A wide variety of beliefs about cosmogony exist, and the question of the origin of the Universe has been addressed by all religions. It is one of the most complex issues that can be pondered, and every religion gives this phenomenon its own consideration, as the creation of the Universe marks the beginning of life. For that reason, it is crucial to understand how differently religions view this aspect, and what significance it has across all religions.
Cosmogony gives an explanation to how the Universe appeared and how living beings came to inhabit it. All of the subsequent details originate from the genesis of the world; consequently, this is the basis of beliefs of all existing religions. Many of them describe this phenomenon as sacred, and suggest that a Supreme Being created the Universe. However, there are religions, such as Hinduism or Buddhism, that say that there was no founder, and the Universe has no beginning (Fisher, 2013). Jainism does not describe where the Universe begins; instead, it describes in detail its core structural organization: a large number of deities belonging to different social statuses, as some are servants, soldiers, counselors, and others who resemble the descriptions of Earth pariahs, the most powerless and the poorest of people. Depending on the position they occupy, they inhabit the highest, middle, or lowest worlds. The highest world makes a rebirth of living beings possible; however, after inhabiting it, deities return to the lowest level (Ingalese & Ingalese, 2014). The Buddhist religion claims that the appearance of every new universe is due to the influence of the total karma of living beings, and similarly, destruction is the consequence of accumulated bad karma. At this point, it is crucial to mention that this contrasting belief presents a different perspective, where lifecycles intersect.
Such religions as Daoism and Confucianism claim that complementing forces (yin and yang) created the Universe. Shinto, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Sikhism share a common view that a Supreme Being created the Universe; however, the process is described differently (Orji, 2015). For instance, in the Christian paradigm, God rested on the seventh day after creating the Universe, whereas the attribution of fatigue to God is inappropriate in Islam and is considered a sacrilege. The new religious movements stand aside from all the other beliefs; they assert that a loose group of people applied various religious practices such as channeling or crystal work to transmute the world and themselves.
The beliefs concerning the creation of the Universe in every religion comprise one of the most important characteristics of each, as they provide a basis for the existence of everything in the Universe (Orji, 2015). The world and all the things in it appeared within the Universe; therefore, every religion has sought justification for this phenomenon. As for my social environment, the question of the origin of the Universe faces the highest clash of opinions. People who belong to such religions as Christianity or Islam tend to say that their religion gives an explanation to the existence of our Universe through the hands of God. If there were no God, then there would be no sin and therefore no hell. If there were no God, then Chaos would flood the earth, as there would be no ultimate responsibility for one’s actions. A vast majority of people reject these religious beliefs about the genesis of the Universe and tend to support a scientific origin, which is the Big Bang theory. Nevertheless, it is the religious theory that explains the significance of the origin and states that the Supreme Goal of it was the beatitude of the living beings. The religions have different exegesis as they give different justifications to life and everything that exists.
References
Fisher, M. P. (2013). Living religions. New York, NY: Pearson.
Ingalese, R., & Ingalese, I. (2014). Cosmogony and evolution. Whitefish, MT: Literary Licensing.
Orji, C. (2015). An introduction to religious and theological studies. Eugere, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers.