Introduction
An account of African cosmogony must first come to terms with a set of issues likely to generate controversy. Foremost has been the scholastic predisposition to regard them as of less interest because of their supposed comparative simplicity and lack of theoretical sophistication in articulating visions of a cosmos generally, even in mythical terms. This is linked to a view of indigenous religions in the African context as anachronisms that are the vestigial remains of cultures whose precolonial authenticity has been in a state of decline for several centuries. Christianity and Islam, on the other hand, are often portrayed as dynamic missionary enterprises, almost inevitably destined to prevail and thereby bring Africa and Africans into the domain of respectably articulated "world" religions—and cosmologies. People have long wondered how the world came into being. They have answered the question with stories that describe the origin of the universe or the world and usually of human life as well. Creation myths, known as cosmogonies, express people's understanding of the world and their place in it. The world's mythologies and religions offer an immense variety of creation stories. Yet scholars have discovered that the cosmogonies of different cultures fall into broad categories and contain many shared themes.
WHAT IS COSMOGONY
Cosmogony is the study of the origin and development of the universe as a whole and of the individual bodies that compose it. Since cosmogony attempts to deal with creation, cosmogonies of the past have been a part of religion or mythology. Modern cosmogony forms part of scientific cosmology, the study of all aspects of the large-scale physical universe contents and organization as well as its history.
AFRICAN COSMOGONY
Unlike other world faiths, African traditional religions have no predominant doctrinal teachings. Rather, they have certain vital elements that function as core beliefs. Among these beliefs are origin myths, the presence of deities, ancestor veneration, and divination. African cosmology (explanation of the nature of the universe) tends to assert that there is a Supreme God who is helped by a number of lesser deities. Spirits are the connection between the living and the invisible worlds. Anyone can communicate with the spirits, but priests, priestesses, prophets, and diviners have more direct access to invisible arenas of the world.
In African traditional religions the sense of time is often described in cyclical rather than linear imagery. In the cosmology of the Dagara (an ethnic group in the Niger region of West Africa), for instance, the wheel or circle represents the cyclical nature of life as well as of the Earth. The wheel contains everything found on Earth. According to the Yoruba (an ethnic group from Nigeria), the life force that pervades all phenomena exists in an eternal cycle of complex interactions between cosmic domains; these interactions should always remain in balance. In African traditional religions the cosmogony (theory of the origin of the universe) usually describes humans appearing near the end of creation. In many creation stories God is likened to a potter who creates humans out of clay and then pours the breath of life into them.
African religions rely on the memory of oral stories. Thus, doctrine tends to be more flexible than it is in text-based religions, and it changes according to the immediate needs of religious followers. African traditional religions are a communal endeavor, and it is not required that an individual believe in every element. As in any democratic system, individuals may participate in ways that benefit their interests, their community roles, or their status as religious leaders. Because religion permeates all aspects of a traditional African culture, if an individual rejects the culture's religion, he or she may become isolated from family, friends, and the community.
Narratives about the creation of the universe (cosmogony) and the nature and structure of the world (cosmology) form the core philosophy of African religions. These narratives are conveyed in a linguistic form that scholars often refer to as myth. The term "myth" in African religions means sacred stories that are believed to be true by those who hold to them. To the African people who espouse them, myths reveal significant events and episodes of the most profound and transcendent meaning. They are not fixed, because accounts may vary from generation to generation or even among individuals who tell these stories. Myths do, however, retain similar structures and purposes: to describe the way things were at the beginning of time and to explain the cosmic order. They generally involve superhuman entities, gods, demigods, spirits, and ancestors.
The notion that myth is nonrational and unscientific, while history is critical and rational, is not always accurate, nor does it represent the outlook of practitioners of traditional religions. Many African myths deal with events that devotees consider as authentic and "real" or as symbolic expressions of historical events. Furthermore, scholars today assert that the supposedly accurate records of missionaries, colonial administrators, and the indigenous elite were susceptible to distortion. The fact that myths have endured for generations gives them their authority. Each generation expresses and reinterprets the myths, making the events revealed in them relevant to contemporary conditions.
