The Story Of God - The Beginning Of The Beginning

The Story Of God, Episode Four: Creation
Narrated by Morgan Freeman
Running Length: 50 minutes
No rating given, but could be PG 13 for themed material

Morgan Freeman begins this Episode on his ranch in Mississippi and speaks of new life in the spring and where did we come from? The Garden of Eden is placed somewhere between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers in the Middle East. Not only is this the supposed beginning of life, but the beginning of a dialogue with the Creator.  Of the Episodes shown so far, this is the most intriguing and visual.

It is on to Jerusalem and a visit to archeologist Jody Magnus and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. According to legend, Adam is buried here, and Jesus was crucified here so that his blood went through the cracks into the earth and onto Adam’s tomb.  This area was so known for this, that Emperor Constantine built this church on the spot. Then it is on to a 9000-year-old settlement that has no streets, but the houses were built in such a way that people could walk to where they were going on the rooftops. Here, the burial sites are under the sleeping areas, so that the ancestors are always with the people.

In Cairo and the Muslim religion, their ancient astronomers charted the heavens, which takes Freeman to Australia and the Arendi people, who believe life started in a deep circle carved into the Earth. Now, we would see this as a meteorite crash, but then people were supposed to have come from the heavens and a Star Child began life. There is beautiful photography here as the sun sets in Australia and you see the sky with no outside lights or clouds.  Rome gives us the Christian concept of life as in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling, with God touching Adam’s finger to bring life.

The ancient Mayan civilization built cities in a triangle formation imitating the alignment of stars in Orion.  Well before the conquistadors came to that area, there was a story of the corn god and twin sons who brought corn (food staple) to that area for people to have food. No explanation as to if this was similar to the Roman twins of Romulus and Remus.  The Mayans, as with Muslim astronomers, were quite aware of star formations.

Freeman ends up in India and the Ganges river (Gangas), is shown as a goddess who formed the river with help from the god Shiva. Every evening, there is a ceremony to Ganga with small boats with lights on them floating on the water.

Creation comes back to someone, somewhere,  starting something into breathing and living. Christianity has Adam and Eve, others have a Star Child, and so on, but it becomes apparent that people want to know how they came to be.  Not only that, but they appreciate, in ceremonies, their being living creatures. There seems to be something in humanity that makes them want to appreciate what they are, and then, how to appreciate that fact?  Makes one wonder about the cave man who was spared from a dinosaur by falling into a hole at just the right time. Who did he thank?

“The Story Of God” is a six-part weekly series on The National Geographic Channel, Sunday evenings and began April 3, 2016. This will be shown on National Geographic Channels in 171 countries, in 45 languages and in Spanish on Nat Geo Mundo. Each 50-minute episode is a separate study of faith and a belief system going from the ancient Mayans to Christianity, Judaism, Hindu and Muslim. Actor Morgan Freeman is the narrator and interviewer in the series. The first episode (April 3) was “Afterlife.” Episode Two (April 10) was  “Apocalypse”  and Episode Three (April 17) was “Who Is God?“ which was not screened beforehand for media. This Fourth Episode, “Creation”  will be aired on April 24, with “Evil” (May 1)  and, the last episode,  “Miracles” on May 8. No rating, but could be PG 13 for subject matter.

Copyright 2016 Marie Asner