ABSTRACT
It may appear unsystematic to consider the world’s origins after having discussed matters concerned with the world that exists. But this is not really so. For homo religiosus - which is to say all men on earth, for here our existential experience accords with the findings of scholarship - the relationship with the divinity throughout the course of this life is the most important thing; this is certainly the starting-point of religion as such. We tend to be held in thrall by the arrangement of the Old Testament, which begins with the creation. But we then realize that this arrangement is deliberately topical rather than chronological. Chronologically, the classical account of the creation compiled by the priestly writers (Genesis i-ii. 4 a) is preceded by legal maxims based upon Yahveh’s authority, as well as numerous sayings which God spoke through the mouths of the prophets concerning Yahveh’s earthly purposes and deeds and, finally, traditional accounts of historical events, like the exciting tale of the succession to David’s throne (2 Samuel vi ff.; 1 Kings i-ii), which portray God’s direction of mundane affairs.1 The second and earlier account of the creation, that of the Yahvist (Genesis ii. 4b ff.), is likewise by no means the earliest literary document concerning the religion of Israel. Its anthropocentric tendency already points distinctly to the relation ship between God and man, which is given full expression in the subsequent story about the Fall of Man. Thus the religion of Israel also dealt first with life on earth, not the creation, and we
are within our rights in treating Egyptian teachings about the creation and evolution of the cosmos at this point, after discussing the relationship between God and man in the world. Our use of two terms, creation and evolution, may seem like a clumsy para phrase, but in fact the two phenomena are distinct in Egypt; it is precisely this distinction (and also of course the evidence of links between them) that will chiefly concern us here. The creation of the world belongs to the realm of faith. To say that God has created the world is to make a profession of belief. The evolution of the world, on the other hand, is something open to scientific investigation - even when, as in Egypt, it always remained within the domain of myth.