African cosmogonic narratives explain how the world was put into place by a divine personality, usually the Supreme God in collaboration with lesser supernatural beings who act on his behalf or aid in the creative process. In several cultures a supreme deity performs creation through mere thought processes. In other cases the Supreme Being instructs lesser deities on how to create by providing them with materials to undertake the process. For instance, the Yoruba believe that the Supreme Being, Olódùmarè, designated the orisa (deities) responsible for creating the universe. In the creation story of the Abaluhya of Kenya, the Supreme Being, called Wele Xakaba, created the universe in a manner that resembles the seven-day creation of the world by God in the Bible, with the seventh day being a time of rest. There are myths that say the world was created out of an existing abyss or a watery universe uninhabited by animate beings. In African cosmological narratives creation is always portrayed as a complex process, whether the universe is said to have evolved from preexisting matter or from divine thought.
The Fon of Benin, in western Africa, and their neighbors, the Yoruba of Nigeria, share many elements of a highly intricate cosmology. They worship a number of the same deities—including Sango, god of thunder and lightning; Ògún, god of war and iron; Èsù, messenger of the gods; and Ifa, the god of divination. …
CHRISTIAN COSMOGONY
The christian doctrine of cosmology is the study of the world primarily as the sphere of redemption. The word Cosmology comes from the two Greek words, "Kosmos" meaning world or world order, and "Logos" meaning speech or reason. Hence the treatise or reasoned discourse on the world especially as concerning creation and preservation. The various meanings of the word world in the Bible denote a varied sum of things. Cremer in his lexicon says in the general sense it denotes the "ordered sum total of what God has created." Thus, "the heavens and the earth" of the Old Testament. For in the Old Testament there is no word denoting the sum total of creation. In a narrower sense of the word world is used to denote the sphere of human activity, a human system world order of things, as lying in the wicked one, belonging to the sphere of Satan's usurped authority. As John said, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world" meaning not the trees, flowers, nor geography of the earth, but the worldly system opposed to God. Again the word is used as a translation of the word "aeon" or age. As the world of time, the progression of the world as a movement, is ages. This study shall be primarily concerned with the Universe as a whole and this earthly sphere in redemption, and an outline of the sum total of creation. The Christian viewpoint of Cosmology or the study of creation is in the light of God's plan of creation. The scriptures affirm that this earth is the center or focal point of all creation as far as the universe is concerned and man is the center of this earthly interest. The earth was made for him and in a real sense the heavenly bodies were made for him. Gen. 1:14-18. The sun was to give light and life to the earth and man, to divide night from days for signs and for seasons. Yes and with the renovation of the earth with fire, the heavenly bodies shall also perish with this present order. II Pet. 3:10. But greater than this, the paramount importance `of earth, is the advent of God's Son upon it to accomplish redemption here. The Scriptures and for Him. Col. 1:16. It was made to be the theatre of God's crowning work of recreation. Upon no other planet or within no other universe would God die upon a cross to save sinners. This earth and its redemption, with God's Son dying upon a cross certainly constitutes the central theme of God's creative power and wisdom. Herein lies our interest in Cosmology.
ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS
Themes in Cosmogony Myths.
In explaining how creation led to the world as it now exists, cosmogonies explore several basic themes. Most creation myths illustrate one or more of these themes. The theme of separation or differentiation deals with the forming of distinct things out of what was once a formless unity. Separation may be a physical act. In Polynesian myth, for example, the children of Mother Earth and Father Sky force their parents apart so that the world can exist between them. Cosmogonies may describe creation as taking place in stages that mark the process of differentiation. The Old Testament says that God took six days to create light and darkness, the heavens, the earth and plants, the sun and moon, the sea creatures and animals, and the first people. A second theme is imperfection. According to many cosmogonies, the creator planned to make a perfect world, but something went wrong. As a result, flaws such as evil, illness, and death entered the creation. The Dogon of West Africa say that the world is imperfect because one of a pair of twins broke out early from the cosmic egg. The Hawaiians relate that the earth goddess Papa cursed humans with death after she discovered an incestuous affair between her husband and daughter. Dualism, or tension between opposing forces, is an underlying theme of many creation stories, especially those that revolve around conflict. Greek myths about the war between the Titansand the gods are just one example of conflict between cosmic parents and their offspring. Sometimes the conflict involves twins or brothers. Some Native Americans of the northeast woodlands explain that the world is the way it is because two gods played a role in its creation. Gluskap, good and wise, created plants, animals, and people. His evil, selfish brother Malsum madepoisonous snakes and plants.
