Littérature scientifique sur le sujet « Biblical Cosmogony »

The history of controversy over evolution and the bible is a history of confusion between biblical and scientific approaches to origins. Taking some cues from John Calvin who, in the 16th century, addressed the emerging controversies over cosmology, the paper examines a variety of differences between biblical and scientific types of literature as they deal with cosmogony. Biblical uses of phenomenal observation, analogical reasoning, numerology, and theological critique are distinguished from the approaches to origins used in modern scientific and historical investigations. Their respective models of origins are not in conflict unless they are mistakenly seen as mapping in the same way and for the same purposes.

Abstract After some preliminary remarks on Cyril’s two works on the Pentateuch, De adoratione and Glaphyra, as well as the σκοπός of the biblical text, this contribution deals with Cyril’s reading of the biblical account of the creation of the universe and creation of man. In contrast to other interpreters, e. g., the Cappadocian fathers, the Alexandrian patriarch does not show interest in a detailed explanation of cosmogony based on natural philosophy. He rather emphasizes the limits of the human mind in understanding the details of the act of God’s creation of the world. According to Cyril’s understanding of the goal of Moses’ writings, his exegesis of Genesis focuses especially on the creation of man. Convinced that Moses wrote his books as moral instruction to lead men to God, Cyril interprets selected parts of Genesis in a typological way in order to show man’s journey from the fall into sin to the restoration of a holy life.

The article shows a comparison between two ideas or ‘models' of community, Tönnies Gemeinschaft, reworked by Schmitt, and the Latin American indigenous peoples' Comunidad. A comparison that starts from the respective origin myths (the biblical Genesis on one hand, and the Maya cosmogony narrated in the Popol Vuh on the other) and arrives at the reflections on the subject of rights and freedoms that these narratives still produce today, in contemporary intercultural societies. The study focuses in particular on how the element of identity and belonging to a community can be used to motivate policies and laws oriented to the exclusion or inclusion, to discrimination or emancipation.

Наиболее фундаментальным и типичным видом мифотворчества осетин являются космогонические мифы. Космогонические мифы повествуют о происхождении космоса в целом и его частей, связанных в единой системе. Основным начальным сюжетом творения мира в осетинской космогонии является происхождение космоса из хаоса. Часть космогонии составляют антропогонические мифы, в том числе о сотворении человека, первой человеческой пары или первых людей. Осетинская мифология, восходящая к индоиранскому наследию, испытала влияние христианства, ислама и кавказской культурной общности. Актуальность исследования мотива творения человека заключается в том, что изучение антропогонических мифов составляет значимое звено по осмыслению целостной мифологической картины мира осетин. На основе типологического сравнения в статье рассматриваются сюжеты, восходящие к библейским мифам о творении человека. Осетинские мифы об Атане и Амане, об Арыге и Магре, несмотря на использование фольклорных традиций осетин при их пересказе, в своей основе сохраняют библейские рассказы об Адаме и Еве, потопе и Ноевом ковчеге. Однако большинство вариантов с мотивом творения человека, хотя имеют типологические схождения в мировом фольклоре, не выходят за рамки традиционного мифотворчества. Сюжет про нартовского героя «Сауасса» представляет интерес тем, что инициатором его сотворения выступает Солнце. В целом, все варианты антропогонических мифов расширяют понимание мифологической картины мира осетин. Для анализа сюжетов с мотивом творения человека были применены историко-культурный, символический и семиологические подходы в рамках типологического и сравнительно-исторического метода. Несмотря на многочисленные работы по мифологии осетин, антропогонические мотивы остались вне поля зрения ученых, что определяет новизну настоящего исследования. The most fundamental and typical type of Ossetian myth-making is cosmogonic myths. Cosmogonic myths tell about the origin of the cosmos as a whole and its parts connected in a single system. The main initial plot of the creation of the world in Ossetian cosmogony is the origin of the cosmos from chaos. Part of the cosmogony consists of anthropogonic myths, including the creation of man, the first human couple or the first people. Ossetian mythology, which dates back to the Indo-Iranian heritage, has been influenced by Christianity, Islam and the Caucasian cultural community. The relevance of the study of the motive of human creation lies in the fact that the study of anthropogonic myths constitute a significant link in understanding the holistic mythological picture of the Ossetian world. Based on a typological comparison, the article examines the plots dating back to the biblical myths about the creation of man. The Ossetian myths about Atan and Aman, about Aryga and Magra, despite the use of Ossetian folklore traditions in their retelling, basically retain the biblical stories about Adam and Eve, the flood and Noah's Ark. However, most variants with the motif of human creation, although they have typological similarities in world folklore, do not go beyond the traditional myth-making. The plot about the Nart hero "Sauassa", although it has typological similarities, is of interest because the Sun acts as the initiator of its creation. In general, all variants of anthropogonic myths expand the understanding of the mythological picture of the Ossetian world. Historical-cultural, symbolic and semiological approaches within the typological and comparative-historical method were used to analyze the plots with the motive of human creation. Despite numerous works on the mythology of the Ossetians, anthropogonic motifs remained out of sight of scientists, which determines the novelty of this study.

