���˿���

Christianity and Judaism share a common creation story which is recorded in the first book of the Bible, Genesis.

In Genesis chapter 1 it is God who created the world in six days. On the seventh day God rested.

In Genesis chapter 2, the story goes on giving more detail about the creation of humans, seen as two individuals, Adam and Eve.Adam was made from ‘the dust of the ground’ and God breathed life into him.

When God had made man, he said that it was not good for man to be alone; we were created to live in community with others.

So God created Eve out of one of Adam’s ribs to provide company and help for Adam. Adam and Eve lived in a special place called the Garden of Eden.

Both of them were given the task and responsibility to look after the place that God had created for them.

Christians and Jews can learn lessons from the story of creation about the importance of humanity and the responsibility humans have over the rest of creation.

Most Jews and Christians would accept that the central messages of both Genesis 1 and 2 are:

• God made everything
• God made everything good
• God made humanity as the highpoint of creation

In Hinduism the universe is considered to be millions of years old.

In line with the Hindu belief in reincarnation, the universe humans live in is not the first or the last universe.

Hindus believe in a Great Power / supreme God called Brahman. However, Brahman is too big for humans to fully understand.

To help humans better understand this supreme God, Hindus have different gods and goddess which represent different aspects of Brahman’s work and character.

For Hindus the universe was created by Brahma who made the universe out of himself.

After Brahma created the world, it was the power of Vishnu which preserves the world, and human beings too.

As part of the cycle of birth, life and death, ultimately Shiva, the destroyer, will destroy the universe. This allows Brahma to start the process of recreation all over again.

Examples of how the origins of the universe are explained in Hinduism include:

• A lotus flower grew from Lord Vishnu’s navel with Brahma sitting on it.
• Brahma separated the flower into three parts: The Heavens, the Earth and the Sky.
• Out of loneliness, Brahma split himself into two to create a male and a female and from this all beings were created.
• The ‘hymn of creation’ from the Rig Veda concludes that nobody knows how the universe came into being and even questions whether Brahman knows.

Islam teaches that Allah was responsible for the creation of the universe.

There is no single story of creation in Islam, but there are references to it in many places in the �ϳܰ�’a��. From these it is possible to build a picture:

• Allah is eternal, and so not limited by time.

• Allah decided to create the universe and because of his unlimited power and authority he commanded things to come into being.

• Allah then made all living creatures, the angels, the planets and the rain to allow vegetation to grow.

• Allah sent angels to Earth to collect seven handfuls of soil, all different colours, and with that soil Allah made the first man, Adam, breathing life and power into him.

• Eve, the first woman, was created from the side of Adam and lived with him in Paradise.

• Adam and Eve disobeyed Allah, though they were forgiven, and were sent from Paradise to the Earth which Allah had created.

• The Earth had been created to allow Adam and Eve and their descendants, the human race, to live and thrive.

• Creation took Allah six days to complete. The �ϳܰ�’a�� states: “Your Lord is Allah who created the heavens and the earth in six days – and His Throne was over the waters.”