The revival of interest in cosmology has played an important role. Numerous recent works have been devoted to the traditional cosmologies of Hinduism, Buddhism, the Kabbala, Taoism, the Egyptian tradition and even the remarkable teachings of the American Indians.[1]
The term cosmology derives from Greek language 'kosmos' means universe and logy is study of the universe in its totality where the human life in it. The word 'kosmos' has used by Pythagoras (580-500 BC) as sign of universe movement, then recently this word appears by Christian Wolff (Cosmologia Generalis) in 1679-1754 when he classified the fields of philosophy. He said that cosmology means to study the system of cosmic where the universe will be observed on its absolute reality and essence, while the objects of study are including human beings and everything they experienced from their entire realm. According to Concise Oxford English Dictionary, the word 'cosmology' means the science of the origin and development of the universe, an account or theory of the origin of the universe.[2]
Cosmogonies ('kosmogonia' world origin) are explanatory models developed by persons of nearly all times and cultures describing the origin of the world around them and the conditions of life.[3]
While 'Genesis' is derived from Greek language 'generation, creation' from the base of 'gignesthai' be born or produced. Then it made its way to the English word means the origin or mode of formation of something, which here will imply on the first book of the Old Testament whereas includes the story of the creation of the world.[4]
The book of Genesis is the first book in Bible; it recounts the creation of the universe, the story of Adam and Eve, the history of the flood, the exploits of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the story of Joseph. It concludes with the Israelites, setting in the land of Egypt. It is traditionally believed to have been written by Moses. Although Modern scholars contend it is a composite source. The main thing of the book is the development of the covenantal relationship with God. First on the path of humanity in general as represented by Adam and Noah, and later on the part of Jews in particular. God's saving plan in history is unfolded in the book, and cosmology is highly systematized.[5]
According to the Bible, the meaning of creation is that God created the cosmos. The Biblical description of creation resembles the myth found in the Babylonian religion. That there are The Rabbis of the Talmud accepted Gnostic ideas of creation, while various rabbinic scholars believed in 'Creatio ex nihilo'. It was also proved by Gunkel, he was the son of a Lutheran pastor around 1862, and he started his theological studies with research in the New Testament but then changed to the Old Testament. Where as his first major published work was entitled 'creation and chaos at the beginning and end of time'. That there are relationships to ancient Near Eastern Mythology; this influence was to be seen in both Jewish and Christian apocalyptic writings.[6] Gunkel worked on the assumption that it was these separate stories, taken and interpreted individually which offered the most significant and fascinating feature of the book of Genesis. Each story had been composed in a specific and very ancient, setting, and so it was in relation to this that it's fullest meaning because apparent.[7] Speculation about the nature of the visible universe, Maaseh Bereshit (work of creation) and the transcendental world, Maaseh Merkavah (work of the chariot) are found in the cabbalistic sources. Medieval Jewish philosophy was influenced by the Ptolemaic conception of the universe, and John hick claimed that the old Ptolemaic theology envisaged an implausible system in which Christ is located at the centre of the universe of faiths. Instead a Copernican revolution in theology aims at a 'shift from the dogma that Christianity is at the centre to the realisation that it is God who is at the centre, and that all the religions of mankind.[8] The Zohar expounds various theories about the nature of creation which were subsequently modified by Isaac Curia.[9]
In the first two chapters of the Old Testament is the creation myth.[1] It was mentioned that one of the reasons of Old Testament criticism on Modern period is that the discovery of Ancient Eastern civilization had impacted on Jewish thought and holy book, for instance the influence of Ancient Egyptians and Babylonians on Jewish faith.[2] The creation of the world story is only one of many current in the ancient Near East, several extant Egyptian ones in which the creation of the world is attributed to different gods and the creator god is not necessarily the principle god.[3] In these verses described that God had created the Heavens and the Earth over period of six days, and this creation through the spoken word of God including the creation of man and woman, the sun, moon, stars and the planting of the Garden of Eden. Then in the seventh day (a Sabbath) God had rest. There are two popular views of the Genesis account on one creation or two creations that merged together; the first understands it as being an accurate record of the universe creation while the second idea interprets it as being allegorical (has a hidden meaning).
Genesis: 1:1
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Genesis: 2:2-3
"And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rest from all His work which God had created and made."
From these verses we arrive at the point that there are six days of creation and in the seventh day God rest from His work, finally the seven days have seven divine commands spoken:
The First day:
This day involves the emergence of the separation of light and darkness from the formless, empty and dark pre-universe in Genesis, corresponding to the emergence of the current asymmetrical dual universe; the light universe and the dark universe from the simple and dark pre-universe in Genesis cosmology. That God creates light, here is the first divine command "Let there be light." And God then divides the light from the darkness and calls the light 'day' and the darkness 'night'.
As mentioned in Genesis: 1:3: "Then God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light." And in Genesis: 1:5: "God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day."
The second day:
This day involves the separation of waters from above and below the expanse in Genesis, corresponding to the separation of dark matter and baryonic matter from above and below the interface between dark matter and baryonic matter for the formation of galaxies in Genesis cosmology. That God creates the heavens. Here is the second divine command, "Let there be an expanse..." God then divides the waters that were above this expanse from the waters that were below it, and he calls the expanse 'heaven'. Genesis: 1:6: "Then God said, 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." And in Genesis: 1:8: "And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day."
