Origins of the Universe

Scientific Truth: making a hypothesis and testing to see if it’s true, it’s always open to development and can be challenged. So it’s never absolute it’s conditional

Religious Truth: comes from religions and holy books, their information is open to interpretation, but their truth is absolute and unchanging

Genesis Creation Story (Religion)

• God creates the world from nothing in 7 days, with the last being a day of rest. It’s ordered

• God’s words have power “Let there be…”

• Creation is good

• Humans were made in God’s image, they have a purpose (stewardship)

Big Bang Theory (Science)

• Universe came into existence at a particular point in cosmological event

• There was nothing and the a huge explosion

• It tooks millions of years for different elements and bodies to form

• No need for God as creator or God caused the Big Bang

Theistic Evolution (Religion)

• Processes like evolution are tools God uses

Theory of Evolution (Science)

• species change over time to adapt to their environment

• natural selection

Interpretations

Fundamentalist/Literalist: the truth is exactly as it’s said in scripture

Figurative: Scripture is not exactly true but up to interpretation

Conservative: Scripture is the word of God, but truth is mediated through human inspiration so it’s not entirely true

Liberal: Scripture is completely man-made and is human reflection on the way the world is