Creation from the Void: Crash Course World Mythology #2

Spread The Viralist



Today on Crash Course Mythology we’re starting in on creation stories. This week, we’ll focus on the creation of the universe out of nothing, or Ex Nihlio creation. Basically, a god decides to make a universe out of nothing. We’ll look at the Genesis story (which has nothing to do with Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins), a Mayan creation tale, a Kono story of the beginning, and we’ll even look at the Big Bang.

Sources:
The Oxford Companion to World Mythology by David Leeming – https://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Companion-World-Mythology-Leeming/dp/0195387082

The Theogony of Hesiod translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White – http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hesiod/theogony.htm

In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World by Virginia Hamilton and Barry Moser – https://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Creation-Stories-Around-World/dp/0152387420

The World of Myth: An Anthology by David Leeming – https://www.amazon.com/World-Myth-David-Adams-Leeming/dp/1522694676

Crash Course is on Patreon! You can support us directly by signing up at http://www.patreon.com/crashcourse

Thanks to the following Patrons for their generous monthly contributions that help keep Crash Course free for everyone forever:

Mark, Les Aker, Robert Kunz, William McGraw, Jeffrey Thompson, Jason A Saslow, Rizwan Kassim, Eric Prestemon, Malcolm Callis, Steve Marshall, Advait Shinde, Rachel Bright, Kyle Anderson, Ian Dundore, Tim Curwick, Ken Penttinen, Caleb Weeks, Kathrin Janßen, Nathan Taylor, Yana Leonor, Andrei Krishkevich, Brian Thomas Gossett, Chris Peters, Kathy & Tim Philip, Mayumi Maeda, Eric Kitchen, SR Foxley, Justin Zingsheim, Andrea Bareis, Moritz Schmidt, Bader AlGhamdi, Jessica Wode, Daniel Baulig, Jirat

Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/YouTubeCrashCourse
Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/TheCrashCourse
Tumblr – http://thecrashcourse.tumblr.com
Support Crash Course on Patreon: http://patreon.com/crashcourse

CC Kids: http://www.youtube.com/crashcoursekids

source

Recommended For You

About the Author: CrashCourse

38 Comments

  1. Why did he say that the Mayans are from Guatemala? Normally they are associated with Mexico.
    note: I know there were settlements in Guatemala, and that the Mayan empire was huge, but most history sources i've read and heard define Mayans as being from Mexico.
    note #2: I am not trying to be rude, I am just curious.

  2. Other theories about the ultimate start involve gods creating the universe out of the ribs, entrails and testicles of their father.* There are quite a lot of these. They are interesting, not for what they tell you about cosmology, but for what they say about people.
    *Gods like a joke as much as anyone else. '
    – Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies

  3. don't forget, most, if not ALL "myths" have basis in fact…. do you think it is coincidence that so many INDEPENDENT religions can be traced back to a single premise? The Bible says no man can know the nature of God, so why are you surprised that you can't figure it out?

  4. hindu accepted mythology is shiva shakti created from a manifest of adi parashakti or higher brahman and thats similar to adam and eve in mandaism

  5. Read Genesis 1:1-5 and the rest of the genesis and every word is true!If you don't believe me, read the rest of the bible it's called the word of God the one true God in three faces god the father God the son and god the Holy spirit!

  6. The water is Noah's ark. Every civilization knew that god created the universe but as years passed they changed the story a little and now you can see it

  7. One thing that is troubling about Big Bang cosmology is that it is typically described as creation out of nothing, literally "no thing." It is not rational to say that something can come from nothing. Theists posit God. This God is a spiritual being (beyond the created order). God chose to create the universe. Aristotle wrote about an uncaused cause as a necessary being, and it makes rational sense. Anything that begins to exist, must have a cause. The universe began to exist, therefore it had a cause. Most descriptions of the Big Bang leave out a description of a rational first cause. There must be a rational cause for the order we see today, and this very thing so many Big Bang cosmologists leave out.

    The ex nihilo creation accounts from the theistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) describe God as the creator and state that God is beyond the created world. God is spirit (non-physical) and uncreated (eternal). It is this God that chose to create. This creation gave rise to time, space, and matter (the universe). It is this God that who created and brought order out of chaos and form out of void. Put another way, these religions say that there was always something (God) and God is the source of the created order.

  8. Who else is just now watching this because they are learning abt it on online school? jus me? okay then….

  9. Jordan Peterson talks about why the sea is so prevalent in a great way. Basically if you are on a land mass and stretching out before you is a sea, and the land your on, for all intent, seems to sitting on the sea, the sea will be the thing all things rise from. Then add that the land you live on is all there is (because you haven’t travelled over it yet) then stands to reason apart from your land mass, the sea is all there is. Then sun rises from it and falls into it. That must mean all the stars come from it. So on and so forth.

  10. I do not like that this video says that God creating the earth is a myth, I believe that is rude and offensive to many people that are Christians.

  11. there is no ONE god,
    that was only said to keep the creation on a more comfortable leash to stop it from potentially spiraling out of control and turning against the creator.

    in a similar way that when we create something today that we know has the capability to destroy us as a race, we very carefully make sure to create it and keep it to the intended purpose.

    this chaos is basically planets that have not yet been dubbed as relevant to the creator for the reason that they don't need anything it has to offer.
    our planet earth however, had a abundance of gold, which they needed for the use of trapping more heat in their atmosphere because the core of their planet stopped doing the work for them.

    though they hated manual labour, so eventually the humans were created as an assist to do the work for them, as we humans do with robots today.

  12. seems like creator deities spend a lot of time blaming their creation for not being perfect — instead of, you know, owning their own shortcomings

  13. The best way to get inspired is to Read, Watch, Learn as much as you can. Real-life mythology and history is also a great way to get ideas
    For writing Fantasy.

  14. Hank "and the scientists" just putting out guesses too…they just want you to think they KNOW what happens. Better for funding and respect from the simple minded.

Comments are closed.