Myths of evolution ?

Question

I believe in creation.
I am not looking for answers that support my view.
Haveing seen many Q&As about creation V evolution it got me thinking.
There are many stories in mant cultures & religions about how man was made and many gods.
Do you know of any myths of man evolveing ?
Best answer doesn't need to be one who agrees with my view.
Just not si-fi. Like Tolkien ,Donnaldson or Eddings

Elana. I stated my view up front & I am not asking for you to agree with me , nor am I asking for science based facts. I am just interested if there are cultures who believe in man comeing from other sources than a god based theory.

Alpha Wolf . I am Christian I believe in the creation as in the bible book of Genesis. No insult taken.I am an entamoligist an the more I learn the less I believe in evolution ,much to the discust of my co workers.
I did not how ever ask this question to argue who is right or wrong , just curious.

Magley64 What logic ? I was asking about myths not facts. Did you read the full details of the question.

Darwinsfriend thank you for a honest answer.

Arewethe Thank you ,a few others read the question too , but I think not many.

Answer 1

The best and only one I know of that isn't based in Christianity is an obscure Greek myth that says that the first round of humans were made from clay. After angering the gods enough to cause their total annihilation, the Gods recreated mankind, but out of stone this time, making them stronger and more durable.

As for a myth where man was animal first, I haven't heard any.

Hope that answers your question.

PS: Hope you don't mind I ask you a question? Do you believe that evolution could happen and still adhere to the Creation doctrine, or do you think mankind was just formed as is? Not meaning to disrespect you. Just curious.

Addition: No worries. Not here to argue with you either. Just wanted to know your stand on things out of curiosity, like I said. I don't have to agree to respect your views. To each his own. Peace.

BTW, did my bit of info at the top help, or was that not what you were looking for?

Answer 2

I think some of the Native American creation myths have a series of creations--each with "people" made of a different material, and sometimes a different type of world. Some were destroyed & recreated, but there was at least one that had people climbing from one world to the next. The Norse myths had people created from trees, but it was a whole-hog sort of thing--one minute it was a tree, the next a man.
While not an expert (I know little about American myth & nothing about Asian or African ones, for example), that's as close as I can get to something resembling evolution. To be honest, I would not expect many myths to do better, given the limitations of the time & mind set.
And just for the record, I believe in a God-started & -sponsored evolution.

Answer 3

Wow, I just read the other answers and did you get slammed or what!? lol I don't think anyone got what you are trying to say.

Personally I can't think of any evolution type myths, even the Tolkien one wouldn't really count because as I understand it you are looking for ANCIENT stories where man evolved rather than be created.

I wonder if there were such stories, would the church have allowed them to continue except in oral translation?

The closest I could come up with when I Googled it was this: http://www.alumbo.com/article/32556-Ancient-Evolution-Theory-And-Infinite-With-Finite-Paradox-In-Hinduism.html which gives the 10 incarnations of the Hindu Lord Maha Vishnu.

Sorry, I'm sure there are some out there, but I have no idea how to Google that because mostly what I come up with is religious organizations calling evolution a myth lol.

Answer 4

As far as I know there are not strong examples of evolution in myths, although indirectly myths do "slightly" support evolution in that many myths most likely came about to explain various exposed fossils. Examples of this are the Greek heroes were always very large this is probably due to the Greeks finding mammoth bones (which appear to be human if not in a full skeleton), this is supported by mammoth bones often found in Greek towns. Mammoth skulls, when viewed from the front appear to be large human skulls with a single eye. Similar parallels can be drawn for Gryphons and other stories.

There are many science theories that are not mention in myth this neither lends or detracts from the validity of the theory. What matters is the the evidence for the theory and how consistent the evidence is.

Edit:
Consider that most myths came about to explain various things in the world around the "myth makers", i.e fossils, storms, the sun rising and setting, why we are hear, and most importantly why we should follow our social conventions or "morality". Evolution, on the other hand, is not readily observable in a short life span as it is the continually summation of many small changes over thousands of years and the differences would most likely be seen across varying environments.

