Geographical knowledge, custody of creation and religious faith

Abstract

In every religious tradition, there are cosmogonic myths from which beliefs are derived that are at the basis of the relationships between the Divine, human beings and the natural environment. If analyzed in this context, cosmogonic narratives, as well as geographical knowledge, tend to provide an answer to the human need to name and give meaning to the location in space of man and of the phenomena with which he must interact. Mythical narratives, however, are not sufficient to answer the questions that emerge from the complex relationships between the phenomena of nature and human life, a problem which  the man have tried to answer, with different attempts in time and space depending on the cultures in which they were developing - to arrive at a description of the World based on a 'Theoria', or rather on some form of rational explanation of reality. But trust in this kind of knowledge is based on assumptions that are antinomian to those on which the representation and understanding of reality grouded on religion. In fact, in the first case the explanation is based on principles immanent to the rationality of reality and in the second one on eternal and external values ​​to the reality of the World of which the human mind is part. Hence the differences that over time have been reflected in the ways of representing the World and Man's relationships with Nature and therefore, the relationships between Geographical knowledge and religious faith.