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Genesis and Science

Genesis and Science. Can they be reconciled?. The Theological point of Genesis. God is the Sole creator. Genesis says that God is the only creator of the universe. God is the foundation of everything that goes on in the universe and his creative activity is seen in every part of the universe.

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Genesis and Science

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  1. Genesis and Science Can they be reconciled?

  2. The Theological point of Genesis • God is the Sole creator. Genesis says that God is the only creator of the universe. God is the foundation of everything that goes on in the universe and his creative activity is seen in every part of the universe. • The universe depends on God. God not only created the universe ex nihilo (from nothing), but is continuously creating it at every moment. • The Universe is ordered by God. The Universe is not chaotic but ordered. God orders time as well as well as the life forms. He is the purpose giver and spiritual dimension of the Bible. It is therefore God that is the source of meaning in the universe.

  3. A Personal God. Both creation stories in Genesis signal that God is a personal God . • He is described anthropomorphically as walking in the Garden and speaking to Adam (Gen 2). • He is also a God of relationships: he created human beings to be in a relationship with himself, and each other. • Humans are made in the image and likeness of God . Furthermore God’s command to subdue the earth implies that humans are God’s representatives- they have the power and the responsibility to maintain and control God’s created order.

  4. Literal Truth • According to this literalist view, the universe is much younger than modern science suggests. The 17th century CE Irish Archbishop Ussher calculated , by looking at the genealogies in the Bible , that the universe was created by God in 4004 BCE.

  5. The Biblical Picture • Until the 18th century CE it was believed that Genesis 1 and 2 were scientific historical accounts of the Universe. It is now argued by many that these theological documents , were written at a particular time for a particular for particular groups of people. We need to understand the intellectual environment of these writers and the purpose for which they were writing.

  6. Can these Differences be reconciled? • Fundamentalist (Creationists) • NO! • Supporters of Creationism hold that since the Bible is the inerrant WORD OF GOD, its account of the Origins must be upheld and the evolutionary picture offered by science repudiated. • The account in the Book of Genesis is to be taken literally. Planet earth does stand at the centre of a comparatively young universe.

  7. Science • NO! • The Bible’s claim to offer divinely revealed information is a fraud. Science has shown it to be wrong on all manner of things, not least on the origin of the universe. • This means that the whole book is suspect and it should be rejected as a piece of primitive literature, containing nothing but myths, fantasies and wishful thinking.

  8. Liberalism • Yes! • Liberalism suggests that both scripture and science answer different questions and should be treated with respect, and interpreted with care.

  9. Concordism • Some religious people have tried to make peace with science by suggesting that the Bible anticipates scientific discoveries • Gerald Schroeder a physicist and theologian says that they are “identical realities…described in vastly different terms” • Primacy of light (Gen 1:3) = reference to Big Bang? • Formless chaos = original gaseous state? • Naming of Adam (earth) = evolution from matter? • Six days of creation = six great geological eras

  10. Some say Concordism is both naïve and dishonest • Naïve because it would suggest a scientific understanding for the biblical authors which none of the readers would have understood until the 20th century. • Dishonest because it ignores the texts which are discordant with science.

  11. God of Gaps • Some religious people try to make room for science by acknowledging its discoveries, but suggesting that there are still areas which remain a mystery. As science develops these areas become fewer (earthquakes, volcanoes, storms etc are now seem to be natural not supernatural) but there will always be a gap between what we actually know and all that there is to be known. • This Gap is where God lives.

  12. This solution has become more popular as science has realised that things are far more random and unpredictable than once thought. • Also because of the “Anthropic principle.” (Any minor changes = no world) • However, with this view would it not be inevitable that this understanding of God would gradual erode God as knowledge reduces the mysteries.

  13. Alternatives • Some Christians argue that there is no relationship between science and religion. They deal with different types of truth. • According to this approach science is not in the business of dealing with ultimate questions of life. It attempts to answer the “how” questions not the “why” questions.

  14. Science and religion used two different types of language. • Scientific language is clear, accurate and precise. But other things. Love, faith and hope uses metaphors and poetry. The two statements, • “Your eyes shine like the stars.” • And • “The light of the stars can be measured in millions of kilowatts.” • Can both be true.

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