Creation Stories

creation stories- comparing the Eskimo creation story, the Genesis creation story, and the evolution creation theory. There are some very different theories but some very similar concepts between the Eskimo creation story, the Genesis creation story, and the theory of evolution. The Genesis and Eskimo stories are pretty old whereas the theory of evolution is a lot newer. The Eskimo creation story has been ruled out by most as a myth or a folk tale. The Genesis story and the theory of evolution are currently at center stage in a great debate. Atheists and church leaders are constantly trying to disprove the others beliefs. The fact is, it is a debate that will continue for many years to come. There are many things that can be learned from all three stories like moral values and the simple fact that people are intelligent enough to believe in one or another or a combination of them or others for that matter. The first of the stories I will discuss is the Eskimo creation story and what it has to offer to society. The Eskimo creation story teaches morals and guidelines for any society through figurative language. Along with their creation story, there are many folk tales that portray ideas that they as a society should follow. Specifically though, their creation story begins with their creator, Raven. Raven created beach peas which grew on the naked earth, and from one pod a full-grown man burst forth. Raven approached, pushed up his beak, And also became a man. He told the first man that while he created the peas, it was without knowing that a man would emerge from them. From clay Raven formed various pairs of animals at different times and gave life to them. Mountain Sheep were created first, followed by Reindeer, then Caribou; a woman was formed next, to become the wife of the first man. Raven went on to create certain fish as well as other creatures and to teach the human couple to live in their emerging environment. The woman bore a son and then a daughter, who were to marry. Raven turned back to the original pea pod from which the first man had been born and found that three other men had emerged from the same pod. Raven led the first man inland, but the other three were taken to the coast where they were taught to exploit the resources of the sea (Oswalt, 211-12). There are many cultural ideas implied here. The first is the notion that man was created first. Everything else was created from something different and for man. This infers that men are superior to women and is portrayed in their everyday lives. According to Naomi Giffen's book, The Roles Of Men And Women In Eskimo Culture, men do the hunting and woodworking while women do everything else (1-5). The women are to cook and preserve the food (11-19). Women must also make the clothing for both men and women (43). They build their houses and raise the children while the men are away for long periods of time hunting or fishing. When the men are around the Eskimo are very family oriented. The men do not treat the women with any less respect these are simply the roles that they have adopted. Women do not complain about the uneven workload, in fact, the only disagreements between these peaceful people are between the men (57). There is no mention anywhere about evolution or even the possibility of it. This leads me to the Genesis creation story which is one of, if not the most, widely believed stories of how we as humans came to be. Everything began as empty, dark space. God created everything that we know today in six days. On the first day God created light and separated it from the dark. On the second day God created water and the sky. On the third day God created the land, oceans, all plants and vegetation. On the fourth day God created the sun, moon, stars, and set the timing for them to mark the hours, days, seasons and years. On the fifth day God created all the creatures that live in the sea and fly in the air. On the sixth day God created all animals that live on the land. He then created man in His own image. He gave man dominion over all the other creatures. He also allows man and the animals to use plant life for food. On the seventh day God rests and declares that the day He rested, the seventh day, is a holy day (Moore 23).
In chapter two of Genesis there are more details on the creation of human kind. It still had not rained on Earth and there were no plants in the fields. The land was misty and there were no humans to work the land. So, God created a man (Adam) from dust and breathed life in through his nose. God then planted the Garden of Eden and placed Adam in it. In the middle of the garden was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of the garden and branched off into four rivers. God placed Adam in the garden so that he could take care of it. God told Adam that he could eat from any tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If he ate from that tree, he would die. God then decided that Adam needed a helper, so God made Adam fall asleep, and created a woman (Eve) with one of Adam's ribs. God formed every animal from the ground and brought them to Adam (31). Theses two stories have a number of basic similarities. Man is created first and has the same image of God. In Genesis, man is created in the image of god. In the Eskimo story, Raven takes the image of man. Both stories have man being created from the Earth (dirt and a pea pod). Upon the completion of man, animals were created. Both men were taken to a plot of land and told/showed what to do. Woman was the last thing created by the supreme beings and in both cases she was there to help the man. The main concepts of the two stories are surprisingly similar. There are a couple of differences that stand out between the two. Raven told the man that he created that he was an accident. He meant to create the pea pod but did not know the man would emerge. The Genesis story is a lot more specific and a lot longer. A big difference between the two is; the Earth was already in existence. Raven did not create it. The last big difference is, in the Eskimo story, there were more men originally created to account for different tribes.

