Ok, so Genesis states that God created the world in 6 days. We have a clear plan of God's purposeful creative activity - which suggests intelligent design because of it's order. Genesis gives humans a purpose [for our existence] to have a relationship with God and shows us that creation was good. Different Christians interpret Genesis slightly differently - some take it quite literally, exactly as it says, is exactly what they believe happened and others suggest Genesis contains more spiritual truths - it explains to us about God and humans, rather than being an accurate account of how the world came to be.
If God created everything out of nothing, then why ...why is there evil in the world?
Do you think Genesis literally happened as we read it? Why?
Is Genesis meant to teach us something about humans and God? What?
Evolution - a scientific explanation for the nature of the universe with Dr Vincent Grey
Science offers different ideas about how the world came to be - solutions that make "God" unnecessary. Evolution, put forward by Charles Darwin, suggests that simple organisms evolved over time to become more complex and this is because of random chance and mutation, there was according to Darwin no guiding hand behind it. So if every cause has an effect, what/ who started evolution? The Big Bang - a scientific explanation for the origin of the universe
The Big Bang happened 13.7 billion years ago - the explosion of Space and Time. There was no beginning before the Big Bang, it is the beginning of everything - it lasted 10‾43 seconds, which is miniscule! So everything was really hot, but is cooling and expanding and then evolution billions of years later kicked in ...
So, do you think Science or Genesis is right? Why? Is there an alternative idea? What? Why? Give evidence to support your responses.
Think big
Happy blogging
Ms K
I believe that through taking different aspects of both science and religious theories as to how the universe came into existence, we can explain how AND why the universe exists. Scientific theories, like the 'BigBang' & Darwins theory of evolution eliminate God from the equation & state that human life occurred merely by chance, and that our existence is dependent on our survival, leaving us with no purpose. However the Genisis story makes God necessary & makes it clear that our purpose as humans is to be in relation with eachother. This point of view can be seen in the scientific theories, because if we had no purpose, why would we have the ability to understand, or ot be in relation with eachother, or create beauty? Therefore, I think that even if Darwin's, or the big bang theory are true, than God was the ultimate cause.
ReplyDeleteElicia =) Some interesting ideas here Elicia. So there is according to you an element of compatibility... can you give scholars/ further evidence and examples to support your stance? Do you think as humans we think too highly of ourselves so interpret a purpose for our existence in Genesis ... do we read too much into it?
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff
Think big
Happy blogging!
Ms K
in terms of the big bang concept and the idea of "fine tune", it really explains the neccesity of basic laws of nature. by just chainging it slightly, it can have a catastrophic effect on our life. if we increase gravitational force by just the smallest amount, it would in turn wipeout human nature and make the universe primitiave and basic for bacteria and fungi to live. so we have to take these things into consideration and understand how useful the contruction of our universe is. even if we where to wipeout a law of nature, that then effects the rest of the principles, which then ruins life. how far is it to say that without these laws of nature, life for humans is no more?
ReplyDeletefor me the most realistic idea of how the world could have came about would be Evolution, put forward by Charles Darwin, suggests that simple organisms evolved over time to become more complex and this is because of random chance and mutation. coz i cant trust genesis coz i dont see why god would want to create something to destroy it
ReplyDeleteit can be said that both science and religion are true or that they are not, however it depends on a person's thought and opinion and whether they choose to accept the concept or to totally disprove it is up to them. Although science seems to go against design as deliberate, isnt it obvious that there is design, and if there was a designer and this designer was all so intelligent why is there disorder? Or could both concepts work together to reach an evaluation of Science and Creation as one??
ReplyDeleteWhy is there evil in th world?
ReplyDeleteFor there to be good there must be bad, God gave us freewill, therefore evil must exist for us to be free.
Science & Creation...
Even though there is scientific evidence that supports darwins theory and the big bang... without an ultimate cause none if this is possible. As mentioned in the video, the forces and principles are so fined tuned that if they were adjusted slightly, we could not possibly survive... thats too much coincidence for me, without a "God" or a creator how is everything perfect for us? It may not have happened as stated in Genesis, however that is there to teach us and show us spiritual meaning...
Therefore even if the scientific theories are proven... God is the one who started it... =D x
Shannon... Yes, I agree =D x
ReplyDeleteGabe you stated gabe that design in out universe is "obvious" but i belive that that statement if from your own belief of science and creation. the design that you might see may not be clear or evident to others struggling to understand this concept. this then brings on argurments and disagreements about the concept as a whole so i think that science and creation cant really work as one because science explains the HOW and religion explains the WHY - thus another argument. FROM "THE FAMOUS" NICOLE.
ReplyDeleteUCHE! some great ideas uche i cane see were your getting at
ReplyDeletei think that the most reliable theory of how the world came about was through evolution. there is tangable emperical evidence such as fossiels & the extinction of animals that suggests evolution was the process in which has brought us to where we are today. however i still believe that God is an intelligent designer and was the one who perhaps triggered the start of evolution & the bbt. i think that science and religion can work besides each other. Polkinghorn 'science explains the how; religion explains the why'
ReplyDeleteI think evolution and creation are both as reliable as eachother...
ReplyDeleteSome can't see how science and religion can work hand in hand but for me they have to work together for us to make any sense of our existence and purpose...
religions doesn't give us all the answers and niether does science but they each fill out eachothers gaps. the 'Big Bang' gives us suggestions on how the world came about based on evidence, even though creation theory doesn't have any evidence it offers blind faith, something to believe in when we have no answers and the only conclusion we can come to its God... this is the 'God of the gaps'... where ever science can not fidgure something out the belief in God can fill in the missing pieces!
