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SAE (talk) 20:45, 11 May 2009 (UTC) Sources that claim Genesis 1-2 promote Monotheism: 1 Christian and 2 secular sources edit.[3]
Ancient Near East context editCosmology editThe Earth according to the civilizations of the Ancient Near East was a flat disk, with infinite water both above and below it.[4] The dome of the sky, was thought to be a solid metal bowl - tin according to the Sumerians, iron for the Egyptians - separating the surrounding water from the habitable world. The stars were embedded in the under surface of this dome, and there were gates in it that allowed the passage of the Sun and Moon back and forth. This flat-disk Earth was seen as a single island-continent surrounded by a circular ocean, of which the known seas - what we call today the Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea - were inlets. Beneath the Earth was a fresh-water sea, the source of all fresh-water rivers and wells. It is the creation of this world which is described in Genesis 1-2.[4] Religion editScholars of the Ancient Near East see Hebrew monotheism as emerging from a common Mesopotamian/Levantine background of polytheistic religion and myth.[5] The narrative elements of Genesis 1-11 draw specifically from four Mesopotamian myths: Adapa and the South Wind, Atrahasis, the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Enuma Elish. These myths share similar motifs and characters with Genesis 1-11, with Genesis challenging the Babylonian view point.[6] Enuma Elish editAccording to the Enuma Elish, which has the closest parallels, the original state of the universe was a chaos formed by the mingling of two primeval waters, the female saltwater god Tiamat and the male freshwater god Apsu.[7] Through the fusion of their waters six successive generations of gods were born. A war amongst these gods began with the slaying of Apsu, and ended with the powerful god Marduk killing Tiamat by splitting her in two with an arrow. Marduk then used one half of her body to form the earth and the other half to form the firmament of the heavens. It is from the eye-sockets of the slain Tiamat that the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers emerged. Marduk then created humanity - in seven pairs, male and female, and from clay mingled with spit and the blood of another slaughtered god - and placed them on the earth to tend the Earth for the gods, while Marduk himself was enthroned in Babylon in the Esagila, "the temple with its head in heaven." Parallels editGenesis 1-2 parallels the Enuma Elish, not only in its creation myth, but also in its religious message, which sets up one specific god as Creator and ruler over all things.[8] The Enuma Elish promotes the power of Marduk, patron god of Babylon, as king over all gods and people, while Genesis 1-2 places Yahweh Elohim (the LORD God) as king over everything. Differences editBut despite their similarities, there is still an important and stark difference between Genesis 1-2 and the Babylonian myths with regard to world view. The world view of the Ancient Near East was one that saw the world as beginning negatively: Man began as nothing more than a "lackey of the gods to keep them supplied with food."[9] It was only with time that things became increasingly better: "things were not nearly as good to begin with as they have become since."[10] The world of Genesis, in contrast, starts out "very good," (Gen. 1:31), with man and woman at the apex of created order. It was not until after this initial state of "goodness," when Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree "in the midst of the garden" from which God had forbidden them to eat ("lest [they] die"), that God became angry with them. From that time on things grew steadily worse, until "the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually," and resolved to destroy his world by returning it to the waters of chaos (Gen. 6:5).
New Project editThe Genesis creation narrative is the biblical story of the beginning of the earth, life, and humanity. Found in the first two chapters of the biblical Book of Genesis, it is considered by many scholars to be one of several Ancient Near East creation myths, differing from the others in its monotheistic outlook.[11][12] Found in the first two chapters of the biblical Book of Genesis, it tells about the beginning of the earth, life, and humanity, and introduces such concepts as the image of God. The Genesis creation narrative should not be confused or identified with any scientific theory of origins. The purpose of the biblical narrative, in contrast to that of scientific investigation, is ethical and religious. Reference to the teaching of creation is widespread in both the Old and the New Testament, and is not confined to the opening chapters of Genesis.[13]
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