© 2009, Dustin J. Penn IV. Creationism: the Evolution of Genesis and Other Creation Myths "Creation myths have a place in education – but it's in the history lessons of secular schools, and nowhere else." - Anthony C. Grayling, 20081 Summary This section provides an overview of creationism, the belief that Genesis or other creation myths provide factual accounts for the origins and development of humans or other species (the word myth is used here to refer a traditional story or narrative explaining how the world and humankind came to be in their present form. The word myth need not imply a falsehood, contrary to its more popular usage). Creation myths include religious accounts of gods, miracles, and other supernatural phenomena. There are two separate accounts of creation in Genesis, and these stories originated historically from older myths of origin that have evolved over time. Today, there is a wide variety of creation myths, and many forms of creationism, and the various versions can be categorized according to the degree to which they accept scientific accounts of human origins (e.g., some creationists reject geology, paleontology, and biology, others only reject biology, whereas others only reject applying evolutionary biology to humans). This section also explains why Genesis and other creation myths should be taught in schools - but only as comparative religion or mythology and not as science. Science classrooms should not be used as a vehicle for promoting a particular creation myth, and whenever Genesis is taught, students should also be exposed to the diversity of creation myths that have evolved in different societies. Outline 1. Creation Myths 2. Genesis: the Origins of Creationism 3. The Varieties of Creationism 4. Equal Time for The Flying Spaghetti Monster "Myth"? 5. The Dangers of Teaching Creation Myths As Science 1. Creation Myths "In attempting to understand who we are, every human culture has invented a corpus of myth… We are cut off from our past, separated from our origins, not through some amnesia or lobotomy, but because of the brevity of our lives and the immense, unfathomed vistas of time that separate us from our coming to be… We humans are like a newborn baby left on a doorstep, with no note explaining who it is, where it came from… We long to see the orphan’s file." – Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan (1992)2 Creation myths are stories about how the universe, earth, humans, or other living things come into being, and they generally involve gods or other supernatural beings. Myths are traditional and religious stories that chronicle the activities of supernatural beings, ancestors or heroes. The gods may create the universe from nothing or work with materials that have always existed. Similarly, they may create humans or a group’s ancestors from nothing, shape them from clay, or give birth to them. The gods have human characteristics or they are spirits capable of taking human form. Creation myths may describe the origins of the gods themselves, adventures of their lives, and their activities in creating the universe. They also involve stories about heroes, conflict, revenge, treachery and other human intrigues. These stories are mostly oral, though many have been written down. For example, Hesiod’s Theogony (ca. 700 BC) describes the origins of the gods of ancient Greece. Ovid’s Metamorphoses is a narrative poem from 8 AD Rome that describes the creation and history of the world. The Rigveda (written between 1500-1000 BC) is an ancient collection of Sanskrit hymns, and one of the oldest texts in any Indo-European language. It is part of sacred Hindu mythology and describes the creation of the universe by the deity Brahma, and the propagation and destruction of life in the universe with two other deities, Vishnu and Shiva. There are many different creation myths around the world, and many share common themes, such as the following:3 Primordial Parents Creation Stories. "The universe was created by the first parents" (Cook Islanders, Egyptians, Greeks, Luiseño Indians, Tahitians, Zuni Indians) Spoken Edict Creation Stories. "The universe was created by commands given by a god or gods." (Egyptians, Greek, Sumerians, Hebrews, Maidu Indians, Mayans) Cosmic Egg Creation Stories. "The universe was created by the hatching of an egg" (Chinese, Finnish, Greek, Hindu, Japanese, Persians, Samoans). Sea Creation Stories. "The universe was created from out of the sea." (Burmese, Choctaw Indians, Egyptians, Icelanders, Maui Hawaiians) Slain Monster Creation Stories. "The universe was created from the parts of a slain monster" (Gilbert Islanders, Greeks, Indochinese, Kabyles of Africa, Koreans, Sumero- Babylonians) Endless Cycle Creation Stories. "The universe was never created and will never cease to exist; it is eternal though as it passes an endless series of cycles" (Jainism in India) Creation myths can be fascinating, entertaining stories, yet creationists take these tales