To compare the ancient Babylonian
creation myth the Enuma Elish with
the Genesis account is to compare apples and oranges. Yes, just as an apple and
an orange are both fruits, the Enuma
Elish and the Genesis account are indeed works of literature. That is where
the similarities end. Apples and oranges
have different shapes, colors, tastes, textures, and come from different trees.
Ultimately, this is the most important difference. The Enuma Elish is the product of a slave driven culture that is
saturated with magic. The Creation Story is the very word of God. We can’t lose
sight of that. When a pagan makes the assertion that they are so similar as to
be counterfeits of one another (and usually the Bible is assumed to be the
counterfeit), than they are perpetuating a ridiculous cliché.
The
obvious problem with claiming any sort of similarity is that the Enuma Elish isn’t really a creation
story. It’s more a “puny gods decide to rearrange what’s already there” story.
The water is already there. The fabric of space-time is already there. The gods
are already there! Where did they
come from? This stands in stark contrast to God’s creation of the universe ex
nihilo. There was nothing but God. He spoke. Everything came into
existence. These two stories are
fundamentally at odds with one another.
Marduk
is another serious issue with the Enuma
Elish. Marduk simply is not like Yahweh. For one thing, Marduk has a
father. God is eternally self-existent. Marduk is simply the greatest and
strongest of the gods. What if a greater one were to arise? Just as Marduk’s
father produced magnificent progeny, isn’t it possible for Marduk’s son to be
even greater? There can be no threat to Jehovah’s glory and power. He is
ultimate and transcendent in all His ways.
In
the Enuma Elish, men are simply
cattle. The gods create the men out of pure laziness and greed for power. They
do not show men love and their greatest act of mercy is sending crops. In some ways, the Enuma Elish perpetuates a detached relationship between the gods
and men. Men revere the gods and serve them in so far as they simply get what
they want. After that, get back to your life.
Yahweh
shows us that He has so much more in store and a much greater purpose. The love
between Him and the other members of the Trinity was so overflowing that, while
He created us entirely superfluous to Himself, we are able to enjoy the
benefits of His love and mercy. We are not His slaves. We are His sons. The Enuma Elish can never hold a candle to
that.
FIRST!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Stan, really good. It's obvious that when the Jews were taken to Babylon, they listened to the Flood myths and Creation myths of their captors. But however this transpires and whatever the TRUE facts of the world, it is obvious that there are myths and there are truths. The Creation myths of Babylon and other places are interesting, and the gods of Greece are good to read about, but it's all a load of hooey really; interesting but that's about as far as it goes.
ReplyDeleteGod created us to more than mere appendages of Him, and He wants us to have a full relationship with Him and to have abundant living, not just in Heaven when we are dead, but right here on earth.
Thanks T-Childs! I'm glad to be back and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Really, I find it incredibly interesting that, almost without fail, every culture seems to have a flood myth. Even in the famous Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh goes and meets a man who built a boat to survive a flood. Essentially, he goes to meet Noah. I think that because the Biblical Flood is a real historical event, all the flood myths are retellings or memories of that event. Of course, they've been twisted by the culture's mythology.
ReplyDeleteThe same goes for creation myths. Yet, creation myths have a key difference in that no culture has a story of their God creating the universe out of nothing. Something is always present first. Sometimes, even the gods aren't present first. In Egypt, the very first god didn't exist yet but by force of will he spoke himself into existence. Don't ask me how. lol
Very interesting and wonderful post my brother. I have never heard of Enuma Elish. I especially like how you said, "When a pagan makes the assertion that they are so similar as to be counterfeits of one another (and usually the Bible is assumed to be the counterfeit" people are constantly trying to disprove the authenticity of the Bible, usually by comparing it to other works of literature, or by saying it's missing books like the others in the dead sea scrolls.
ReplyDeleteI think, well I believe honestly, people making claims like the bible isn't real or true or is inaccurate and so on, have minds that have no understanding of Gods infinite power! Evil will never truly supersede good. The Bible is the living words of God, if in anyway there we're books meant to be added to the Bible God would have made it so that every word is there for us, and no Pope could stop that from happening, not even the powers that be in the government could stop that from happening or were able to stop that from happening.
He would not allow evil forces to keep any part of the Truth from us. The very same Truth revealed by His Holy Spirit through the Disciples and Prophets and Apostles. The very same book that people stroll by everyday on top of their dresser or on their bookshelf of wherever you keep it, that very same Book is alive, many we're killed in order for us to have that. People were hanged and quartered, burnt to the stake like a Salem witch, beheaded, and other atrocities for possessing that book, for teaching others that book is true. Yet people are still trying to say it isn't true. So those people risked their lives for something that's no different from a Harry Potter book? I don't think so.
For persons to say, oh the Bible is missing books, it's written by men so don't believe what it say's and so on is truly ridiculous. They try to disprove the Bible using sources that are similar to the Enuma Elish, mythical, pagan fables, that come from societies that are ignorant and rebellious when it comes to anything that pertains to God. Instead of opening the Bible up and seeing what the Words of God have to say about all of those other thing's they search for evidence to back their claims that the Bible is false.
The Bible validates itself, no outside sources can negate that!
A strong defense of orthodoxy Sateigdra! God's Word is an everlasting Rock upon which we ground our faith. While men may be foolish and sinful, God is greater than that. He has graciously shaped history and preserved His Word. His Word is unique in a number of ways. First, that it is the first Word of God. No other religion before Judaism and then Christianity claimed that they had a text that comprised the Words of God. Muslims came up with that in the early 600's! Little bit of a rip-off... And second, that it is the only book that is living and breathing. The Holy Spirit operates through the preaching and teaching of the Word. No other book can reach out and give life to a dead soul.
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