The third day:
This day involves the separation of sea and land where organism appeared in Genesis, corresponding to the separation of interstellar medium and star with planet where organism are developed in Genesis Cosmology. That God creates dry land and sea, God then names the dry land earth and the waters sea. It mentioned in the Genesis: 1:9-11: "Then God said, 'Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in it self, on the earth'; and it was so."
The fourth day:
God creates lights in the heavens; these lights were made to separate light from darkness and to mark days, seasons and years. And these lights consisted of two great lights and the stars, one light was to rule the day and the second was to rule the night. As mentioned in Genesis: 1: 14: "Then God said, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the nightal; and let them be for signs and seasons and for days and years." And Genesis: 1:16: "Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also."
The fifth day:
God creates sea creatures and birds and God tells these creatures to be fruitful and multiply. It said in Genesis: 1:20-23: "Then God said, 'Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens….And God blessed them, saying, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas and let birds multiply on the earth. So the evening and the morning were the fifth day."
The sixth day:
God creates the land animals and human beings; He makes wild beasts, livestock and reptiles. Genesis 1:24: "Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind'; and it was so." Then He creates man in his image, male and female; God gives both humans and animals plants to eat. Genesis 1:27-29 "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth'. And God said, 'See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for good." And God described His creation as very good, Genesis 1:31 "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day."
The seventh day:
Day of rest, God had completed the heavens and earth, rests from his work and blesses and sanctifies the seventh day as mentioned in Genesis 2:1-3.
Conclusion
There are some contradiction in Genesis, in addition to Genesis I there is a different account in Genesis 2, and another version is reflected especially in Psalms 74:13-14 and Isa 51:9, in which the creation of the world appears to have followed a conflict in which YHWH defeated and killed a sea monster, and after that he created heaven and earth by splitting the body of monster into two.[1]
From Genesis we find an appreciation of nature blended with confidence in human powers to work with it for the good that in its time was exceptional. The Jewish intensely interested in human nature but not for the brute facts of the case.[2]
The cosmology had described in some passages of Old Testament in more detail, as mentioned above the story of creation within six days and in day seven God had finished His creation. While in some cases God creates simply by speaking ('and God said…') in others we are told that He performed certain actions: He made, separated, named, placed, and blessed.
There is no question here of 'creatio ex nihilo' that a creation out of nothing, the earth already existed but it was a formless void not a kind of non existence but something empty and formless, without light and covered by the water of the deep. And there are so many reasons why the creation has been storied as mentioned in the Old Testament, especially in chapter Genesis.
References
Alford, Alan. F. Gods of the New Millennium. (It's not mentioned its publisher)
Aslan, Adnan. Religious Pluralism in Christian and Islamic Philosophy (The Thought of John Hick and Seyyed Hossein Nasr). Curzon, Britain, 1998.
Clements, R.E. A Century of Old Testament study. Lutterworth press, London, 1976
Cohn, Dan. Sherbok. A concise Encyclopedia of Judaism. One world, Oxford, England, 1998
Concise Oxford English Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.
Hasan, Mohammad Khalifah. Ahmad Mahmud Huwaidy. Ittijahaat Naqdu al-'Ahdi al-Qadiim (Al-Naqdu al-Yahudy wa al-Masihy wa al-Islamy wa al-Gharby). Daar al-Saqofah al-Arabiah, 2001.
Holy Bible, The Gideon's International, U.S.A.
Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines. Thames and Hudson, Britain, 1978.
Smith, Huston. The World's Religions, Our Great Wisdom Traditions. Suhail Academy, Lahore, 2002
The Brill Dictionary of Religion, Volume I. edited by Kocku Von Stuckrad, Leiden. Boston, 2006
The Oxford Bible Commentary. Edited by John Barton and John Muddiman. Oxford University Press, England.
[1] The Oxford Bible Commentary. Edited by John Barton and John Muddiman. Oxford University Press, England. Pg: 42
[2] Smith, Huston. The World's Religions, Our Great Wisdom Traditions. Suhail Academy , Lahore
[1] Myth is “A story about superhuman beings of an earlier age taken by preliterate society to be a true account, usually of how natural phenomena, social customs etc came into existence.” this definition is taken from book "Gods of the New Millennium by Alan. F. Alford, pg: 4". He mentioned in his book that Old Testament especially the chapter of Genesis had considered it influenced by the Myth.
[2] Hasan, Mohammad Khalifah. Ahmad Mahmud Huwaidy. Ittijahaat Naqdu al-'Ahdi al-Qadiim (Al-Naqdu al-Yahudy wa al-Masihy wa al-Islamy wa al-Gharby). Daar al-Saqofah al-Arabiah, 2001. Pg: 11-12.
[3] The Oxford Bible Commentary, edited by John Barton and John Muddiman. Oxford University Press, England . Pg: 42
[1] Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines. Thames and Hudson , Britain
[3] The Brill Dictionary of Religion, Volume I. edited by Kocku Von Stuckrad, Leiden Boston
[7] Ibid, pg: 15
[8] Aslan, Adnan. Religious Pluralism in Christian and Islamic Philosophy (The Thought of John Hick and Seyyed Hossein Nasr). Curzon , Britain
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