- ISSN: 2542-6583
- E-ISSN: 2590-3268
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oa The Origins of Society in the Creation Myths of Genesis
An Anthropological Perspective1Preliminary versions of this paper were presented at a philosophical seminar in Münster, September 26, 1995, and a theological Ph.D. seminar in the Hague, March 29, 1996. I started the study of the creation myths in the mid-seventies in collaboration with my friend and colleague David Moyer (D.S. Moyer & J.G. Oosten, ‘The Ambivalent Gardener: The animal and vegetable codes of Gen. 2.4 to 9.29’, Bijdragen KITLV 135.1 (1979), 118-127; and J.G. Oosten & D.S. Moyer, ‘De mythische omkering: Een analyse van de sociale code van de scheppingsmythen van Genesis 1.4b-ll’, Antropologische Verkenningen 1.1 (1982), 75-91. I wish to thank Jos Platenkamp and Karel van der Toom for their invitations to present the paper at these seminars and their valuable and stimulating comments.
- Amsterdam University Press
- Source: NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion, Volume 52, Issue 2, Apr 1998, p. 107 - 123
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- 01 Apr 1998
Abstract
The narratives of Genesis 1-11 are examined from an anthropological perspective focusing on the origin and development of human society. The actions of ancestors give rise to cultural institutions which deny or inverse those actions. A social world requires the existence of cultural rules and ancestors who precede it. The world is created and recreated so that society can take shape. The development of society is a gradual process requiring an increasing differentiation in terms of image, name, social hierarchy and language.