. This article shows the meaning of the concept of “nothing” in the history of European philosophical cosmogony. The author considers positive natural-philosophical emanationism in early antiquity, the category of “nothing” in the context of emanationism and demiurgism in the Platonic tradition, the Gnostic concept of creation and its correlates in church heterodoxy, as well as the idea of creation from nothing in biblical Christian creationism. The ratio of Gnostic, Platonic and Church cosmology is shown in the context of the interpretation of the category of nothing in these currents. The article provides a critical analysis of the concept of “creation from nothing”. Particular attention is paid to the interpretation of “nothing” in the Gnostic tradition and church heterodoxy. The author shows the interaction of the emanative and demiurgic models in Christian orthodoxy.

The parable has received little attention as a form in Zoroastrian Pahlavi literature. Taking a first step to correct this deficit, this article examines an extended parable that appears in the Škand Gumānīg Wizār, the ninth century theological and political treatise. The parable likens Ohramzd’s conflict with Ahriman and his creation of the world to a gardener’s attempt to keep hungry vermin from his garden by means of a trap. Borrowing tools developed in the study of rabbinic exegetical parables and poetics, the article argues that the garden parable not only aims to make a theological point as part of its immediate context in the Škand Gumānīg Wizār, but also it itself is an interpretation of the Zoroastrian account of creation. The article shows how the parable reinterprets inconsistencies and contradictions in that cosmogony, relating to the account of creation just as rabbinic parables relate to the gaps in canonical, biblical narratives.

Paul Veyne wrote a book entitled,Did the Greeks Believe their Myths?Regarding rabbinic Judaism, one might similarly ask: Did the rabbis believe their imagery? Rabbinic literature is so replete with fanciful images of God and humans and anecdotes of epiphanies involving both, that one naturally wonders whether the midrashic authors believed that their imagery reflected some actual moment in the world's history. Some scholars have chosen to view the literature as containing parables and images that were composed as mere metaphors, sometimes used for political purposes, and other times to spawn further associations and religious teachings. The question is, can one differentiate true statements about happenings in the material world from symbolic statements whose relationship to that material world is more vague? The tension is especially acute when one considers cosmogony, the story of human origins, and other moments in primoridal history. Yet it is no less present in those simple midrashic “biblical scenes” that are not actually part of the Tanakh, but which the sages readily ascribe to the text. Does a given rabbinic image convey literal beliefs about material happenings or metaphorical metaphysics?

Because the gnostic heresy is a social construction imposed by the early Catholics on religious people they identified as transgressors of Christianity, scholars are entertaining the idea that ancient gnostics were actually alternative Christians. While gnostics may have been made into heretics by the early Catholics, this does not erase the fact that gnostics were operating in the margins of the conventional religions with a countercultural perspective that upset and overturned everything from traditional theology, cosmogony, cosmology, anthropology, hermeneutics, scripture, religious practices, and lifestyle choices. Making the gnostic into a Christian only imposes another grand narrative on the early Christians, one which domesticates gnostic movements. Granted, the textual evidence for the interface of the gnostic and the Christian is present, but so is the interface of the gnostic and the Greek, the gnostic and the Jew, the gnostic and the Persian, and the gnostic and the Egyptian. And the interface looks to have all the signs of transgression, not conformity. Understanding the gnostic as a spiritual orientation toward a transcendent God beyond the biblical God helps us handle this kind of diversity and transgression. As such, it survives in the artifacts that gnostics and their opponents have left behind, artifacts that help orient religious seekers to make sense of their own moments of ecstasy and revelation.

