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Early Creation Stories Response

I believe that neither story was meant to be taken as based on real facts. Yes, I was raised as a Christian and therefore know of the story of Genesis and believe that god created it all but a strong part of me thinks that these stories were just created to explain the unexplained. This would mean that the Navajo story was made to also explain why did all of a sudden evil start to inhabit the earth and how did the Navajo people end up in this world to begin with. For this reason I do hold the Navajo story to a lower extent that the Genesis story because I think it fulfilled it's duty. I just think that the Navajo story for many people today would seem to involve more of a "fantasy" world than the creation story Genesis and is less believable.

Creation

I don't believe that either story is entirely believable literally, but the genesis story seems more like than the Native American's. The universe, while cyclic, has been proven to have begun at one single point and exploded from there. The layers seem to suggest other dimensions that basic and simple people are able to slip between. Plus, if they were able to literally create and balance an entire planet, shouldn't there be more at work than a man and a medicine bundle? I admit that if dimension traveling was possible it could work, but that is irrelevant as I find it ludicrous and without proof. Both stories have their flaws as they have been tainted by human hands as they were passed down, but more truth seems to ring and even back up Genesis.

Creation Story

Neither of these stories seem to be true, but if one had to be more likely than the other, it would be Genesis. The Navajo story consists of the first people living deep within the world, but scientific evidence shows that deep within the world is a series of molten rock, completely unfit for human habitation. ( I don't know why I'm arguing science either.) By that evidence the Genesis story is far more likely to be true, but like I said, neither of them are very likely.

creation stories

I am not a religious person, so I don’t think either of these creation stories are true. I think that they both have the same general idea though. In The Fall of Man, Adam and Eve are in Paradise; in the Navajo Creation Story life was peaceful, without any evils. The world was peaceful. Both of the stories include ideas of the first people escaping from a world of evils into a better, more peaceful world. Though I don’t think that either of the stories are true, I think that they are both good stories about how the world was created. They are both stories from different cultures answering the same question of how the world was created.

Creation Stories?

Again, I'm actually going to agree with the general consensus (as it appears) that both creation myths are completely unlikely. That said, I really don't find them to be as different as one would think. Both involve traveling away from a place that's been polluted (Adam and Eve are kicked from the Garden of Eden, and the Navajo people traveled from the world where the lust and envy had taken hold) in hopes of a world where humankind will be able to start out new. They both end up with one man and one woman on their own in the world, the "first couple".
Although I doubt the Navajo had any knowledge of this when the myth came into being, the idea of "multiple universes" has been, and probably is being, toyed with by modern scientists. Therefore, if I had to choose, I'd say the idea of traveling from one world to another is more plausible to me than the whole Eden/Genesis story.

Coming from a Christian background I favor and believe the Genesis creation story more then the Navajo. I was brought up to believe God created the mountains, the animals, the earth, human beings, and his power is limitless. But In the Navajo story it is a man who transformed items into mountains, animals, and hours. I don’t think a human being is capable of this even with the help of medicine. Many people have doubts about the story of Genesis but the thing is when your dealing with God anything is possible.

I don't find either creation story more believable than the other. Both introduce fantastical ideas like a talking snake or men crawling through holes in the sky. Although real issues, such as lust, envy, and desire are incorporated into both stories, I honestly just don't see how either story could be considered the least bit believable. While I do believe the ideas of a talking snake and many worlds overlapping with portals to other worlds to be entertaining, I don't believe them to be any more than that: an entertaining explanation to something we have no possible solution for. I do not consider myself to be a religious person and that is probably the reason that I don't find either believable. I prefer the explanation that Navajo offer, however, solely because it reminds me of one of my favorite books, The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman, in which the idea of worlds connected by portals is incorporated.

Creation Stories

I don't think that either story is more or likely to be true than the other one. Since there is no real historical proof that either happened, there is no way to know if one was more likely to happen than the other. I'm not a very religious person, and therefore I don't believe that either could have happened, because logically speaking, neither make sense. However, I'm sure there are plenty of people who would argue that the story of Genesis is more likely than the Navajos story, and I'm sure there are plenty of people who would argue that the Navajos story is more likely than the Genesis story. However, since they are stories and beliefs with no solid evidence of ever happening, there is no way to prove that either occurred, and no way to prove if one was more likely to have happened than the other.