The two creation stories discussed up to this point were done so, together, because they are not considered scientific. Evolution is based solely off of science. The basic theory of evolution is surprisingly simple. It is possible for the DNA of an organism to occasionally change, or mutate. A mutation changes the DNA of an organism in a way that affects its offspring, either immediately or several generations down the line. The change brought about by a mutation is either beneficial, harmful or neutral. If the change is harmful, then it is unlikely that the offspring will survive to reproduce, so the mutation dies out and goes nowhere. If the change is beneficial, then it is likely that the offspring will do better than other offspring and so will reproduce more. Through reproduction, the beneficial mutation spreads. The process of culling bad mutations and spreading good mutations is called natural selection. As mutations occur and spread over long periods of time, they cause new species to form. Over the course of many millions of years, the processes of mutation and natural selection have created every species of life that we see in the world today, from the simplest bacteria to humans and everything in between (Kelly 121-22).
Billions of years ago chemicals randomly organized themselves into "a self-replicating molecule" (Huxley 67). This spark of life was the beginning of every living thing we see today (including ones we no longer see, like dinosaurs). That simplest life form, through the processes of mutation and natural selection, has been shaped into every living species on the planet (Huxley 70). The evolution of "hominids" (the first ape-like species that humans theoretically sprang from) into modern day humans is a process that occurred over the last 4 million years of existence. The earliest known hominids are members of the genus (group or family) "Australopithecus" (Huxley 92). Unlike other primates, but like all hominids, "australopithecines" walked on two legs. Their brains were small and apelike. Australopithecines that have been considered ancestral in the lineage leading to the human genus include "afarensis" (an important skeleton that is commonly known as Lucy) (Huxley 94). The first member of the genus Homo, a small species known as "Habilis," was present in east Africa at least 2 million years ago (Huxley 93-94). Habilis was the first hominid to show signs of the expanded brain that would become a key feature of hominids to follow in evolutionary history. Around 1.6 million years ago, Habilis evolved into a larger-brained species known as Homo erectus Brain capacities nearly doubled in size. Erectus thrived for well over a million years and migrated from the African continent (where life theoretically began) into Asia, Indonesia, and eventually Europe (Huxley 94). Between 500,000 and 250,000 years ago, Erectus evolved into Homo sapiens. Transitional forms between Erectus and Sapiens are referred to as archaic Sapiens. With the exception of Sapiens, no additional subspecies have been recognized. Ancient Sapiens changed gradually, becoming somewhat larger and larger-brained over time (Huxley 95). Brain capacity, for example, increased about 20 percent to the current average of humans. About 150,000 years ago in Africa and Asia and 28,000 years ago in Europe (known as Cro-Magnon man), the transition to Sapiens was complete. Modern humans became the only surviving hominid species (Huxley 98). There are holes in the theory of evolution especially involving Hominids, due to millions of years of erosion on the Earth and the fact that researchers have simply not uncovered fossils of the species that could fill the holes (hence the term "the missing link"). Lucy was an amazing find because she is the only of her species ever found in tact (mostly). She opened a whole new door in helping to prove the theory of evolution. There are substantial differences between the Eskimo story of creation, the Genesis story, and the theory of evolution. The first and most profound is the idea of science. "Science is a particular way of knowing about the world. In science, explanations are limited to those based on observations and experiments that can be substantiated by other scientists" (Pigliucci 35). Explanations that cannot be based on empirical evidence are not a part of science. In the quest for understanding, science involves a great deal of careful observation that eventually produces an elaborate written description of the natural world. Scientists communicate their findings and conclusions to other scientists through publications, talks at conferences, hallway conversations, and many other means. Other scientists then test those ideas and build on preexisting work. In this way, the accuracy and sophistication of descriptions of the natural world tend to increase with time, as subsequent generations of scientists