Many people—including well-known figures—have actually thought that God created humankind to escape his loneliness. The poet Jean Paul, for example, puts these words into God's mouth:
"Truly, I wish there were other people… I, all alone, not a pulse to be heard, no life. Nothing around me, and without me, nothing but nothing…"
—God was terribly dull. God had to create humankind, otherwise he would have died of boredom. This image of God and humankind is terribly unbiblical. Incidentally, so is the opposite assumption: God had to create humankind, otherwise he would have been "bursting," "suffocating," as it were, under the weight of his own overflowing abundance.
God "had to" do nothing. (!) He created the world and humankind in love and out of love, of his own free will, not out of necessity. Humankind would be instrumentalized, functionalized, if it were otherwise. There is a creation myth that instrumentalizes humankind: "Atramhasis" from 17th-century BCE Mesopotamia. According to this myth, the gods were divided into two classes: one ruled, the other had to work for everyone. One day, the worker gods went on strike. The higher gods panicked. Then the god Ea devised a solution: he promised to create "substitutes." These substitutes would take over the work from the worker gods. To prevent them from rebelling and starting a revolt, he would create them mortal. Otherwise, they would be as clever and efficient as gods. The gods applauded this ingenious rescue plan. Ea's idea was immediately put into action. And so, humankind came into into the world.
Our modern sense of self-worth, of possessing inalienable dignity and not being used or abused, is certainly connected to the fact that our culture was rooted in the biblical belief in creation, a belief that originated in Mesopotamia long ago.
Let me tell you another story, this time a Jewish one. When the Holy One, blessed be He, came to create the first human being, the ministering angels formed groups and factions. Some said,
"Let Him create!"
Others said,
"Let Him not create!"
Love said,
"Let Him create, for He will perform works of love!"
Truth said,
"Let Him not create, for He is entirely a lie!"
Justice said,
"Let Him create, for He will perform works of charity!"
Peace said,
"Let Him not create, for He will be entirely contentious!"
Love said,
"Let Him create, for He will be entirely contentious!"
Then the holy one, blessed be he, spoke to the ministering angels:
“You don't need to discuss any further. I have already created him.”
