Origins of the universe

Question 1

Religious explanation

Answer 1

• rely on revelation in the form of scripture
• Genesis is the first book in the bible and tells us how the world began
• can be understood either literally or symbolically

Question 2

Genesis 1

Answer 2

• tells us how God created everything in the universe in 6 days and rested on the 7th
• humans were created in Gods image and given dominion
• happened around 6,000-10,000 years ago
• gives purpose to our lives (God created us specially)

Question 3

Literal interpretation of the religious explanation

Answer 3

• Genesis 1 is historically accurate
• the universe and everything in it was created as is explained in the story
• the Big Bang is not mentioned, therefore didn’t happen and isn’t true
• we shouldn’t question Gods power- he is all powerful and intelligent

Question 4

Symbolic interpretation of the religious explanation

Answer 4

• Genesis 1 is not to be viewed as a scientific or historical account
• it is a story used to show Gods power and his love of humans
• we should accept new scientific discoveries like the Big Bang (could be Gods way
  of working)

Question 5

Issues with the Genesis story

Answer 5

• order of events is confusing, night and day created before sun and moon
• inconsistencies between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, both give completely
  different accounts of what happened
• lack of evidence compared to scientific explanations

Question 6

Cosmological argument

Answer 6

• attempts to use the universe as proof of Gods existence as the creator of
  everything
• created by the Catholic philosopher, Thomas Aquinas
• everything that exists has been caused by something else but eventually there
  must be a starting point (a first cause)
• this uncaused cause is God, as only he is powerful enough to fulfill the criteria

Question 7

Strengths of the cosmological argument

Answer 7

• scientists have been unable to explain what happened before the Big Bang, this
  could be God
• the argument is logical (there has to be a start point)

Question 8

Weaknesses of the cosmological argument

Answer 8

• the argument contradicts itself, it claims everything has a cause and then says that
  God doesn’t. Surely the universe could just have no cause and no God would be
  needed
• why is this first cause a christian God, surely it could be anything

Question 9

Scientific explanation

Answer 9

• the Big Bang theory explains what happened at the very beginning of the universe

Question 10

The big bang theory

Answer 10

• our universe began as an extremely small, infinitely hot, infinitely dense
  singularity
• our universe sprang into existence from this singularity about 13.7 billion years ago
• at this point space, time and matter were created
• after its initial appearance, the universe expanded and cooled to the size and
  temperature of our current universe
• supported by Redshift evidence

Question 11

Redshift (big bang theory)

Answer 11

• supports the big bang theory
• light from other galaxies is red shifted
• this shows us that other galaxies are moving away from us
• the most likely explanation for this is that the whole universe is expanding
• this supports the theory that the universe could have begun at a single point

Question 12

Strengths of the big bang theory

Answer 12

• supported by evidence that has been independently checked by scientists for 75 years
• scientists have been open to change in the past and have tweaked the theory when new evidence has become available

Question 13

Weaknesses of the big bang theory

Answer 13

• evidence cannot fully confirm the theory
• hard to understand, we must believe what the scientists tell us
• unanswered questions (why did it happen?)

Question 14

How does the big bang challenge Christian beliefs

Answer 14

• according to the big bang the world is a lot older and bigger than Christianity thought
• in the big bang theory the Earth is not at the centre of the universe (we were not
  created specially)
• the big bang does not require a supernatural (God) to have created it

Question 15

The three main groups with differing view on whether religion or science is right

Answer 15

• liberal Christians (science and religion can work together)
• scientific materialists (science is right, religion is wrong)
• traditionalist Christians (religion is right, science is wrong)

Question 16

Science and religion working together (Liberal Christians)

Answer 16

• the NOMA principle (science explains HOW the universe came to be and religion
  explains the WHY)
• God and his creation is outside the scope of science so could be the cause of the big bang
• Christians can accept the big bang easily if they don’t understand the bible to be literally true (big bang could be Gods way of working)

Question 17

Science is right and religion is wrong (scientific materialists)

Answer 17

• we can’t take the genesis story seriously as it is not scientifically valid (written a long time ago)
• the big bang started due to the laws of physics (no need for a God)
• although there is evidence missing from the big bang theory, it still has more
  evidence than religious ideas and more is likely to become available
• science does give us purpose in life (it allows us to grow, develop and create
  things that benefit humanity)

Question 18

Religion is right and science is wrong (traditionalist Christians)

Answer 18

• the evidence for the big bang might be wrong-science has been wrong in the past (flat earth)
• the bible is the inspired work of God therefore its account of creation is correct
• science takes away all purpose from our lives, what is the point if we are here by
  accident?