CPHL110 Mid-Term Examination Question #1: Cosmogonies are the stories about the creation of the world.

There are two cosmogonies that I will be analyzing; they are Genesis 1 and the Laws of Manu Chapter 1. Genesis begins with a summary that tells us that God created Earth and heaven. Everything had started off as darkness, then God created light merely by speaking and he found the light to be good. The way that this chapter was written gives the portrayal of how powerful God is that he creates so effortlessly just by the use of words. God separated the time of light and darkness into day and night, night and darkness are often associated with evil which may show that while God only created good, he did not get rid of anything that could be bad. This may relate to the way that some people in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam believe that God is not responsible for evil however he gave man the option to choose between good and evil. On the other hand the meaning of God finding his creations to be good could be taken differently depending on what kind of good he had meant, it could just mean that God was satisfied with what he had created, but what he created was not necessarily good in nature. The first day had passed, then a barrier was formed which God called a firmament. Its purpose was to separate the waters so there was water over and under the firmament. The possible reason for this firmament may be to separate God from everything, and it could also show how God is above us. Since God had not created the waters, it could be that everything was dark water beforehand which is symbolic of pre-existent matter and everything was formed out of this water. Maybe this firmament was made to separate some of this chaotic pre-existent matter from the rest in order for something to be made out of it. This firmament was called heaven. For the third day God grouped the water together and had dry ground show which he called Earth and the water was the Seas. He found these two to also be good. He also had the earth get covered in vegetation that was brought about by the earth itself rather than done by Gods word alone. There were fruit trees and plants and God saw this all too be good as well which ended the third day. Then God had made the sun for the light during the day and the moon and stars for the night. He had made multiple lights which were to be in the firmament to shed light on the earth. God had found these to also be good, which had become a pattern; God had made something good on each of the six days that it took to create and fill the world. Also another thing to note is that by the third day God had finished creating the earth and had started to fill the empty space around it from the fourth day onwards. On the fifth day God filled the lower waters and upper waters with animals. He had the waters make animals of their kind and he made winged animals in the sky of his kind, there may be this separation because God had not necessarily created the waters so he let the water create its own kind of animals, or perhaps there was a purpose in making them distinct from one

another to show that they may be split up into two different categories, either way God had found them to be good. He had ordered for the animals to reproduce and fill up all the sea and land. On the sixth day God created animals on the land and once again he made the distinction all animals except for the cattle were after his kind whereas the cattle were after their kind. The order in which the living things were formed may be representative of their level of superiority, ending off with the creation of man which dominates all the living creatures. When God created man in his form he says Let us make man in our image in which God refers to himself in plural, this may indicate that there is more than one God or it could be that God is a bunch of spirits or formless things. He had created male and female, when he made them in his image it could be that humans are in similar in likeness to God just physically or spiritually or perhaps both physically and spiritually. Since only humans are created to be similar to God this may be why they are given dominance over everything on earth while God dominates over them. God had ordered them to take care of the earth and continue to reproduce; he had given the plants and fruits for every living thing to eat. This means that there was no intention for the vicious food chain in which animals prey on one another, every living thing was supposed to be an herbivore, feeding only on the fruits and plants provided. God had deemed everything that he had created as good individually and when it all came together in the end he had said that it was very good, this may show how God wants everything to be living together, so how did things such as violence and evil come into the world? Another cosmogony is the Laws of Manu chapter 1. It begins with Manu- the father of the human race- being approached by sages and asked to tell them about the order of the laws which each caste is supposed to follow. Manu told them about how the cosmos came to be, it had all started off as darkness which he had gotten rid of just as in Genesis 1. God came forward by his own decision because he had wanted to create from his own body. Unlike Genesis 1 he creates with thoughts not words; he created waters (Devi) and put his seed within them. Unlike Genesis here God is part of the creation rather than separate. The waters are prevalent in both cosmogonies however the waters in Laws of Manu acted as the womb and were representative of the Goddess Devi but both waters were pre-existent matter. That seed turned into a golden egg as bright as the sun and from this egg God was reborn as Brahman. This shows that God is also subject to reincarnation which may show how God is not separate from man. Brahman is at times considered the reduced form of God which may have been what gave rise to the belief of many Hindus in multiple Gods however on the other hand all the Gods can be considered different personalities or faces of the one God that it all stemmed from. He stayed in that egg for a year and then by thought divided that egg into two; this thinking could also be considered a form of meditation which may be why some Hindus believe in the power of it. He created heaven and Earth from the two halves, a sphere in the middle, the eight-point horizon-