The theme of sacrifice reflects the idea that life is born out of death. Someone must die, or at least shed blood, before the world and life can begin. The Enuma Elish tells how the god Marduk killed the primeval goddess Tiamat and cut her body into two parts that became the heavens and the earth. Sometimes the first people are made from a god's blood, perhaps mixed with dust or clay. Creation may also involve the slaying of a primal beast or monster.
A few cosmogonies describe cycles in which the world is created and destroyed a number of times. Hindu scriptures say that Brahma * has remade the world many times. Four ages, or yugas, make a kalpa, or eon. When a kalpa ends, creation dissolves into chaos.
The Omaha Big Bang
Modern scientists think that the universe began billions of years ago with an explosion of matter and energy called the Big Bang. The Native American Omaha people have their own "big bang" account of creation. At first all living things were spirits floating through space, looking for a place to exist in bodily form. The sun was too hot. The moon was too cold. The earth was covered with water. Then a huge boulder rose out of the water and exploded with a roar and a burst of flame that dried the water. Land appeared. The spirits of plants settled on earth. Animal spirits followed. Finally the spirits of people took bodily form on earth.
The Aztecs of Mexico believed that the present world was the fifth that the gods had created. It was fated to end in universal destruction by earthquakes. The four previous worlds had been destroyed by a great flood, the falling of the sky, a fire storm, and a wind storm. The Maya believed that the gods made three unsuccessful attempts to create human beings before achieving a satisfactory result. Their first creations animals, people made of mud, and wooden people disappointed them in various ways, and they abandoned or destroyed them. Finally, the gods made people of maize (corn) who were perfect, so perfect that their creators clouded their vision to prevent them from seeing too far.
Stories of the Great Beginning
Every regions of the world has produced numerous creation stories, and some cultures and religions have more than one. A sampling of myths from various sources shows both the endless variety of cosmogonies and the similarities in their structures and themes. Some African creation myths feature a huge snake, often identified with the rainbow, whose coils make up the universe. In West and Central Africa the idea of creation from a cosmic egg is common.
Twins or paired, dualistic powers appear in many African creation stories. The Fon of West Africa tell of the first mother, Nana Buluku, who gave birth to the twins Mawu (moon) and Lisa (sun), the parents of all the other gods, who were also born in sets of twins. Some African cosmogonies, however, are less concerned with the creation of the physical universe and the gods than with the appearance of the first man and first woman and the ordering of human society.
The notion of a supreme creator god appears throughout Africa. The Bushongo people of the Congo region called the creator Bumba. He was the sole inhabitant of a watery universe until he vomited up the sun, which dried the water. Then he vomited up the first animals and people.
The Americas. The Incas of South America claimed that darkness covered the earth until the god Con Tiqui Viracocha rose out of a lake, bringing with him the first people. He made more people out of rocks, then sent them out to populate the whole world. When these inhabitants rebelled against Con Tiqui Viracocha, he punished them by stopping the rainfall. A god named Pachachamac overthrew Con Tiqui Viracocha and created a new race of people, the ancestors of humans.