Creation Stories

This question is a lot more difficult for me to answer than the magic question. It’s not simply about a personal belief but something that must be thought about with the beliefs of many other people in mind. I am not a very religious person so therefore I can’t say I believe in either of the stories which makes me think I would not be the right person to decide which one is more likely to be true. In my opinion neither one of the stories is true so in that sense neither one of them is more likely to be true than the other—but that only takes my personal belief into account. If we think about the beliefs of people all over the world I’m pretty sure the majority would believe in the story of Genesis over the Navajo story so in that sense I guess the story of Genesis is more likely to be true. Either way it’s a really difficult thing to judge so I can give my opinion but I don’t think I am the right person to give an answer to a question that deals with religious beliefs such as this.

Navajo Creation Story

I believe that the Navajo creation story is just as likely to be true as the story of Adam and Eve. Actually, it's easier for me to say that they are equally as UNlikely, because I find the whole idea of creation difficult to wrap my head around. They are both, in my opinion, completely implausible because of such irrational things as the act of climbing through a hole to another world, or a talking snake (which would be cool, but not something I could ever believe). But to answer the question directly, I think they are both as likely to be correct because of the fact that their chances of being incorrect are the same. It's odd phrasing, I know, but my point essentially is that their subject matter is the same amount of plausible (next to none).

Creation Story

I feel that the probability of the Navajo story being true is no different than that of Genesis. The meanings behind them are similar in that what happened was that the root of man came from screw ups who made a mistake and moved on to our current world. The fact of where we came from is the difference. In Genesis, we were thought to have descended from Adam and Eve who were banished from the paradise Eden because they disobeyed god. They then went through a change that opened their eyes to good and evil. This mythical land could have existed just like the Navajos land. The Navajos believe that man crawled up from an earth beneath ours because of a change that the people endured. Is there really a difference between the two lands? Besides where they are located, they were peaceful places that we then left because of a change in humankind. We could have crawled up through a hole in the dirt to a new world or been banished by god from Eden. Both ideas are just as outrageous as the other. I feel that it all comes down to which one you want to believe in or the one that makes most sense to you. Neither one of these stories are more probable than the other.

Creation.

While I don't fully believe in either of these stories, the Navajo Creation story, to me, is more likely to be accurate. This is because it has more factual detail, as opposed to the Adam and Eve story which is more like a series of fantastical ( yes, i used that word as well) events. The Navajo story includes precise detail such as the fact that there was no sun or moon and that there was a system for telling time. Also, details like the balance of seasons and colors and directions are very realistic to me. It is elements like those that are so much more believable to me than talking serpents and magical fruits. I lose belief in the Navajo story when it comes to crawling through the hole in the sky part, but in general there seems to be more logic behind this story. The Adam and Eve story is more of a tale in my opinion, while the Navajo story is more of a detailed system.

Navajo Creation Story

If we look at these stories from a modern perspective, then it is fairly likely that neither of them is entirely true. To what degree are they not factual, from a modern perspective? Equally. However, we must remember that this modern perspective, science, is a rather new (a few hundred years) idea. Humans have not always look at things from such a "if It hasn't happened it can't" perspective. We like order as a people so that is why we tend to gravitate toward science. But this is beside the point. What is more important is whether this story is more and less likely to be true. The answer to this, in my opinion, is that they are equally likely to be true. Sure this story seems way too fantastical to be true (yes, i just used the word fantastical) but isn't Adam and Eve equally strange? Adam makes Eve from his rib, they obtain things from eating fruit, etc. All and all, they both seem equally likely to be true.

Creation Stories

While I like the Navajo story more than that of Adam and Eve, I don’t think that one story of creation is more likely to be real than the other. There are few things that are completely open to interpretation, but I think the story of creation is one of them. Both versions of the story have elements of fantasy in them that make them unrealistic. The story in Genesis seems realistic because we know you can’t just walk into the sky as the Navajos believe. On the other hand, how can we say that it is realistic that a person ate a fruit and magically got knowledge? It would be like saying that a blind person magically gained sight by eating a carrot, which isn’t possible. The only reason the story of Adam and Eve may seem more realistic is because more people believe in it, and it's older. However, this doesn't make it true, it just shows how religions and beliefs overlap. Both stories require people to believe them to make them real, and a person can say one is more realistic than the other, but the unrealistic elements of both stories make them hard for me to believe. To me, they are simply stories.