correct and extend the work done by their predecessors. "Progress in science relies on the constant development of better explanations for the causes of natural phenomena" (Piglliucci 64) . A scientist can never be sure that an explanation is complete and final. Throughout the years in science, hypotheses by scientists have turned out to be incorrect when tested by further experiments. Yet many scientific explanations have been so thoroughly tested and confirmed that they are interpreted as fact. The theory of evolution is one of these well-established explanations. An enormous amount of scientific investigation since the mid-19th century has converted early ideas about evolution proposed by Darwin and others into a strong and well-supported theory. Today, evolution is an extremely active field of research, with an abundance of new discoveries that increases our understanding of how evolution occurs. The theory of evolution is just that, a theory. According to the National Academy of Sciences, a theory is "a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that can incorporate facts, laws, inferences, and tested hypotheses" (Pigliucci 233). The contention that evolution should be taught as a "theory, not as a fact" confuses the common use of these words with the scientific use. In science, theories do not turn into facts through the accumulation of evidence. Rather, theories are the end points of science. They are understandings that develop from extensive observation, experimentation, and creative reflection. They incorporate a large body of scientific facts, laws, tested hypotheses, and logical inferences. In this sense, evolution is one of the strongest and most useful scientific theories we have (233-34). Evolution has not been proven to a hundred percent certainty, but it is close. It can be observed in nature which is completely different from the other two creation stories. The Eskimo creation story and the Genesis story are entirely founded on a system of belief and feeling. There is no way to prove either story, unless God himself came down to Earth and told everyone so. Until that day comes, it will remain a story in which many people can only profess a faith in. on that same note, the theory of human evolution is yet to be concluded. There are scientific advances made everyday that offer empirical evidence for anyone to believe in. "Creationism, intelligent design, and other claims of supernatural intervention in the origin of life or of species are not science because they are not testable by the methods of science" (Moore 196). Science can tolerate being unsure about some things, but cannot entertain the notion that there are phenomena in the everyday natural world that require supernatural intervention. That requirement would weaken the grounds for science. Yet that requirement is exactly what creationists, by definition, want to establish. Darwinism responds to this challenge with scientific excommunication — "It's not science." This reaction often causes Darwinists to dismiss too hastily the valid scientific points creationists raise against aspects of Darwinism. In this way Darwinism behaves much like a religion with its own cherished, unquestionable beliefs. And so, for explaining evolution and the origin of life on Earth, a holy war is being waged (Pigliucci 158). We as a species may never know which side, evolution or creationism, is correct. We will have to continue using our brains to make rational decisions for ourselves. There are many theories of how humans came into existence. Every religion and every culture has its own idea of the beginnings of man. There are similarities between most of them. Evolution is the only origination story that does not teach morals or values. Science does not need people to believe in it, in order for it to be true. Science is based on facts that can be observed and tested. Theories are logical inferences made at the conclusion of extensive research. A theory is not a fact, but a concept that people believe. Creation stories are concepts that people believe in also, however, the only difference is experimentation is not part of the process.

Works cited
Giffen, Naomi. The Roles of Men and Women In Eskimo Culture. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1930.
Huxley, Julian. Evolution in Action. Harbor and Brothers. New York, New York. 1953.
Kelly, Peter. Evolution and its Implications. Hawthorne Books, Inc. New York, New York. 1962.
Moore, John. From Genesis to Genetics. University of California Press, Los Angeles, California. 2002.
Oswalt, Wendell. Alaskan Eskimos. San Francisco: Chandler Publishing Company, 1967.
Pigliucci, Massimo. Denying Evolution. Sinauer Associates, Publishers. Sunderland, Massachusetts. 2002.
Genesis. The New American Bible. Catholic World Press. Canada. 1987
McLeod, Susan. Writing About the World. Thompson Wadsworth. United States. 2005.