This study will examine and compare a number of creation stories and myths from different cultures. Considerations in the study will include: How powerful are the gods of the particular religion; what are the relations between mankind and the rest of nature; how are sexual roles defined; and how is evil defined and explained. The religions of Christianity and Buddhism will receive the greatest emphasis, but other religions from around the world will also be covered.
Christianity in terms of the creation story is completely reliant on Judaism and the tale of the beginning of the universe as related in the Old Testament.
Huston Smith writes that a number of religions take a cynical or pessimistic view toward the world, although they believe that God is good. The world is not necessarily made by God in other religions and is not necessarily good.
Judaism on the other hand takes a more positive view toward the material universe. As Smith writes, "Against all such forms of world pessimism, the chronicle of the Jewish perspective opens with the statement: 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth'" (230).
The questions crucial to Judaism and Christianity and any other religion with respect to beliefs about this issue are, What difference does it make to us how the world was created, whether it is eternal or came into being at a certain point in time? In other words, does a creation myth or story of the beginning of the world make any difference to the way the members of that religion view the value of the world and man's place in it?
As stated, many philosophies and religions view the material world negatively, but the Judeo-Christian perspective takes an entirely different view.
As Smith writes, in comparing the Judeo-Christian view to that of Eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, the Western religions take a much more positive view overall: "In Hinduism and Theravada Buddhism the bas...