The development of medieval Christian thought reveals from its inception in foundational authors like Augustine and Boethius an inherent engagement with Neoplatonism. To their influence that of Pseudo-Dionysius was soon added, as the first speculative medieval author, the Carolingian thinker Johannes Scottus Eriugena (810–877ce), used all three seminal authors in his magisterial demonstration of the workings of procession and return. Rather than a stable ongoing trajectory, however, the development of medieval Christian (Neo)Platonism saw moments of flourishing alternate with moments of philosophical stagnation. The revival of theTimaeusand Platonic cosmogony in the twelfth century marks the achievement of the so-called Chartrian authors, even as theTimaeusnever acquired the authority of the biblical book of Genesis. Despite the dominance of scholastic and Aristotelian discourse in the thirteenth century, (Neo)Platonism continued to play an enduring role. The Franciscan Bonaventure follows the Victorine tradition in combining Augustinian and Dionysian themes, but Platonic influence underlies the pattern of procession and return — reflective of the Christian arc of creation and salvation — that frames the thought of Thomas Aquinas. Echoing the interrelation of macro- and microcosmos, the major themes of medieval Christian Platonic thought are, on the one hand, cosmos and creation and, on the other, soul and self. The Dominican friar Meister Eckhart and the beguine Marguerite Porete, finally, both Platonically inspired late-medieval Christian authors keen on accomplishing the return, whether the aim is to bring out its deep, abyss-like “ground” (Eckhart) or to give up reason altogether and surrender to the free state of “living without a why” (Marguerite), reveal the intellectual audacity involved in upending traditional theological modes of discourse.