which may be indicative of the eight directions- and the waters. In both cosmogonies God had created these two places- heaven and earth- and had them kept separate from one another. He has the power to produce the universe and mankind and he continuously abolishes and revives life which is possibly where the Hindus belief that time is cyclic stemmed from, this is unlike the time in Genesis 1 where it is linear and there is the belief of some that in the end man will have to face God which some have deemed Judgement Day. Since God created everything from himself then he would be the source of good and evil whereas Genesis 1 only describes everything God created as good and did not link him to evil. Question #2: There is a much circulated debate regarding religion, there is always that question that people throughout history have spent a lot of time contemplating, and that question is: does God exist? The kalam cosmological argument of causation attempts to prove that God exists with the reasoning that God is the uncaused cause that caused the universe to exist. It describes everything that exists but could also be non-existent to have a cause to exist and it cannot preexist in order to bring itself into existence. The cosmological argument goes against the idea of there being an infinite number of causes that bring something into existence because that means there is not an initial cause- however since the universe exists it must have a cause. There must be a beginning for the causes which is the uncaused cause; this uncaused cause of all things must possess great qualities that could only be possessed by God. Thomas Aquinas had also argued for the existence of God by providing five proofs. The first three were associated with a cosmological argument. He pointed out the fact that every change in the world is the result of some source of change, and that every effect results from a prior cause. In his proofs everything that changes must be changed, the universe is in a constant flux of change. He had concluded that we are led ultimately to a source of change that is unchanged, this source is called God. He had supported the fact that everything that happens has a cause. He argued that there is a Being that does not depend on anything else for its existence; this Being was the first cause- which is God. While there are arguments that are for the existence of God, there are some that counteract it by denying the existence of God which is done by Hindu absolutists, Buddhists, and Taoists. Hindu Absolutists do not exactly believe in God rather they believe in Brahman- the Ultimate Reality- which is full of mysticism and Maya-illusion. They believe that God is an illusion; he is a reflection of Brahman. They do not necessarily regard Brahman as God, rather they consider Brahman to be everything, it is oneness and unity, and it is a way of being. While the Hindu absolutists do not completely deny Gods existence, they do not find it to be of any importance. The same applies to Buddhism, God is irrelevant and perhaps even inferior to Buddha because God is trapped in the cycle of life and knowing whether God exists is

unnecessary to achieve the ultimate reality. In Buddhism Ultimate Reality can be achieved by the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-Fold Path, these set you in the direction of righteous living and enlightenment. In Buddhism there is no purpose for God rather everything is an accumulation of energies. The ultimate attainment in Buddhism is to be set free from the wheel of life which is samsara and to achieve Nirvana which is blissful extinction of life. Taoism completely denies the existence of God, there is no God to be worshipped rather all are equal. It is based on mysticism and it is the way of life. In the Taoist way of life humans are free to do as they please however it preaches that they stick to nature which is more simple and holy rather than indulging themselves in luxuries and material items. It believes that the true nature of the unknown can never truly be known. In my opinion, I do not think that the existence or non-existence of God can be proven because the arguments and mystical experience all have holes in them which are the cause of counter-arguments and skepticism. I somewhat agree with the Taoist belief, if God is allknowing and powerful then we would not ever be able to completely understand this and therefore would not be able to rationally comprehend and explain such an unknown thing. I also believe that there must be a first cause however I do not believe that we can ever really find substantial proof for a cause of which is beyond our knowledge. Even if God was proven to be existent then there would be more doubt concerning the question of who caused God and there would be a never ending loop of chasing after a primal source of all things that exist. Although I understand that many people are trying to figure out this idea of God, it is much like how scientists attempt to find a cure for a disease of which they do not know what the cause of it is but nonetheless believe that there is a cause, I just believe that if God exists it will be very difficult to give solid proof that leaves no room for doubt considering how long mankind has gone so far pondering this question. I believe that God is and will forever be unknown, it is up to the individual to figure out how much importance this idea or belief of God should play in their lives.