Page "Creativity" Paragraph 11

It is commonly argued that the notion of " creativity " originated in Western culture through Christianity, as a matter of divine inspiration.

According to the historian Daniel J. Boorstin, " the early Western conception of creativity was the Biblical story of creation given in the Genesis.

" However, this is not creativity in the modern sense, which did not arise until the Renaissance.

In the Judaeo-Christian tradition, creativity was the sole province of God ; humans were not considered to have the ability to create something new except as an expression of God's work.

A concept similar to that of Christianity existed in Greek culture, for instance, Muses were seen as mediating inspiration from the Gods.

Romans and Greeks invoked the concept of an external creative " daemon " ( Greek ) or " genius " ( Latin ), linked to the sacred or the divine.

However, none of these views are similar to the modern concept of creativity, and the individual was not seen as the cause of creation until the Renaissance.

It was during the Renaissance that creativity was first seen, not as a conduit for the divine, but from the abilities of " great men ".