Re-Writing the Creation Story How Giovanni Pico Della...

Re-Writing the Creation Story: How Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s Oration on the Dignity of Man Influenced the Renaissance and Man’s Perception of Himself In the time before the Renaissance, there were two commonly accepted stories of the world’s Creation: those expressed in the first chapters of Genesis. These stories captured the work of God as he brought about the universe, the plants, the animals, and the humans, and they chronicled the fall of Adam and Eve, who used the free will that God had given them in such a way that it brought about their downfall. However, just as the Humanist movement was beginning at the forefront of the Renaissance, a brilliant young writer, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, published his Oration on the†¦show more content†¦This idea that humans were created for their own purpose is the first step that Mirandola takes to elevate humans’ thoughts about themselves, promoting the humanist ideas of individual self-worth and dignity. Because man had been a part of God’s plan in the Genesis story of Creation, the Father knew that he would create man in the image of himself; however, Mirandola’s â€Å"Supreme Artisan† (Mirandola, 244) did not have this ease in giving man a form. Because man was not a part of God’s original plan, there had been no provisions made for his creation. Upon observing the world he had created, God realized that â€Å"not a single archetype remained from which he might fashion this new creature, not a single treasure remained which he might bestow upon this new son,† (Mirandola, 244), as the world was complete. But â€Å"it was not in the nature of the Father’s power to fail in this final creative effort,† (Mirandola, 244) and thus he created man by allowing him to â€Å"share in whatever He had assigned individually to the other creatures,† (Mirandola, 244). When compared with the story of Genesis, Mirandolaâ€℠¢s account may seem degrading in its claim that mankind is nothing more than a composition of animal qualities; however, Mirandola soon makes it clear that God chose to make up for this lack of individual characteristics by