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Chapter 9: Part 1 Cosmogony

Chapter 9: Part 1 Cosmogony. Origins of the Natural and Social Order How religions answer the question: “Who are we and where do we come from?”. Etiology: the cause or reason for a thing. Origin stories of the past try to explain…. the social order of the present.

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Chapter 9: Part 1 Cosmogony

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  1. Chapter 9: Part 1Cosmogony Origins of the Natural and Social Order How religions answer the question: “Who are we and where do we come from?” Etiology: the cause or reason for a thing

  2. Origin stories of the past try to explain…. • the social order of the present. • the problem of good and evil • the nature of the God/the divine and its relationship to the world and humanity. Origin stories in religion are not about history or science (it may, in fact, contradict them).

  3. Religions that avoid cosmogony • Jainism • Buddhism (certain schools) See it as futile speculation that distracts believers from religious goals of liberation from suffering and evil.

  4. MirceaEliade, p. 185 • Sacred time linked to a child’s life cycle:

  5. Neolithic period (9500 – 3500 BC) • First pottery • Depictions of world being made as from 1. a lump of clay 2. sexual union

  6. Egyptian Myths • Sun/creator god Re-Atum creates the first male-female pair of gods: • Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture)

  7. Agrarian cultural: interaction of people with nature and it’s cycles. China: Yin & Yang: opposites are linked and interact in a relationship. ex: Active/Passive members in a relationship Benefactor/Beneficiary: one does for other & other receives it. Opposites can change into one another. A baby becomes an old man. Each pole has an element of it’s opposite. One is also flowing into it’s opposite. They are complementary rather than opposing. Yin is characterized as feminine: slow, soft, yielding, diffuse, cold, wet, and passive; and is associated with water, earth, the moon, and nighttime. Yang, by contrast, is masculine: fast, hard, solid, focused, hot, dry, and aggressive; and is associated with fire, sky, the sun, and daytime.

  8. Japanese books Kojiki and Nihongi A great cosmic egg contains the undivided male & female p.188 Izanagi and Izanami

  9. Creation by Conflict: Ordering Out of Chaos Start with the chaotic (primal waters, darkness): the universe is made to have order by some divine agent. Example 1: Egyptian creation myth p. 189 Nun, Apophis and Amon-Re

  10. Example 2: p. 189 Babylonian creation myth Marduk rises to power by bringing order to chaos.

  11. Example 3: Taoist cosmogony , p. 192-3 There is no permanent order: everything is still becoming.

  12. pre-Socratic philosophers Described reality as being crafted from a single uncreated material: Thales: all is water. Anaximenes: all is air. How did this happen? Empedocles posited 2 opposing forces shaping the 4 basic elements of the universe. Love (or Harmony) tend to bring them together to create new things. Hate (or Strife) tend to separate and dissolve things. Cycle: unity & dissolution

  13. North American Indians Creation by Craftsmanship Egypt Greeks • Anaxagoras’ “nous” p. 194 Nous is “mind”. It is infinite and separate from matter. It is what set matter in motion and allows it to change and take forms. Plato’s “Demiurge” p. 194 The Demiurge is divine, creative reason that shapes matter in space (the receptacle). It shapes matter to make it resemble perfect “ideals” or “forms”, but matter is stubborn and resists (hence, evil exists). The Demiurge is a principle, not a personified god.

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