How the World Was Created
Many millions of years ago, God was sitting on His throne at the headquarters of the cosmos, biding His time and being God, not doing anything in particular. Now, it might seem that merely being God would be more than enough to keep anyone fairly busy and generally happy. However, as it happened, God was at loose ends. Being the primary deity had been interesting to God at first, when all of His duties were new and exciting, and the prospect of eternity was freshly appealing, but lately it all had become a bit of a bore.
"I need a challenge that is befitting to a deity," God said to Himself.
God decided that he should create something. The main question, of course, was what sort of thing should He create? He already had created billions and billions of stars.
"Stars are a good thing in their own way, but creating them is no longer a challenge," God said.
God briefly considered baking a layer cake, but again, it was much too easy, and clearly did not provide a worthy challenge for a powerful deity. For a short while, it seemed that God was stuck. Then, after a period of serious reflection, it came to Him.
"I will create a world," God said. "A beautiful world, with mountains and oceans and forests and rivers."
After God had finished creating a world, to which He gave the name, "Earth," He paused for a moment and proudly surveyed His handiwork. Although He was pleased with what he had done, he felt that somehow it was not complete.
"I will create living things to inhabit the Earth," God said.
God then created an enormous collection of living things, ranging from tiny ants to big elephants. They brought constant activity to the Earth.
"That is better, but it still is not complete," God said.
Having created living things, the next step for God was to create beings with intellect, who possessed the ability to think for themselves, and therefore were able to choose their own destiny. These beings were known as men and women, and God had high hopes for their future.
From that instant onward, it all went hideously wrong. Over the thousands of years that followed, the men and women of Earth proceeded to lie, cheat, and steal, regularly and shamelessly. They recklessly befouled the beauty of their world with wicked corporations and ugly skyscrapers, wantonly causing untold amounts of trouble. They also began to strike at one another, committing acts of violence and carelessly starting one war after another, to the profound distress of the deity who had created them.
"What a mess they have made of the world!" God said. "I should have baked a cake instead, and left it at that."
"I need a challenge that is befitting to a deity," God said to Himself.
God decided that he should create something. The main question, of course, was what sort of thing should He create? He already had created billions and billions of stars.
"Stars are a good thing in their own way, but creating them is no longer a challenge," God said.
God briefly considered baking a layer cake, but again, it was much too easy, and clearly did not provide a worthy challenge for a powerful deity. For a short while, it seemed that God was stuck. Then, after a period of serious reflection, it came to Him.
"I will create a world," God said. "A beautiful world, with mountains and oceans and forests and rivers."
After God had finished creating a world, to which He gave the name, "Earth," He paused for a moment and proudly surveyed His handiwork. Although He was pleased with what he had done, he felt that somehow it was not complete.
"I will create living things to inhabit the Earth," God said.
God then created an enormous collection of living things, ranging from tiny ants to big elephants. They brought constant activity to the Earth.
"That is better, but it still is not complete," God said.
Having created living things, the next step for God was to create beings with intellect, who possessed the ability to think for themselves, and therefore were able to choose their own destiny. These beings were known as men and women, and God had high hopes for their future.
From that instant onward, it all went hideously wrong. Over the thousands of years that followed, the men and women of Earth proceeded to lie, cheat, and steal, regularly and shamelessly. They recklessly befouled the beauty of their world with wicked corporations and ugly skyscrapers, wantonly causing untold amounts of trouble. They also began to strike at one another, committing acts of violence and carelessly starting one war after another, to the profound distress of the deity who had created them.
"What a mess they have made of the world!" God said. "I should have baked a cake instead, and left it at that."