Alright i believe that science and religion can co-exist but should never take place over one another when it comes to different aspects of belief
ReplyDeleteIt is possible to say that God created the universe through evolution so science and religion don't have to against one another. In Genesis God created the world in 6 days but we cannot assume that God's 6 days represent our time therefore God could've created the world in the space that evoltion occured (evoltion has now stopped by the looks of it). Also in Genesis account humans were created last and according to evoltion we are kind of the last creatures as humans are not evolving so they work hand in hand. Moreover if we assume that evoltion is the work of God then we will have a God who is continously part of His creation showing that God is with is at all times and care&loves us.
ReplyDeleteBut if humans evolved like everything else, they do not have any special privileges. There isn't any special supervising deity, or body to intervene in affairs if we all just evolve... No case for any form of religion if we are agreeing to Darwin's theory. Darwin has shown there is a mechanism by which the creatures of the Earth, and us humans have come into existence which does not involve any form of creation, or creator.
ReplyDeleteToday we have a large number of earthly human ancestors showing that humans evolved in exactly the same way as different organisms. Therefore, Genesis is not correct in saying we was made just like that to what we are today.
So many scientists claim that the theory of evolution is the best established of all scientific theories which in turn eradicates the need for a creator. There is still room for an intelligent designer in the evolutionary theory including the big bang theory. I believe that the basis for the origins of the universe and life shows the existent of a deity, this being an intelligent designer, God. In all of this the creation story in Genesis could be a symbol of a more detailed scientific explanation for creation. The creation story was written by humans, they wanted a way to understand how they came into being, just like we still do. 8-) Scientists put forward the idea that the universe is fine tuned because of its order. For me this allows for an intelligent designer to be introduced again. How was this random process? 2 gases come out of nowhere and form this intricate place ordered in a way we can just about understand it and allows for our survival, along with plants and other animals in one place, planet earth...and at the moment nowhere else.
ReplyDeleteWell, this is what im thinking...
Ast...
ReplyDeletePersonally I believe it is difficult to draw some conclusion as to the occurance of the geneise story plus the big bang theory as a philosopher it is almost unjust to state which event is relevant and did occur holding no empirical evidence however the ex nihilo concept of the universe being created from nothing or little energy cannot passoibly fit a strong enough explanation for the intricate design of the universe on the other hand the creation story holds a weak definition for the universes creation at the same time it offers a somewhat spiritual concept with further meaning allowing a more scientic approach to be more plausible explanation towards it due to the evidence of natural selection from scholar Charles Darwin in which it proves the idea of 'survival of the fittest' however what would then separate the idea of this theory and 'random chance' ? plus is if one argument holds more weight than the other then what new evidence is needed in order of creating a balance to oneday conclude the battle
With the big bang theory there is a beginning,this is quite similar to genesis, however to every beginning there must be an end thats the way of life, so if you believe in genesis how can god allow the end to happen? but if you believe in the big bang then there is no god to save us. but the steady state offers no beginning so there is going to be no end.
ReplyDeleteUCHE! Nice point Uche, you need to develop it though. What evidence is there to suggest that God created the world only to destroy it? Also lose the "coz's", proper English!
ReplyDeleteThink big.
Happy blogging,
Ms K
cahil Interesting comparison Cahil, this idea of creation/ big bang from nothing - good identification of a similarity! Some thoughtful reflection on issues raised for Christians. Well done.
ReplyDeleteThink big
Happy blogging
Ms K
Astrid Interesting reference to the focus of the scientific vs religious approach. Maybe religion explains the why - of who/ why God created the world and science the actual occurrence. Can you re-read and clarify your point about Darwin? Phrase it as a question and we'll see what the class come up with!
ReplyDeleteThink big
Happy blogging
Ms K
If God created everything out of nothing, then why ...why is there evil in the world? Because as we evolve, then things tend to, and do change. As humans, we tend to put ourselves BEFORE other humans. Say when we get angry, we have the tendency to be angry at others. Then they might get angry back, and cause a fight or whatever...
ReplyDeleteDo you think Genesis literally happened as we read it? Well, I used to think that Genesis literally happened as it says, but now that I think about it, there might be things we don’t know of – it might have not been mentioned, or things that were exaggerated – like, although God.. is GOD, sometimes we tend to think, well I think people tend to think God can’t have only used up 6 days to create everything.... Well, also I mean through God, nothing is impossible, he can do anything. So I suppose he did create everything in 6 days. But then, when he created it, no one was there to witness what he did EXACTLY as he did it. So when Genesis was written down, whoever wrote it, won’t have known EXACTLY what God did... And how long it took for God to do it, and in what order he did it...
So, do you think Science or Genesis is right? I think Science and Genesis are both being related somehow. Science says the big bang created the world. Maybe God created the big bang to create the world? All I’m saying is, if scientists gathered up all this information to prove that ... THIS... is how the earth was formed, then, they had to get their evidence from somewhere... to prove it, right?
And it clearly says in the bible how the world was created, so maybe they looked from there and gathered information... Ok, I don’t know if this made sense...
Is Genesis meant to teach us something about humans and God? I think it has something in it that we’re meant to take in. I’m just saying though. I THINK that it’s: God created the world... And humans... He created it for us to be in and recognise God’s work for us. If God wanted, he could have made us like animals, no real abilities to do stuff, example cook...communicate... dress... But God allowed humans to have these abilities so that, maybe we may realise God and his true purpose... And to recognise what he wanted us to see. He has done all this so we may know how much he loves us... And because of all our sins and wrong doings, he sent Jesus to save us from our sins....
Why is there evil in this world?
ReplyDeleteWhen there is good there should also be evil, so therefore evil must exist. All humans should be free. If we do something bad to our friends, they get angry and then a big issue is made, so we are being evil but sometimes we do not recognise when we are being evil.