Nihongi Vs Genesis

Throughout history there have always been questions about the origin of the world, creation and divine power. In the creation stories, The Book of Genesis and Shinto Myth from the Nihongi, there are similar beliefs that there is a stronger higher power creating and controlling events throughout the world. Both stories profess that man and woman are created by this higher power to multiply and occupy the earth; however, the stories differ in the beliefs of the origins of the divine powers with Genesis based on monotheism and Nihongi based on polytheism. Throughout both stories, the nature of the divinity, how natural elements are respected and the relationship between man and woman are all aspects of a power struggle that defines how the
In Genesis, the woman is presented in two different ways. The first two chapters of Genesis have different views of how the woman should be perceived, with Chapter 2 creating a definite male authority. Genesis, Chapter 1, professes that God created humankind in his own image as partners. “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Ch. 1, 27). Genesis, Chapter 2 delineates the roles of male and female by creating woman from man out of his own rib. “And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man…This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Ch. 2, 23). From this point on the delineation of equality between man and woman is broken and the dominance of male over female is established. In both stories, the women become subservient to the men and both women end up victimized by embarrassment or painful suffering. An example of this, is when Izanagi meets up with Izanami and does not even recognize his own sister and immediately shuts her down when she speaks “I am man, and by right should have spoken first. How is it that contrary to this, you, a women, should have been the first to speak?” (Shinto, 24-26). Izanagi considers it “unlucky” (26) and forces them to circle the
Earth is found to be less beautiful than Heaven. Heaven is created first and is still considered the glorified holy land of the two. Heaven is favored over earth. In Genesis, God deliberately makes two separate places, one for himself and one place to have power over. He did not originally have the intent of even creating man, but decided someone had to be in charge of all the natural elements He created. In the Shinto creation myth, Earth is also automatically looked down upon because the elements of Heaven naturally came together quickly and Earth settled down with more difficulty, “The finer element easily became a united body…the consolidation of heavy and gross element was accomplished with difficulty” (4-6). However, the elements of Earth are looked at with more respect. Each element of nature is a deity, a god, so it therefore has to be respected. In the Japanese culture, it is believed that one must have a mastery and dominance over nature to be at peace (Culture of