The Genesis Bible and The Big Bang Theory - Which should we believe?

The Genesis Bible and the Big Bang Theory Paper

            Throughout history, scientists and theologians have been in a debate on the creation of the universe. The Bible seems to always contradict scientific discoveries, especially the theory of Big Bang. The article “Cosmic Controversy: The Big Bang and Genesis 1” by Alex Philippidis suggested an alternative to the debate. Philippidis implies that “Big Bang and Genesis 1 cannot be truly be reconciled…Big Bang attempts to explain how the universe was created. Genesis 1 attempts to explain who created it” (Philippidis 9). Since God is the Alpha and Omega, He is the Being behind the creation of the universe. This results in the conclusion that God as the creator does not exclude the possibility of a cosmic expansion such as Big Bang. In order to truly understand the interconnection between Genesis 1 and Big Bang, we must first have the knowledge of the Big Bang concept.

The Big Bang Theory states that “between 10 and 20 billion years ago, the universe burst and expanded rapidly from a submicroscopic ‘cosmic egg’ containing all matter and energy to a cosmic fireball at least 10 billion degrees Kelvin” (Philippidis 1). Starting from a small singularity, it expanded and finally burst into matters. Over a significant amount of time, around 300,000 years the “fireball cooled to 3000 degrees Kelvin, enough to form subatomic particles” (Philippidis 1) which later brought by the gravity to form “galaxies, stars, planets, and the black void that comprise the modern universe” (Philippidis 1). In 1992, the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) Satellite “recorded temperature fluctuations of about 30 millionths of a degree Kelvin” (Philippidis 2). This offers a piece of evidence to the Big Bang Theory, highlighting the fact that the creation of the universe must have taken place billions of years ago. This then brought the question of whether God created the universe for just 6 24 hour days.

First, we must be aware that Genesis 1 is narrative history literature. Narrative history literature emphasizes the fact that the event is true, but it is not explained in a detailed or scientific way. One example of where we could see there are some phrases that don’t mean the literal meaning is in Genesis 1:16: “the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night” (NIV). This is a form of personification that is applied to the sun, moon, and stars. Moses, the author of Genesis, did not explain explicitly that the light (or sun) is made up of carbon, nitrogen, and helium. Instead, he only points out that the greater light is to govern the day. For that reason, we couldn’t expect Moses to point out the process of the explosion and the expansion in creating the universe.

Second, we cannot assume that God is confined to human time. Just as the Gregorian calendar is different from the Lunar calendar, we cannot assume that God works in the concept of time that humanity has. “A transcendent God acted outside of time and space and created matter” (Phillipidis 5). God’s conception of days of the creation might not mean 24 hours a day. Instead, it could mean millions or maybe billions of years in a day.

Third, just like Newton’s first law of motion, a body at rest will remain at rest, and a body in motion will remain in motion with a constant velocity unless acted upon by a force. If we do believe in the theory of Big Bang, then there must be an outside force that applied in the first place, or else it would have been at rest or in constant motion. There must be a cause that made the universe to “burst and expanded rapidly from a ‘cosmic egg’” (Philippidis 1). Therefore, God must have taken a part in the creation of the universe, or else there won’t be any expansion in the universe.

In conclusion, Genesis and the Big Bang theory may have different perspectives on the creation of the universe. Since Genesis 1 is narrative history literature, there are no details such as Big Bang theory written in the book itself. Also, God’s concept of time may be distinct from the human concept of time. Lastly, there must be an initiator behind every motion in the Big Bang theory, and therefore God’s role takes place in the creation. The Big Bang and Genesis 1 could not be truly reconciled for they answer different questions. However, I believe that God is the Creator of the Universe, and Big Bang might be one of the answers to the process when God created the universe.