then 'dumped' them onto the planet which they had created.
The egyptian pantheon of gods and goddesses (there were over 40 0f them) were all represented by something that people could see. The sun, moon and stars were supposed to be deities. The animals that the peopls saw around them represented other deities. Even the atmosphere was identified as a deity.
The author of Genesis methodically stripped the sun, moon, stars, and all the animals of their divine connections in Genesis 1:1-2:3. By the time that the reader was through, celestial objects were simply means of obtaining light, and the animals that the saw around them were merely other species, and nothing more.
This rebuttal of the egyptian myths they had learned continued in Genesis 2:4-2:25. In the egyptian creation epic man was simply one of the animals created on the final day. But in Genesis Adam was created seperately from all the other animals. He alone could talk with God, and God with him. He was given the authority to name other animals, which was a symbol of power over them at that time period. He had a special place where he could live comfortably. He also had the capacity to disobey God.
Genesis 3 tells us how man came to the knowledge of good and evil. But the story itself is blatant plagiarism. The serpent's name in egyptian mythology was Sebau, and it was Ra who defeated him and then force him to crawl on the ground:
www.africa.upenn.edu/Books/Papyrus_Ani.html
Go to the fifth paragraph (A hymn to Ra) and you will read the original version.
So what do we know? We know that at a certain time in prehistory man became aware that certain acts were to be seen as good, and other acts were to be seen as evil. Did Adam and Eve really exist as described in Genesis? Did their sons really exist as described in Genesis? No, they did not. But that was never the point of the exercise.
The point of the exercise was to make the people understand that there is only one God, and he cannot be represented by any animal on earth, or any celestial object in the sky. They were also made to understand that at one time they were as innocent as all the other species of animals. But unlike every other specie of animal, man became cognizant that there are actions which should be seen as righteous, and there are other actions which must be seen as evil. He lost his innocence, and very quickly descended to such a depth that he was willing to even commit murder.
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