Creation

3,415 texts · Page 380 of 380

How God formed the universe from divine light and primordial chaos, from the first utterance to the shaping of Adam from the dust of the earth.

Why Gnats Were Created

Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha

Gnats live for a single day. They're born, they swarm, they die. New ones replace them. So why do they exist at all? Nebuchadnezzar wanted to know, and Ben Sira had a two-part answ...

Why God Created Wasps and Spiders

Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha

King David once watched a wasp devouring a spider while a fool chased them both with a stick. And he complained to God about it. Why create wasps that sting for no benefit? Why cre...

Why Cats Eat Mice

Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha

In the beginning, the cat and the mouse were friends. Partners, actually. But according to the Alphabet of Ben Sira, a satirical medieval text composed between 700 and 1000 CE, the...

Why Donkeys Smell Their Own Dung

Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha

The Alphabet of Ben Sira, composed between 700 and 1000 CE, doesn't shy away from the crudest questions about the natural world. When Nebuchadnezzar asked why donkeys urinate on on...