In this article titled “The Time of the End of Times in the Apocalyptical Literature” the author presents the study about the biblical vision of the final time which concern two domains christological and ecclesiological. This patristic study pertains to several subjects set forth in section and sub-section titles, such as: Christ as the Eternal Day of God, the Parousia as the Second Coming of Christ, the Day of Judgement, the Great Tribulation or Persecution (Mt 24: 21; Mk 13: 19; por. Dan 12: 1), “the great distress” (Rev 7: 14), the time of Pagans persisting for forty two months, the fall of Jerusalem (Mt 24: 1-3; Mk 13: 1-4; Lk 21: 5-7. 20), “abomination of desolation” (Dan 9: 27; 11: 3; 12: 11), Gog and Magog from the vision of Ezekiel (Ezek 38-39) and Apokalypse (Rev 20: 8), a great apostasy will be a prelude to the Second Coming of Christ, “a hundred and forty-four thou­sand who had his [Lamb’s] name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads [and] who had been ransomed from the earth” (Rev 14: 1. 3), Antichrist (1Jn 2: 18. 22; 4: 2-3; 2Jn 7) and his time three and a half years (Rev 11: 9. 11) or forty-two months (Rev 11: 2; 13: 5). The Antichrist refers to the ruling spirit of error, the enemy of the Gospel, and the opponent of Christ who will precede His Second Coming and the end of the world. He is the incarnation of wickedness, pride, and hostility toward Christ’s redemptive work. This section delves into the number 666 (Rev 13: 18; 15: 2), false prophets (2Pet 2: 1), false teachers (2Pet 2: 1). In the biblical apocalyptic literature we can find a few visions of the cosmic catastrophes and cataclysms such as “earthquakes” (Mt 24: 7; Mk 13: 8), “famines” (Mt 24: 7; Mk 13: 8). In this study, appeared the theory of Millenarianism (from Latin mille) or chiliasm (from Greek c…lioi) based on a literal interpretation of Apocalypse (Rev 20: 2-7) which interpretation teaches that the visible personal rule of Christ on earth will last for a duration of a thousand years before the end of the world. Two themes are given special study in this article. First is the distinction of the interpretation of time. Second, is the interpretation of the prophetic announce­ments and eschatological visions from the Bible, and the potential influence of the ancient apocalyptic stories and writings in the redaction of the Bible. As to the first theme, the application of Greek distinction of concept of time as duration (crÒnoj) from time as fulfilment and accomplishment (kairÒj) to the Hebrew conception of time is problematic. Substantial biblical concept of time is an event which pertains to time, otherwise as time having specific event, more then a time extending indefinite time. In the theological perspective, perception of time is therefore an action of God. From the very beginning to the end of Biblical History, time is the means of God’s deeds of salvation. Thence for the biblical author, the historic-redemptive (salvation) concept of the world appears before his metaphysical conception. This concept is also readily apparent in the description of the seven days from the ancient Semitic cosmogony well-known from the Book of Genesis. This topic contains an important christological and messianic aspect. The his­tory of the world become conditioned and dependant, defined and designated by the existence of the Word of God, Creation and Incarnation by the birth of the Son of God, fulfilment of time by the second coming of the Son of Man siting at the right hand of God (Mk 16: 19; Heb 12: 2), the end of time by the judgement of God. One can speak of christological concept of time and also of christological concept of the world. The discussion of the second theme revolves around the interpretation of the Fathers of the Church on apocalyptic writings. This analysis of the meaning of the apocalyptical symbols is presented according to the interpretation of the Fathers of the Church, starting with all commentary of the Book of Revelation written from the beginning to the 12th Century. Outstanding among Greek and Latin writ­ers from the ancient time through the Middle Ages are: Papias of Hierapolis, Jus­tin Martyr, Hippolytus, Irenaeus of Lyon, Origen, Tertullien, Lactance, Eusebius of Caesarea, Didymus of Alexandria, Victorinus of Pettau, Gregory of Nyssa, Je­rome, Augustine of Hippo, Quodvultdeus, Primasius, Caesarius of Arles, Gregory the Great, Isidore of Seville, Raban Maur, Bede the Venerable, Ambroise Autpert, Beatus of Liébana, Rupert of Deutz, Joachim of Fiore, Richard of Saint-Victor. It is well known that, between the years 200 B.C. and 150 A.D., prophetic writings appeared in certain Jewish or Christian circles. These prophetic writings were called Apocalypses. After a careful analysis, this article hypothesizes that the Bible is influenced by this ancient apocalyptic literature. The Biblical Apocalyptic Literature was dependent upon formularies and ex­pressions used in the ancient Apocalyptic Literature. Some symbols or apocalyptic numbers were accepted from the ancient Literature, sometimes diminishing and sometimes enlarging their meaning. On the basis of formularies and symbols from Biblical Apocalyptic, the Fathers of the Church built their own historical-theolog­ical interpretation of eschatological events. In the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, there are prophetic announcements and eschatological visions. The New Testament is a repetition of those visions and those announcements made in the Old Testament. The Book of Revelation is the conclusion of those announcements and the accomplishment of those visions. An example of this use of the apocalyptical symbols in the theological and historical contexts by the Christian writers is found in the interpretation of the vi­sion of Gog and Magog. The vision of the Gog and Magog was usually interpreted in the historical context. They were identified with Goths, Barbaric people who invaded and conquered most of the Roman Empire in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries. Yet this epic figure is reinterpreted with the turn of each new century. In the new historical context, the writers give a new interpretation, but the theology of these symbols remains the same.