literally and accept them as historical and scientific facts. Creationists do not accept all myths of origin as factual, but instead accept only a particular myth, and usually the one held by their family, society or religious group. Myths of origin are among the most common stories told about gods, and therefore, they also have particular religious importance. Creationists hold their creation myth to be true, but moreover, they usually consider it to be sacred, i.e., holy, worthy of special veneration, and sacrilege to question its validity. It is not completely clear why people adopt and promote creation myths. It is often suggested that these stories are attempts to understand the world, told to satisfy children’s curiosity and provide moral lessons. Creation myths seem to be much more, however. Such myths are central aspects of the world’s religious institutions, and are used to represent a religious group’s worldview, societal norms, and moral values. As one anthropologist noted: "Origin myths provide answers to questions about how things began; equally important, they also serve to establish order among values and to justify, by reference to these values, the major customs and institutions of society." Thus, creation myths are used to explain, and to justify the status quo and provide legitimacy for certain norms and institutions within a society. This later aspect of creation myths helps understand the conflicts between creationists, who embrace the Judeo-Christian creation myth, versus scientists who attack it as false, and also why evolution is often misunderstood as a political attempt to justify the status quo.4 The term creationism is generally used in a narrow sense to refer to acceptance of the creation myth contained in the book of Genesis, the first of book of the Jewish Torah and the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Creationists hold Genesis to be an Figure 1. Where Do We Come From? accurate account of the origins of the universe, and many aim to also have this creation myth taught in public schools as the basis for chemistry, physics, geology, biology and other sciences. Such religious intrusions into science have lead to major disputes between science versus religion. To understand why such proposals are preposterous, it is necessary to consider what creationists’ believe and are seeking to have taught in science classrooms. 2. Genesis: the Origins and Evolution of Creationism Genesis contains a creation myth, which like all myths, has changed over time. The origins of the stories in Genesis are unclear, as there are no Hebrew versions older than the 2nd century BC (except for the fragments among the Dead Sea scrolls). Most scholars agree that different authors made different contributions at different times between 950 and 500 BC. Some of the changes in Genesis have been historically documented, as it has undergone several translations. It was translated into Greek from Hebrew in the 3rd century BC, and later into Latin, which was then translated into English (King James version in 1611), and other languages, which has resulted in many alterations (e.g., "Genesis" means "birth" or "origin," and it was a Greek name given to the book that had previously been called "B’reshith," which is Hebrew for "in the beginning" following the opening sentence). These different versions of Genesis are part of the reason that there is no consensus among creationists about what this book actually states.5 In the beginning, Genesis explains how Elohim (meaning "God" or "Gods" in Hebrew) created the heavens, earth, humans and all living things, though it actually contains two separate accounts of the creation. In the first account, Genesis 1:1, Elohim made the heavens and earth in six days, vegetation on the second, and humans on the last day. Elohim created both adam (which means "mankind" in Hebrew and adam is not used as proper name until chapter 5), and woman simultaneously, and Elohim says "Let us make man in our own image…." In the second account, Genesis 2:4, Yahweh Elohim (Yahweh is often translated as "Lord," although it is actually the proper name of the Hebrew God) forms Man from the dust of earth, places him in a garden a place called "Eden," and then later forms Woman, from a rib he takes from Adam, to provide him with a companion (Figure 2). In this version, "no shrub of the field had yet appeared on earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up" Figure 2. Bosch's when God made Adam out of the dust. Due to such inconsistencies and painting: The Garden changes in style, the accounts in Genesis are thought to have come from two of Earthly Delights. separate creation myths written by different authors at different times. According to Genesis, Adam and Eve had three sons, Cain, Abel (who is murdered by Cain), and Seth, and it lists their decedents from Cain and then Seth, through eight generations, as they lead to the Israelites, the presumed audience of the narrative.