Does Genesis talk about the Big Bang?
By luneliza
@luneliza (197)
December 21, 2008 1:55pm CST
I have given this a lot of thought lately. In the chapter Genesis in the Bible, it says: "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." Could it be talking about an explosion? Could it be referring to the same event the scientists call Big Bang? Is it the same thing seen from two different perspectives? This could bring a totally new meaning to the bond between science and religion. Does one support the other or are they completely opposite? Do you think it is possible that both sources point to the same ultimate reality, they just have different ways of expressing it?
2 people like this
10 responses
@sataness (321)
•
21 Dec 08
Depends on your theory of creation. In regards of the genesis it has been interpreted to include the big bang also. Whilst it's highly unlikely the world was created in 7 days in our understanding of the word 'day',evolution does follow the creation story too. I.E Light/day....Land/Sea.... Animals
1 person likes this
@luneliza (197)
•
22 Dec 08
I totally agree that science and religion should try and work together. After all, we share the same universe and we can learn a lot from each other. It is interesting to study how people interpret certain things in different ways. I guess if you know all the ideas and interpretations, it is easier to put things in perspective and come to a conclusion. Merry Christmas to you too.
@seeiloveu (100)
• India
22 Dec 08
There is only One Book that had spoken about the "Big Bang" - before modern science/astronomy discovered it - and it is the Holy Quran, the Holy Book followed by the true-Muslims throughout the world.
1 person likes this
@freethinkingagent (2501)
•
23 Dec 08
No, because you are not reading genesis correctly. The Big bang would have been covered in the first sentence, "In the beginning god created the heavens and the earth. This would have been the big bang when the universe was created.
The part where God said let their be light is much much further away from the big bang, many billions of years later. The Origin words are the earth became lifless and void and darkness was upon the face of the earth.
Something happened to earth and it became dark and lifeless, this is perhaps the last extenction, where tons of material were thrown into the atmosphere blocking the sun and life on earth failed. Let there be light would be after many thousands or millions of years later the sun began to shine though the atmosphere again and began to re warm the earth taking it out of it's last frozen void.
@freethinkingagent (2501)
•
24 Dec 08
I can not understand the hypocorcy of people, Just like global warming, they tak away all arguments so theirs is the only answer, if it is below normal cold it is global warming, if it gets warm it global warming, if you bring up the fact that Mars and venus are also warming thats besides the point. Their arguments are unexceptable because they try to close the debate by cornering the argument and saying all other arguments are not valid. The bible clearly states the earth was made in the beginning along with everything else in the universe and no time table is given, the first day is after everything already existed, and was not a creation at all, everything here on earth had been destroried as it was made void and lifeless, the seven days (not literal) was the re warming of the earth, the waters residing, dry land a pearing, vegitation reamerging, mamals and fish populations exploding and so on. The SAME way science said it hapened after the last ice age ended.
@thebeaddoodler (4262)
• Lubbock, Texas
22 Dec 08
I think that as humans knowledge advances we will find more and more that the Bible and science are agreeable. At one time the Biblical statement "as the stars in the sky and the sands of the sea" was scoffed at by scientists as it seemed obvious to them that there was no comparison. There were many more grains of sand than there were stars, but now we know we can't see all the stars.
@celticrogue (450)
• United States
21 Dec 08
I truthfully believe that science fully supports our Abrahamic religion. When God said, "Let there be light." He caused the Big Bang to occur. Science helps explain the How God did it, whereas religion explains the Why God did it.
The most devout needs to believe that God when said "Let there be light" and the light just appeared. No noise, no explosion. Magic.
Science does not accept this. Science needs to find an explanation that has some basis of logic and reason. The Big Bang satisfies this.
The ancients did not have the level of understanding of our world as we do today. In telling of the creation myths, they described the stories in the context that they could understand, ergo a god that made things by pure thought. And with God, ancient man could explain his surroundings, the natural world.
Science only helps us understand the tools God used, the physical laws that God set up the universe with.
@luneliza (197)
•
22 Dec 08
That's a very nice way of putting it. I am in full agreement with you. The more you look at those things, the more you start to realize that they all talk about the same reality, but have different ways of interpreting it. It is all like a big puzzle. You add pieces to it every day and the picture becomes clearer and clearer. Merry Christmas.
@Frederick42 (2024)
• Canada
22 Dec 08
According to the Genesis, God created the world in six days. This does not make sense. It has nothing to do with Big Bang.
But then, anything can be interpreted so that it suits conveniently with science. Then one can say that religion and science is inter-related.
@Frederick42 (2024)
• Canada
22 Dec 08
The Bible is full of contradictions and errors and one needs wisdom to see them.
One who is not wise cannot see the errors.
@Frederick42 (2024)
• Canada
22 Dec 08
But God does not mention in Genesis that his one day = 1 million years.
If Bible is God's word, then God should have mentioned in Gnesis.
God's day = million years is mentioned very late in NT in order to justify the Lord's second coming.
Nowadsy, this is a comon intepretation.
But if Bile God's word. then u cannot interpret it, u have to tak it litrally.
@headhunter525 (3548)
• India
23 Dec 08
May be or may not be. I feel that since scientific theories change over time it is not a good idea push biblical ideas too much. Bible says that God is the creator of all things. Whether it's Big Bang theory or Steady State theory or something else that is true let scientist do that. For me I am happy God is the creator of all; and I would prefer to put a brake there.
@codemonkey (90)
•
22 Dec 08
luneliza, I don't think they're the same event but that's just purely because I don't believe in the bible. If you're really interested, read more of the bible and read more about science. I think a big problem is that not too many people understand big bang theory and WHY it exists. They think it just comes out of nowhere based on the need to explain the unexplainable. That's not the case, there are in fact multiple lines of eveidence that all point to the huge event known as the big bang theory and all of these lines point to the fact that it happened ~13.7 billion years ago.
Anyway, your interpretation is yours alone. You don't need to have other people justify it. If you think genesis includes the big gang, and it works for you, isn't that enough? If you're interested in the theory behind it, I'd suggest checking out www.astronomycast.com - In the archives there is at least one show about the big bang. The best thing about the show is that it's really accessible even if you don't know anything about physics or astronomy etc.
@luneliza (197)
•
22 Dec 08
Thanks for the link. I'll have a look later. I'm trying to see beyond religion and science, because I'm convinced the ultimate reality is much more complex than they both try to picture it. They are only mirrors of something far beyond them, something we don't have access to.