Ethical Encounter Theology (E.E.T.) is developed as a scientifically coherent, perfect being theist worldview, supported by holistic biblical readings and a strong theodicy. Ethically-structured cosmogony bridges the revelational/empirical gap that separates traditional perfect being theism from Theology/Science research. The dissertation explores an ethical worldview where biblical faith in a perfect God is consonant with contemporary science. Processes of ethical encounter, binary ethical apocalypsis and ethical dialysis characterize a worldview in which science and traditional theology can share a goal of exposing and separating right from wrong. Ecollation (physical actualization of invisible information) and binary ethical apocalypsis (reification of right and wrong ethical possibilities) are argued to have accompanied the progress of naturalistic evolution and to have added lasting meaning to world history. The ethical structuring of our world is argued to have begun with a prolepsis (and/or divine prescience) of moral evil. That caused the cosmic ethical anthropic problem (c.e.a.p.) which imprisoned creation’s goodness in a singularity of selfishness. An encounter with divine self-giving love then enabled this to expand into our universe. Thus evolutionary complexification takes place in a matrix of invisible potentials, including right and wrong ethical possibilities. The visible and invisible moieties of a creatio ex ethica universe facilitate an ongoing dialectic between divine right ethics and human resistance to virtue. All evolutionary history is expected to be conserved to constitute the evidence required for eschatological justice. This differentiates E.E.T. from those naturalistic and panentheistic theologies where history is disposable. The biblical story of original sin is taken to be a dramatization of the primal problem (c.e.a.p.) between God and humankind. Freedom of choice is the divine means for there to be a just judgment and ethical dialysis at the Eschaton. Our anthropic universe’s contingency, waste, suffering, injustice and futility are consequences of the freedom required to resolve the c.e.a.p. Nevertheless, ethical identification and separation processes are specifically salvific, eternally instructive and greatly honor God. They provide a theologically very good motive for creating a universe like ours.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Humanities
Arts, Education and Law
Full Text