Cosmology and the environment
Cosmology and environment provide sufficient information and motivation to galvanize widespread action on environmental issues is gaining adherents both within and beyond the academy. The turn to science for materials from which to construct a new cosmology is evident in a variety of emerging movements that go by such names as the Epic of Evolution, The Great Story, the Journey of the Universe, The New Story, and Big History. As environmental problems intensify, proponents of these new cosmologies claim that what is called for is an evidence-based global story and a common ethic. Implicit or explicit in these movements is a conviction that existing religious traditions are too parochial (lacking global appeal) and too far removed from scientific realities and contemporary environmental concerns. Proponents of the new cosmology believe that the physical and biological sciences reveal the distinctly storied nature of our cosmos a story that belongs to all and that this cosmic story will inspire wonder and deep concern for the planetary biota, because its core narrative is both universal and true. On this view, scientific narratives can satisfy our deep-seated need for meaning, ritual, and ethical guidance, while firmly grounding us in evolutionary and cosmic realities. The new cosmology thus invests science with mythic, revelatory power; far from disenchanting our world, science is celebrated as a primary vehicle for restoring wonder, meaning, and value.
Scientific cosmogony
Scientific cosmologies are increasingly being consecrated, and for increasing numbers of individuals and groups, they provide spiritual meaning and ethical guidance. A lthough we should always be on the alert for the shadow side of any religion (given their penchant for setting up categories of inclusion and exclusion, purity and defilement, which can have socially divisive and sometimes violent consequences) science-based worldviews are far less likely to have such effects than the world’s predominant religions. This is in part because scientific understandings often produce awe and wonder at the mysteries and beauties of the earth and universe, and a concomitant understanding of its fragility and uniqueness of life on earth. This increases, in my view, the value of the earth’s living systems in comparison to religions that promise divine rescue from the world or its sufferings, or otherwise view it as penultimate, a way-station, or illusory in some way. Moreover, an evolutionary understanding reveals that we human beings share a common ancestor with all other life forms and so we are, quite literally, kin with all life, not just our closest human relatives. Such understandings erode supremacist ideologies, whether racist or anthropocentric. So on those occasions when I engage in normative rather than descriptive analysis, I am not only less worried about the bio-cultural implications of the spread and consecration of scientific understandings, but I also consider these trends, in general, to be salutary.
How do people incorporate evolution into their religious worldview?
Religious traditions vary in their response to evolution. For example, Asian religious worldviews do not assume an all-powerful creator God and often see the world religiously as interconnected and dynamic. They tend, therefore, to engage scientific accounts of evolution with little difficulty. However, for Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions, the affirmation of a creator God in relation to the world has a central place. As noted in the discussion of various forms of “creationism” above, many individuals in these monotheistic traditions accept, generally, that God created the material world mostly by means of evolutionary processes. At the same time, some of these persons are committed to the view that there are a few specific acts of divine creative intervention: namely, at the very beginning of the universe, at the origin of life, and at the origin of humankind. However, as previously noted, others in the monotheistic traditions hold that God creates entirely by means of evolutionary processes without any intervention, even in the case of humans.
At least for theistic evolutionists and evolutionary theists the scientific exhibition on evolution and human origins stimulates the questions, “Where is God in the process?” and “What does it mean to be created in God’s image?” To the extent that such questions provoke a constructive engagement of scientific and religious ideas, they are an expression of an interaction approach to science and religion. There are many though, who adopt a separation approach to science and religion. For these individuals there is no need to raise religious questions in light of the science of human origins.
conclusion
Cosmogony "the beginnings of the Cosmos" always reflect the world view of the thinker. How the world began is a question that cannot be answered scientifically, and to think of it "historically" is absurd since there can in principle be no eyewitnesses. How did everything start, and why? These are philosophical or, equivalently, religious questions, to do with ontology: they are not scientific questions. They are prior to any scientific treatment. So, the opening statement, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth", is a very clear cosmogonical statement. One might think that the acceptance by modern physicists of the Big Bang, which also affirms a clear temporal start to our Universe, makes this aspect of it also a cosmogenical statement, but this is not the case since most of the exponents of the Big Bang theory also believe some sort of oscillating universe or multiversity conception which avoids this Biblical singularity. One should be clear that these alternate conceptions are speculative: they are unproved, and it seems plain that they are improvable. Therefore since the environmental crisis of cosmogony is unproveable, the solutions of the problem can never be easily solved.