Answer 5

Almost all cultures, including China's Shang Ti (creator of the universe) have creation stories. Which is the most plausible? The others have probably been corrupted stories.

Evolution demands tons of increases in genetic information, violating the Law of Genetics.

Evolution demands Spontaneous Generation, which Louis Pasteur dealt "a mortal blow" in 1862 by rigorous experimentation. Pasteur failed to realize that evolutionists would believe despite the evidence.

Evolution says we descended from rocks. According to some top evolutionists, it has never been observed.

Is it any wonder that many of us are creationists?

Answer 6

Creationism is the present day manifestation of a protracted-status clash among technology and faith in Western Civilization. Prior to technology, and in all non-medical cultures, myths have been the one feasible reasons for a myriad of traditional phenomena, and those myths grew to become integrated into numerous devout ideals. Following the upward push and unfold of technology, in which strategies are proven in opposition to nature as a substitute than being made up our minds via devout authority and sacred texts, many phenomena earlier attributed to the supernatural (ailment, genetic defects, lightning, blights and plagues, epilepsy, eclipses, comets, intellectual sickness, and so forth.) grew to become identified to have traditional motives and reasons. Recognizing this, the Catholic Church eventually admitted, after 451 years, that Galileo was once right; the Earth was once now not the unmoving middle of the Universe. Mental sickness, beginning defects, and ailment are now not regarded the mark of evil or of God’s displeasure or punishment. Epileptics and individuals intoxicated via ergot-inflamed rye are now not burned on the stake as witches. As traditional motives have been learned and understood, devout professionals have been compelled to change lengthy-held positions within the face of developing medical abilities. This does now not imply technology has disproved the lifestyles of the supernatural. The technique of technology handiest offers with the fabric global.

Answer 7

You said no sci-fi, but the only thing I can honestly think of is Tolkien. The ringwraiths were once men who allowed their passion for the ring turn them into something different. And Gollum evolved into a monster when he was once a gentle being because of the ring. And so on and so on...

Evolution is a scientific, ongoing, much-tested fact that isn't going to really have "myths" to go along with it because it's complicated. Like someone else said, myths come about to explain things that most people can't understand because of a lack of education or whatever.

Answer 8

the Greeks had some great myths.

Prometheus created us gave us knowledge and fire. this angered Zeus. who strapped Prometheus to a rock to have an eagle rip out his liver and it would regrow everyday...ironically the liver is the only internal organ that can repair itself from damage. If I'm not mistaken Prometheus created man from clay. sound familiar? it should the judeo-christian god did the same thing many years later... read up on Prometheus, the one i like is Zeus hated humans for having the fire of the gods so he rips off flesh from on person and places it on the others... creating man and women... the flesh that he added always wants to return to the person that it was removed from... creating lust and sex.

is this evolution? well no but it is still more interesting then what creationist say.

Answer 9

In regards to "Darwins deathbed conversion".

Elizabeth Reid, Lady Hope was a British evangelist who is generally believed to be the Lady Hope who claimed in 1915 that she had visited the British naturalist Charles Darwin shortly before his death in 1882. Hope claimed that Darwin had recanted his theory of evolution on his deathbed and accepted Jesus Christ as his saviour.

Charles Darwin's family denied the story, and insisted that Lady Hope "was not present during his last illness, or any illness." The Lady Hope Story is generally recognized, even by many Creationists, to be false — or at least unverifiable — and if true, probably exaggerated. The story remains a popular urban legend, even though it stands in sharp contrast to Darwin's published and known views about Christianity.

I see Christians going on about this all the time, not one has bothered to ever research further on the subject. It goes with their 'believe what your told without questioning' personalities.

Answer 10

Evolution is a scientific process that has been discovered relatively recently. Most creation myths are at least a couple of thousand years old. It's not surprising that most myths aren't based around evolution.

Evolution, at times, seems to defy common sense, so ancient man wouldn't have automatically assumed it occured with no scientific support.

Note: This doesn't signify that evolution is at fault, but that our "common sense" doesn't always lead us to the right answer.