Thesis (DLitt)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation looks at the reception of Gen. 1-3, one of the most controversial parts in the Hebrew Bible. How was it interpreted by the Nguni speaking communities (e.g. Xhosa, Zulu, siSwazi and siNdebele) taking into consideration their background, culture and religious belief system? The reception approach is followed in the research because of its emphasis on the role of the reader in understanding texts. Sources that are utilized are Nguni Bible translations, selected preached sermons (which the researcher attended himself), Nguni stories and folk tales and reviews undertaken among selected Nguni groups. A close-reading of the texts under discussion is undertaken in order to determine the basic content and issues of interpretation involved. The central concepts of cosmogony as contained in Gen. 1-2 are studied, as well as the story of the Garden of Eden and the concept of the “fall” in Gen. 3. The map of the Nguni language group is described and the culture and belief system of the Nguni speaking communities. Central concepts to this belief system are the worship of ancestors, marriage, circumcision, and among the Swazis the incwala (annual national feast) Legends and folk tales were used as sources for the Nguni belief system. It was determined that the Nguni speaking people worshipped one God in their traditional way, but always through their ancestors as a sign of respect. The role of the missionaries is analyzed by describing the history of the various missionary societies and their influence on the Nguni peoples. A very short discussion is devoted to preached sermons by Nguni pastors in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.Bible translations have always played a very important role among Nguni speakers (both Christians and non-believers). The need for translations using understandable contemporary terms is emphasized. This is the challenge to the Bible societies and Bible translators. Qualitative reviews were undertaken under selected Nguni speaking groups (Xhosa, Zulu, siSwati and siNdebele). Some of the results obtained from these reviews (full transcripts are included) are: (1) that there is a common understanding of the origin of the universe between the Hebrew Bible and the Nguni religious culture. (2) Serpent (Gen. 3): among the Zulus this concept is understood in terms of sexuality, but it can also be linked with the ancestors. (3) Both communities (Hebrew Bible and the Nguni) were tainted with the concept and ideology of patriarchalism. The crucial question in the research was: “what happens when a cosmogonic myth is transferred from one community to another?” In the case of Gen. 1-3 an ancient Hebrew text was transmitted to African cultures via missionaries and Bible translations. Nguni people react differently. Whereas some accept Gen. 1-3 (cosmogonies and the “fall”) as a detailed explanation of how creation and the “fall” came about, others reject it.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie proefskrif kyk na die resepsie van Gen. 1-3, een van die mees kontroversiële dele in die Hebreeuse Bybel. Hoe word dit geïnterpreteer deur die Ngunisprekende gemeenskappe (Xhosas, Zoeloes, Swazi’s en Ndebele-groepe), met inagneming van hulle agtergrond, kultuur en stelsel van godsdienstige oortuigings? Die resepsiebenadering word in hierdie navorsing gevolg weens die klem op die rol van die leser in hoe tekste verstaan word. Die bronne wat aangewend is, is Ngunibybelvertalings, geselekteerde preke (wat die navorser self bygewoon het), Ngunistories en -volksverhale, en onderhoude wat met geselekteerde Ngunigroepe gevoer is. 'n In-dieptestudie van die betrokke tekste is onderneem ten einde die basiese inhoud en interpretasiekwessies te bepaal. Die sentrale konsep van kosmogonie, soos vervat in Gen. 1- 2, is bestudeer, asook die storie oor die Tuin van Eden en die konsep van die “sondeval” in Gen. 3. Die kaart van die Ngunitaalgroep word beskryf, asook die kultuur en geloofstelsel van die Ngunisprekende gemeenskappe. Sleutelkonsepte in hierdie geloofstelsel is die aanbidding van voorvaders, die huwelik, besnydenis, en onder die Swazi’s, die incwala (jaarlikse nasionale fees). Legendes en volksverhale is gebruik as bronne vir die Ngunigeloofstelsel. Daar is vasgestel dat die Ngunisprekende mense altyd een God aanbid het op hulle tradisionele manier, maar altyd deur voorvaders as 'n teken van respek. Die rol van die sendelinge word ontleed deur die geskiedenis van die verskeie sendinggenootskappe te beskryf, asook hulle invloed op die Ngunimense. 'n Baie kort bespreking word gewy aan preke gelewer deur Ngunipastore in die Sewendedaagse Adventistekerk.Bybelvertalings het nog altyd 'n baie belangrike rol gespeel onder Ngunisprekers (beide Christene en nie-gelowiges). Die behoefte vir vertalings wat verstaanbare, kontemporêre terme gebruik, word beklemtoon. Dít is die uitdaging wat aan die bybelgenootskappe en bybelvertalers gestel word. Kwalitatiewe onderhoude is afgelê onder geselekteerde Ngunisprekende groepe (Xhosas, Zoeloes, Swazi’s en Ndebele-groepe). Resultate wat verkry is van hierdie evaluerings (waarvan volledige transkripsies voorsien word) sluit in: (1) dat daar 'n gemeenskaplike begrip is van die oorsprong van die heelal by die Hebreeuse Bybel en die Ngunigeloofskultuur; (2) dat die konsep van die slang (Gen. 3) onder die Zoeloes in terme van seksualiteit verstaan word, maar dat dit ook met die voorvaders in verband gebring kan word; en (3) dat beide gemeenskappe (Hebreeuse Bybel en die Nguni) tekens dra van die konsep en ideologie van patriargisme. Die kernvraag in die navorsing was: “Wat gebeur wanneer ’n kosmogoniese mite oorgedra word van een gemeenskap na 'n ander?”. In die geval van Gen. 1-3 is 'n ou Hebreeuse teks oorgedra na Afrikakulture via sendelinge en bybelvertalings. Ngunimense reageer verskillend. Waar sommige Gen. 1-3 aanvaar (kosmogonieë en die “sondeval”) as 'n gedetailleerde verduideliking van hoe die skepping en die “sondeval” plaasgevind het, word dit deur ander verwerp.

