Creation

• Creation


  The act by which God brought the universe into being
• The Word


  Term used at the beginning of John's gospel to refer to God the Son
• Christian beliefs about Creation


  • God pre-existed the world, hence being able to create it
  • God is transcendent (outside space and time)
  • God created the world and is not controlled by it
• Importance of Genesis

  Christians believe the message within Genesis 1 is true – that the world was planned, ordered, and sustained by God. Human lives have purpose and meaning because God created those lives and humans are made in the image of God and so all humans are of value.

  Humans have a responsibility to treat each other equally. Humans were made stewards of the world in order to look after it.
• literalist interpretation of creation

  • Before the world was created there was nothing except God

    God created the world in exactly 7 days

  God isn’t constrained by science or logic and is beyond human understanding, just because we couldn’t do it doesn’t mean it isn’t possible for God.
• non-literalist interpretation of creation

  •   Before the world was created there was nothing except God

  God created the world but Science (Big Bang/Evolution) explains how this happened

  Design Theory - There must have been a creator because the world is so complex it can’t just have happened by chance
• Literalist Christian 


  Creation occurred exactly as is written in the Bible.
• non literalist christian

  The Biblical account is a metaphor for how God created the world.
• How creation influences christians

  For Christians knowing that God created the world influences them to feel special that they were made in God’s image.

  It also lets them understand that the world is ordered and planned and that they have a purpose to being here and must therefore make the most of their time on earth.
• The Bible says , “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...Let there be light.” Many Christians believe that although it may not be scientifically accurate, the account contains religious truth, explaining that the process of creation was God’s choice and that God designed and caused it to happen.
• The Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The term Word has been linked to Jesus; the second person of the Trinity being referred to as both the Word and the Son of God.