While both these stories are very interesting and creative, I don't believe in them. Like Isabel, I am not a very religious person so I find it difficult to relate to any of these stories. I believe that if one believes a story is more likely than another, this goes for other creation stories as well, they have some connection towards that culture. Personally, I don't think it is plausible that a man and women came out of thin air and set off the fire to all creation or that the sky opened with a whole new world in sight. For me, these stories aren't possible but that doesn't go for everyone. Based on people's religious beliefs they can believe whatever they feel is accurate. While these stories don't work for me, I am sure they spark a truth for others. However, I do find the Navajo story more intriguing than the story in Genesis for I think it is more imaginative. But like I said, I don't find one more likely than the other.

Creation Stories

I personally have never been a very religious person. In fact I don’t really have a religion at all. So to me both the Navajo and Genesis stories are new and very pleasant. I can see why people might like to hear them and pass them on, but neither story seems very likely to me. The bottom line is that no one can know for sure what the world was like when it was just starting out. Both stories have elements that would seem completely impossible today. A man and woman just appearing out of nowhere completely naked, a hole opening up in the sky with a whole new world inside so the people could have a fresh start. Both of these things are absolutely ridiculous. If these things were possible than why don’t similar occurrences keep happening today? Why can’t we just open up a new hole to another world every time something bad happens? Also, why in both stories do one man and one woman control the fate of the entire world? There is nothing rational about either story. Now, usually I try to be on the creative side when it comes to things that can’t be explained, but in this case I’d rather be more logical and say that science and evolution had more to do with creation, rather than random holes in the sky or people appearing out of nowhere. But I guess anything is possible, no matter how absurd it may seem.

Creation Stories Response

Personally, I like the Navajo creation story a lot better than the story of Adam and Eve, but does that make it more likely to be true? Not really. Both stories have about equal chance of being true, but unfortunately, those odds don't look good. Neither story in my mind could ever be true, and my personal beliefs as far as creation go head more toward the theory of evolution and whatnot. Not to offend any Bible followers or Navajos out there, but lets look at these stories closer. First, let's start with Adam and Eve. Two people pop up out of nowhere: both able to speak, both somewhat old, and both very naked. They eat from the tree of knowledge, and boom, they can decipher the difference between wrong and right. That is one powerful fruit. But what bugs me about the story specifically is that they have no real origin. They have no mother or father, but they are there. Therefore, simple biology makes this very unlikely. People just can't pop out of nowhere, but then again, I don't really know what G-d can do. I guess that's what makes it so religious, and controversial. Now the Navajo story. Very creative, and it would definitely make a good movie. Likely? No. Their story suggests that every world starts off as peaceful and perfect, but then in comes lust, envy, and evil and then the people and creatures climb through a hole in the sky, and the process starts over again. This process was repeated over and over again until we reached our current world. So let's see. Do we have lust? Yeah. Envy? Definitely. Evil? Yeah, I'd certainly say so. So, uh, where's our hole in the sky? I don't know. I don't think the cycle can just end right here with our world. We have completely unbalanced hozho and harmony in this world we have created and have lived in for thousands of years, but we don't get to start over? That's no fair. In conclusion, the two stories, although very important to the religions in which they come from and very different, have about the same small, tiny, itty bitty chance of being true.

Early Creation Stories

I do think the creation of the story of Navejo is more likely to be true than the creation story in the book of Genesis. There was the first man and woman, Adam and Eve who were told by God not to eat from the forbidden tree. But there lust and envy that they obtained from the serpant made them eat from the tree. Had they have not eaten from the tree both Adam and Eve would have gained immortality. Because they would have beeen immortal, they wouldn't be much use of if not any use of medicine. There also wouldn't be much violence either. Since they have eaten from the tree they are motal and that makes us mortal. That allows us to take advantage of medical use. Since we are mortal there is a lot of violence and evil in the world. The creation story of Navejo is very likely to the creation story of Genesis.

Early Creation Stories

The Navajo Creation Story is quite different than the account we have in Genesis. According to the Navajos, the world where people first lived was deep within the world we inhabit now. It had no sun or moon, and contained only dim clouds, which moved to tell the hours. Life began peacefully, but then lust and envy took hold. The people become violent. The Navajo fled, climbing through a hole in the sky to an above world. This world also began peacefully, but the same evils happened. This process repeated itself until finally the first man and woman emerged on the present earth. The first man filled the world with the aid of a sacred bundle of medicine, transforming different items into mountains, animals, hours, and so on. Everything in this new world was balanced: four directions, four seasons, four basic colors of black, blue, amber, and white. An essential harmony, called hozho, then prevailed.

Is this creation story any more or less likely to be true than the creation story we find in Genesis?

POST DUE: Thursday, October 15 by start of class.
2 RESPONSES TO POSTS DUE: Monday, October 19 by the start of class.

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