Divine Creation: OceansOntology and Biblical Character Qualities

The sources discuss divine creation primarily through the lens of Ocean Duran's "OceansOntology," which explores the spiritual nature of being, and through a list of Biblical Character Qualities. Here’s a breakdown of how divine creation is presented: OceansOntology and Divine Creation

• "OceansOntology" is defined as "the study of conceptions of reality and the spiritual nature of 'being'" [1-3]. It is a framework used by choreographer Ocean Duran to explore spiritual concepts through movement, sound, and scripture [4].
• Duran connects their teaching to the first chapter of Genesis, identifying 31 scriptures that align with their teaching concepts, calling them "The Lines of Truth" [4-6]. These scriptures from Genesis are seen as foundational to understanding creation and are used in conjunction with "Muse-ical Mapping" [5, 7, 8].
• "Muse-ical Mapping" is a system that visually represents the melodic words and phrases within scriptures, based on music theory [7, 9, 10]. By using music theory and the scriptures from the first chapter of Genesis, a basis for "OceansOntology" is formed. This provides a way to see the physical breakdown and composition of the "basics", "steps", "theory" and a valid "formation" to creating an actual "idea" [7, 8]. The "Muse-ical Map" helps to see the structure of these scriptural passages as if they were musical compositions [7].
• The "Sound" Doctrine suggests that music can speak to our spirit and that when certain sounds are organized in ways that seem to hold meaning, it validates the symbolic nature of the "Muse-ical Map" system [10, 11]. The "Sound" Doctrine mirrors how music speaks to our spirit within the context of "OceansOntology" [11].
• Duran's approach to teaching, and creative work is rooted in their "ability to 'observe' and THEN teach" [4, 12]. The choreographer documents their teaching concepts, which they use to clarify societal views, and these elements were the basis for what they know of TRUE FAITH [4, 13].
• The concept of melody is a core element in both the "Sound" Doctrine and "Muse-ical Mapping" [7, 11, 14]. Melody is viewed as the "idea" that makes something memorable, and this is applied to both music and scripture [7, 11, 15]. Melody is a series of individual pitches that creates a recognizable unit that can stand by itself, separate from harmonics, and is the horizontal aspect of music [11, 16, 17].
• Through "OceansOntology", Duran aims to show how the basics of "ontology" apply "Sound" in conjunction with "Music", by seeing the practice of "Concept" relative to the evident nature of various forms of communicating [7, 18].
• Duran's work shows that divine creation has a design, which can be understood through logic and reason, as well as through faith [5, 19]. This approach uses the first chapter of Genesis as a foundation for understanding creation, where a musical language continues to evolve [8, 20]. Biblical Character Qualities and Divine Creation
• The document "Biblical Character Qualities" provides a list of 104 attributes described as being relevant to Christian living [1, 21-27]. These qualities can be grouped into several categories that relate to how one might live in response to divine creation, including qualities related to self-awareness and personal development, interpersonal relationships, faith and spirituality, integrity and moral character, attitude and disposition, and achievement and effectiveness [1, 28-32].
• Several qualities speak to the idea of being created in God's image. For example, "Contentment" is defined as "Accepting oneself as God created" [1, 22], while "Holiness" is described as "Being without blemish or stain. Being whole with no trace of regret or remorse" [24, 29, 33]. "Righteousness" is "Acting in a moral and upright way that honors God, regardless of who is watching" [26, 30, 33].
• Qualities like "Faith" , "Fear of the Lord" , and "Reverence" emphasize a relationship with God and recognizing the divine origin of creation [23, 26, 29, 34]. These qualities show the importance of recognizing and honoring God's role in creation [29, 33].
• Other qualities, such as "Creativity," suggest that humans, as part of divine creation, have been given the ability to create [22, 32, 33]. The understanding of the "basics" of creation are based in the scriptures from Genesis, and can be mirrored in music composition as a basis of "concept" [8, 35].
• The emphasis on traits such as "Integrity" , "Honesty" , and "Justice" further supports that humans are called to reflect God's moral nature in their actions [25, 30, 33]. "Truthfulness" is about "earning future trust by accurately reporting past facts" [27, 30, 33].
• Qualities such as "Love" , "Compassion" , and "Kindness" highlight the importance of how we should treat others within the created world [24, 25, 28, 33]. "Servanthood" is described as "Caring for and meeting the needs of others before caring for myself" [26, 28, 33].
• The document emphasizes that these character qualities are interconnected and mutually reinforcing, ultimately presenting an ideal of balanced character encompassing spiritual, personal, interpersonal, and social dimensions [33, 36]. In summary , the concept of divine creation is explored through both a lens of understanding creation through scripture and music, as well as qualities and traits that reflect God's character. "OceansOntology" uses the first chapter of Genesis as a foundation for understanding creation, and "Muse-ical Mapping" provides a visual way to understand the relationship between scripture, music and divine intent [4, 5, 7]. The "Biblical Character Qualities" provide a framework for how humans might live in relationship with a divine creator [1, 21, 28-33, 37, 38].