Hindu Creation vs. Biblical Creation

Every great world religion has its own creation myth. The Hindu creation story tells a continuous tale of creation, destruction and recreation. People should try to live good lives as part of the reincarnation process. The Bible's creation story teaches that there is one timeline of creation and that people should try to live good lives to please God. Both creation stories believe in a supreme creator and encourage good behavior from their followers.

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The Hindu religion dates back to 2500 B.C. Around this period, culture and religion developed in the Indus Valley in two major cities, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. The main aspects of the religious beliefs involved goddess worship, temple rituals, ritual bathing and sacrifice. One of the goddess figures found from those early years is believed to be the prototype of Shiva, one of the three principal Hindu deities. This earliest period of Hindu culture began the roots of the Hindu religion with its creation story and multitude of beliefs.

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There are several Hindu creation myths. One of them teaches that in the beginning there was nothing until the divine creator proclaimed, “'let me have a self” and created his own mind, his consciousness. Next, water was produced and its froth formed the earth. The creator rested on the earth and his essence created fire. The creator then divided himself into three equal parts: fire, sun and air. He also made himself life and breath. Another myth teaches that the world was non-existent at the beginning, but became existent and transformed itself into an egg. After it sat for one year, it hatched and a gold part and a silver part sprung forth. The gold became the sky and the silver became the earth. Mountains formed from the outer membrane, clouds from the inner membrane and rivers from the veins, and the ocean came from the liquid of the egg.

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The texts that began what eventually became the Hebrew Bible date back to the 10th or 11 century B.C. in ancient Israel. These texts were a combination of stories which pre-dated King David, five books of Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) which are attributed to Moses, and stories of the prophets.The holy books of the Hebrews, which took about 1,000 years to write, were eventually incorporated into the Christian religion and became its Old Testament.

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The Jewish Creation story, which was adopted by the Christian religion, teaches that in the beginning God created the heavens and earth – which was formless, empty and dark. God then created light and from it, day and night, making the first day. On the second day, God separated the waters and created the sky. Then on the third day, he made the land and vegetation with its fruits. On the fourth day God created the sun, moon, and stars. On the fifth day God created sea creatures and birds. Then on the sixth day, God made the land animals and created man and woman and blessed them. God rested on the seventh day and made it holy. The first man and woman, Adam and Eve, lived in a paradise called the Garden of Eden. They lived there God banished them for eating fruit from a forbidden tree.