Christian Literalists - Origins Of The Universe

Question 1

Christian Literalist - KU

Answer 1

• Christian Literalists; also called Literal Creationists or Fundamentalists; interpret the account of creation in Genesis 1 literally.
• The Genesis 1 creation story tells us how the universe and human life came into existence.
• Genesis 1 proposed that God created the Universe in 6 days and rested on the 7th
• The first four days of Genesis 1 are specifically about the creation of the Universe
  -Literalists believe that scripture is ‘God Breathed’ and cannot be added to or taken away from.
• They believe the Creation story is true; exactly how it happened because they view the Bible as the inerrant word of God.
• The often reject scientific theories because they do not appear in the Bible
• Many argue that scientific theories have been wrong before, and consequently, the Big Bang theory is no different
• They argue the evidence may have been misinterpreted or that scientists are stuck in their ways, have their own agenda or are completely blind to any other possibilities
• This viewpoint is often known as ‘Young Earth Creationism’ and the general belief is that the Earth is about 6000 years old

Question 2

Christian Literalist - Analysis

Answer 2

• An implication of this viewpoint is that these Christians would accept the truth of the Bible through faith; if the scientific evidence seems to go against. The Bibles teachings then Christian Literalists should hold onto their faith.
• As a result, it does not mention the Big Bang in the Bible therefore it did not happen and it is not accepted by literal Christians as an explanation for the Origins of the universe
• Arguably, this shows literalist interpretations from the universe as they believe the Bible is exactly how the universe was created and God created order from chaos to form the universe over the span of six days

Question 3

Christian Literalist - Quote

Answer 3

‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ Genesis 1:1

• This quote implies that god created the visible and invisible from nothing, therefore this is what literalist Christians would believe

Question 4

Christian Literalist - Strengths

Answer 4

• The story from Genesis 1 is a literal interpretation of the text, what you read is what you get, so it is very straightforward to understand, no need to try understand complex scientific theories, it requires faith alone
• The story of Genesis 1 will not change. Literalist Christians will always know where they stand as the text has always and will always remain the same, no need to develop opinions

Question 5

Christian Literalist - Weaknesses

Answer 5

• the timeline suggests the age of the earth is only thousands of years old. This contradicts the widespread view that the earth is approx 4 billion years old
• If we interpret Genesis 1 literally there seems to be inconsistencies in the text, for example the light was created on day 1 but the sun on day 4
• literalist christians are depriving themselves of many current and future explanations of the origins of the universe by excluding things that are not in the text

Question 6

Christian Literalist - Evaluation

Answer 6

• I agree with the Literalist view as there is no need for you to have to understand complicated science theories, you only need to have faith
• I disagree with the Literalist view as it is too simplistic this means this explanation ignores the possibility that the Bible is there as a general guide rather than something which is to be taken at face value