Evolution vs. creationism. Bible topics & stories.
Comparing two creation stories: one from Genesis
and the other from Babylonian pagan sources:
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Creation stories from the ancient Middle East:
Walter Reinhold Warttig Mattfeld y de la Torre writes that one of his articles:
"... is an attempt to briefly identify some of the Ancient Near Eastern Motifs and
Myths from which the Hebrews apparently borrowed, adapted, and reworked in
the Book of Genesis (more specifically Genesis 1-11).
It is my understanding that Genesis' motifs and characters, God, Adam, Eve,
the Serpent, and Noah, are adaptations and transformations of characters and
events occurring in earlier Near Eastern Myths. In some cases several
characters and motifs from different myths have been brought together and
amalgamated into Genesis' stories. 2
He quotes W.G. Lambert:
"The authors of
ancient cosmologies were essentially compilers. Their originality was
expressed in new combinations of old themes, and in new twists to old
ideas."
I believe Lambert's observation can be applied to the Hebrews who were
combining old themes and putting "new twists" to old ideas. My research
indicates that, at times, "reversals" are occurring in the Hebrew
transformation and re-interpretation of the Mesopotamian myths. These
"reversals," as I call them, can take the form of different characters,
different locations for the settings of the stories, and different morals
being drawn about the nature of God and Man's relationship.
De la Torre concludes that Genesis 1-11:
"... appears to be a reformatting of motifs and characters from four
Mesopotamian myths:
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Adapa and the South Wind,
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Atrahasis,
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the Epic of Gilgamesh and
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the Enuma Elish." |
Of these four sources, Enuma Elish has the closest parallels with the first
creation story in Genesis. Wikipedia comments that the ancient Hebrews did not simply adopt the
Babylonian myths; they sometimes inverted them in order to fit into their
worldview. Two examples are: 3
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In the Babylonian myth, the serpent, Ningishzida, is a friend to Adapa
who helps him in his search for immortality.
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In Genesis, the serpent is the enemy of Adam, trying to trick him out of
the chance to understand good and evil by developing a moral sense and
thus becoming fully human.
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The gods of the Babylonians became the ancient Israelites' god.
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Also:
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The Mesopotamians had adopted a worldview in which the Earth had
gradually improved since creation.
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The ancient Hebrews adopted a worldview in which the universe was
created perfect but degenerated to the point where God had to
initiate the
largest genocide in history -- killing every person from newborn to the
elderly in the flood of Noah.
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Comparison of Genesis' first Creation Story with Enuma Elish, a Babylonian creation storyThe Babylonian creation story is called by its first two words "Enuma Elish."
According to archaeologists, it was originally written circa 1120 BCE.
It was discovered in 1875
CE. It bears many
points of similarity to the first creation story in the Bible: 1
| Item |
Ancient Israelite Creation Story |
Babylonian Creation Story |
| Source |
Genesis 1:1 to 2:3 |
Enuma Elish |
|
Date of writing (liberal belief)
|
8th or 9th century BCE |
Late 12th century BCE |
| Date of writing (conservative belief) |
13th century BCE, the time of Moses |
Late 12th century BCE. |
| Author (liberal belief) |
"P," authors of the Priestly tradition. |
Unknown. |
| Author (conservative belief) |
Moses. |
Unknown. |
| Creator(s) of the universe |
A single God, YHVH. |
A God battling a Goddess. |
| Initial state of the earth |
Desolate waste; covered in darkness. |
Chaos; enveloped in darkness. |
| First development |
Light created. |
Light created. |
| Next development |
Firmament created - a rigid dome over the earth separating
the earth and heaven. |
Firmament created; also perceived as a rigid dome. |
| Next development |
Dry land created. |
Dry land created. |
| Next development |
Sun, moon, stars created. |
Sun, moon, stars created. |
| Next development |
Creation of men and women. |
Creation of men and women. |
| Final development |
God rests and sanctify the Sabbath. |
Gods rest and celebrate. |
The many points of similarity between the two traditions is conclusive proof that one
story was derived from the other (or that both were derived from a still older original). According to liberal theologians, the Babylonian account of creation was written in the
12th century BCE, centuries earlier than the Biblical
account. According to conservative Christian theologians, the opposite happened: the
Babylonian account was written after the Biblical account.
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Related essays:
References:The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
-
H.C. Kee, et al, "The Cambridge Companion to the Bible", Cambridge
University Press, New York, NY, (1997), Page 45 to 46.
-
Walter Reinhold Warttig Mattfeld y de la Torre, "Genesis'
Genesis, The Hebrew Transformation of the Ancient Near Eastern Myths and Their
Motifs," (2002), Welcome to Bible Origins, at:
http://prophetess.lstc.edu/
- W.G. Lambert, "A
New Look at the Babylonian Background of Genesis," [1965], in Richard S. Hess &
David T. Tsumra, Eds., "I Studied Inscriptions From Before the Flood,"
Eisenbrauns, (1994), Page 107.
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