«Au commencement, Dieu créa le Ciel et la Terre». À l’ouverture du récit de la Genèse, le plus célèbre des incipit condense ce qui a constitué durant des siècles à la fois l’imagerie et le modèle théorique de la Création du monde en Occident. Or, dès le XVIIe siècle, la conception de la Création s’enrichit de considérations savantes qui bousculent l’univoque de la version biblique. Le récit canonique est alors instruit par les notions profanes d’évolution ou de loi mécanique qui bouleversent l’image biblique d’un Dieu-Créateur du monde en six jours dont la tradition avait longtemps fixé le canon. Pensées au pluriel, les représentations de la Création du monde se diversifient au sein d’une iconographie variée et créative, fruit de la conciliation entre le sacré et le profane qui autorise des représentations inédites où Dieu viendrait souffle rles tourbillons imaginés par Descartes ou encore dynamiser un mécanisme terrestre résolument voltairien. À l’heure de sa complexification théorique, il sera plus particulièrement question d'appréhender la relecture du mythe biblique de la Création du monde dans les arts de la période concernée. À partir d’un corpus d’images tirées de divers horizons – bibliques, scientifiques,alchimiques ou physico-théologiques – l’objet de cette thèse est justement d’appréhender la résilience de l’iconographie biblique dans un monde en pleine sécularisation. Nous verrons notamment comment, autorité latente ou référent stéréotypé, telle une ombre, la figure du Créateur condense toute la complexité des rapports entre l’homme et ses mythes
“In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth”. Opening of the first chapter of the Genesis,the most well-known incipit of all time sums up both the imagery and the main idea of the Creation of the World that has existed in the west for thousands of years. However, this biblical conception of Creation starts to weaken in the beginning of the XVIIth century and to expand to embrace scientific views when secular ideas of evolution or the laws of mechanics shook the biblical tradition of the six-Day Creation narrative. The once unique idea of a World Creation becomes a more complex concept at the crossroads between sacred and profaneand authorized innovative pictures representing, for example, God blowing the Cartesian cosmogenic whirlpools or giving thrust to the terrestrial mechanism inspired by Voltaire. When the groundbreaking theories on the Creation were published, it was necessary to focus on the artistic reinterpretations of the myth. Based on a great diversity of images – biblical, scientific,alchemical – we’ll try to analyze how biblical iconography stands still at the time of the global secularization of the world in which, as a paradoxical authority or an unconscious standard, the image of the Creator holds up the complex relationship between Man and his Mythology

The rise of naturalism in the earth sciences is discussed in terms of the disappearance from the geological literature of references to the Bible and God. From Immanuel Kant’s ground-breaking nebular hypothesis of 1755, such references were to be found with decreasing frequency in the leading treatises that dealt with the origin and historical development of Earth. Biblical cosmogony and God-talk were not included in the new earth and planetary sciences but relegated to the sphere of metaphysics. Especially Alexander von Humboldt, by the middle of the nineteenth century, proved trend-setting, and the Humboldtian approach of epistemological naturalism acquired predominance. All the same, in many instances, the disentanglement of geology and theology did not go with anti-religious sentiment but with what Ronald Numbers refers to as the privatization of religion.

This chapter examines the significance of Afrique ambiguë and ascertains how this autobiographical narrative resonates with Balandier’s other scientific outputs (e.g. Sociologie actuelle de l’Afrique noire). This book provides a wealth of information to understand how the decolonization of sub-Saharan Africa unfolded in the 1950s. The many ambiguities recorded by Balandier are played out on the cultural, political, and religious planes. However, it is also a book testifying to Balandier’s efforts to account for the chronological complexity of decolonization, a historical process in which tradition and modernity, progress and development, but also past, present, and future are approached from a non-developmentalist angle. The first part focuses on Balandier’s exploration of the environmental devastation brought about by colonialism in British-ruled Nigeria and in French Congo. The second part examines the issue of cultural dispossession but also, via a focus on female circumcision, the strategies adopted by locals to transform traditional customs. The third part is devoted to Kongo messianism and analyses how some prophets used biblical messages to develop an anti-colonial agenda and reform the Kongo cosmogony.

This chapter focuses on two key themes constructive accounts of the imago Dei must address: the continuing relevance of the image/likeness distinction beyond its original exegetical framing and how what we mean by ‘image’ might be better theologically rendered as ‘symbol.’ Situating the doctrine in the wider biblical cosmogony from which it arises, while focusing on three historical theologians—Irenaeus, Augustine, and Schleiermacher—the chapter builds a case for what constitute inescapable elements of this symbol. Building on this historical recapitulation, it is argued that to be the image of God is to be a symbol of God: one who refracts the creative power of God evidenced in cosmogonies to facilitate the flourishing intra-action of living systems with the habitable environment. The consequence of this approach is that to be the imago Dei is not something properly ascribed to any individual organism as a marker of distinctiveness, but it describes a particular type of astrobiological intra-action that extends the creative power of the divine as a refraction, not merely a reflection.