Wednesday, October 14, 2009
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.
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I look at it differently, for me the Navajo story is the one with "fantastical events" because men crawled through a hole in the sky. It sounds more like a myth. While the Adam and Eve story seems more believeable because of the details. Eve being tempted by the serpant, eating from the tree, etc.
ReplyDeleteI'm not so sure I agree that the more detail a story has the more realistic it is. Both of these stories were passed on for a very long time solely by oral tradition until they were eventually written down. This means there is no account of the original story so who knows how much of the detail was added in to embellish the story and make it more fun to listen to. Therefore I don't think the amount of detail is really a good judgment of how real the story is and it should be judged more on the basic concepts and lets face it, the basic concepts of both stories are pretty "fantastical."
ReplyDeleteEirinn, Interesting that you equate "What story is likely to be true" with "accurate" and "realistic." Those aren't the same thing.
ReplyDeleteShayne brings up a really good point--these stories have probably been embillished over time. Just like in the film, The Little Buddah, when the boy's dad calls the story of the Buddah an interesting "myth," the monk replies (I'm paraphrasing) "It is one way to get at the truth." This is what Shayne means, I think, when she says they should be judged for their basic concepts. Think about both stories--they don't explain the existence of evil in the world the same way. Which account rings "true" to you? There is no scientific answer to this, is there?
Also, I thought it interesting you thought humanity escaping from a hole in the sky far fetched. If you think about it, we currently have a hole in the sky (in the ozone layer) and we fly through it on our way to space. If we ever start to populate other planets, the Navajo story will suddenly look pretty modern.