The Creation Story is a Metaphor

by serotonin_wraith 3 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  serotonin_wraith

  I know the following story seems too much like a fairy tale, but it isn't to be taken literally. There is no real conflict between this and the scientific explanation of how Earth came to be.

  http://www.painsley.org.uk/re/signposts/y8/1-1creationandenvironment/c-hindu.htm

  Lord Vishnu simply told humans the story of creation in a way they would understand. It wasn't meant to be scientific. What's important is getting close to Vishnu and Brahma. Anyone who gets caught up in these details is missing the point of what it means to be Hindu.
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  ninja

  adam was to have kids with eve....thats what he "met her for"
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  dorayakii

  There is no real conflict between this and the scientific explanation of how Earth came to be.

  I fully agree that there is no conflict if you don't take it literally... so why mention science? It has nothing to do with science.

  Obviously the ancient Hindus didn't have string theory, inflation theory, Einstein's relativity, Newton's law of universal graviation, and a host of other theories and physical laws which have been discovered in the last few hundred years, so unless you take it metaphorically, its not at all compatible with the scientific explanation.

  It was an attempt at explaining the existence of the world by one of the most advanced cultures of their time (but still techologically and scientifically primitive by our standards). I do appreciate myths for their poetic value, but it really is inappropriate and irrelevant to compare ancient myths meant to be taken metaphorically, with modern science which is meant to be taken literally. Its perfectly possible to have a discussion about a lovely story or myth without having to try and mix it with science.

  Both are separate art forms, its like saying that there's no conflict between the rules of football and the rules of chess... of course there's no conflict; they have nothing to do with one another.
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  Awakened07

  Obviously the ancient Hindus didn't have string theory, inflation theory, Einstein's relativity, Newton's law of universal graviation, and a host of other theories and physical laws which have been discovered in the last few hundred years, so unless you take it metaphorically, its not at all compatible with the scientific explanation.

  It was an attempt at explaining the existence of the world by one of the most advanced cultures of their time (but still techologically and scientifically primitive by our standards). I do appreciate myths for their poetic value, but it really is inappropriate and irrelevant to compare ancient myths meant to be taken metaphorically, with modern science which is meant to be taken literally. Its perfectly possible to have a discussion about a lovely story or myth without having to try and mix it with science.

  From a secular point of view, this is correct.

  However - people believe these stories were conveyed to humans from (the) God(s) - the very entities that did the creating. So if we are to debate this, we should also look at it from that point of view. Of course the Creator(s) could have chosen to relay it in a poetic and symbolic way, but the gist of it should still be in accordance with what we find is true about the universe through science. What's the point of getting a revelation from (the) Creator(s) about how everything was created if it was relayed in such a way that we could only take it as allegory, as poetic myth? Then (the) God(s) could just as well have kept quiet about it, as the story (the) God(s) gave us didn't give us any further insight into how the universe came to be anyway.

  A common reply to that is that these people in ancient times wouldn't have been able to understand it if (the) God(s) had given them accurate, detailed, literal information, because they were 'simple people'. As usual, I must reply that if they were taught by the Creator(s) from the very start, they should have had no more of a problem understanding those things than a school kid has today - - or a university graduate for that matter.