Many believe that the creation story in Genesis 1 and the Big Bang are at odds with each other. But are they? Or is that seeming incompatibility a misunderstanding? In this post, I want to examine one specific issue: the age of the universe.
The Big Bang
So just what is the Big Bang? In short, it describes a rapid expansion of the universe from an extremely hot and dense point to the universe we see today. Many other articles describe this event in detail, so I will skip that here. However, what is significant to this discussion is that scientists have calculated this event to have been 13.8 billion years ago. And it overturned a long-held belief among scientists that the universe was eternal, confirming that the universe had a beginning.
Some significant questions remain in the scientific world. What caused the Big Bang? And why did it produce a universe that appears so finely tuned to allow for life, at least as we know it, to exist? Scientists have some ideas, but nothing more than that at this time.
Genesis 1
The first verse in the Bible, Genesis 1:1, answers both of these questions. What, or who, caused the Big Bang? God! And why is it finely tuned for life? And the answer again is God. The Big Bang and Genesis 1:1 are very compatible and provide complementary views. It is the rest of the first chapter of Genesis that causes the problem many have.
According to Genesis 1, how old is the creation? The first chapter, by itself, does not answer that question. All it tells us is that it took 6 days. However, using known dates from archaeology and the genealogies in the Bible, the Bible would seem to point to creation in the relatively recent past, on the order of 6-10,000 years ago. This is vastly different than the 13.8 billion years for the Big Bang and 4.5 billion years for the earth itself.
Reconciling the Two
So, is there any way to reconcile the apparent disparity between the age given by the Big Bang and what is calculated from the Bible? There are several ways this has been dealt with. One way is to reject the Big Bang altogether. Another is to reject the biblical account as nothing more than a fairy tale.
However, there have been several attempts to reconcile them, generally accepting the age given by the Big Bang and showing how Genesis could support it. I have described these in more detail elsewhere, but they include:
- The gap theory inserts a long period between Genesis 1:1 and 1:3, with Genesis 1:2 describing the aftermath of the destruction of a previous creation.
- The day-age theory takes advantage of the Hebrew word for day, which has a variety of possible lengths of time. In the day-age theory, the six days are each thought to be very long.
- The framework theory notes the poetic symmetry between the first three days and the last three days to propose that, rather than an actual historical record, Genesis 1 is more of a creation poem.
- A final suggestion is that Genesis 1, along with most of the first 11 chapters, are myths borrowed and adopted from the surrounding cultures.
An Altered Narrative
The first three alternatives are certainly possible, and I have seriously considered them at different times. But I lean toward the fourth alternative now. There is no question about the similarity between the Genesis account and those found in Egypt and Mesopotamia.
However, the theology of Genesis 1 differs greatly from the neighboring accounts. The theology of the Genesis account assumes a God who existed before creation. It reflects a single God who, by his power, spoke creation into existence. And it gives a much higher position for humanity as God’s vice-regent on earth.
Having an account of creation that was scientifically and historically accurate would not have been an issue for the ancient Jews. Much more important would have been an origin account that showed them their place in creation, the centerpiece of God’s handiwork. And I believe that is what it has to teach us today: our place in creation.
There is so much more that could be said about the age of the universe. But this post has given a brief overview. The next post will take a look at evolution.
- The Bible and Science (1/4/2025) - When the Bible and science appear to conflict, the issue is understanding what God tells us in his two revelations: the Bible and creation.
- A Reluctant Journey to the Big Bang (1/11/2025) - The more time I spent looking into the Big Bang and Theory of Evolution, the more I began to accept them as largely true.
- The Age of the Universe (1/18/2025) - How can we reconcile the age disparity of the creation between what proponents of the Big Bang claim and what Genesis seems to tell us?
- The Theory of Evolution (1/25/2025) - The Bible does not directly support the Theory of Evolution. But it does leave open that possibility if you recognize it is not a science book.
- Two Revelations: Creation and the Bible (2/1/2025) - God has given us two revelation. The first is the creation and is general in nature. The second is the Bible. And it is more detailed.
I want you to think about the number of galaxies that our telescopes have discovered, there are trillions of them. I believe that God created them all. I also find it hard to believe that we are the only intelligent beings that God created in these trillions of galaxies. I believe that the bible is our story. Jesus is God’s son who was sent here to help us find our way. But I also believe that, just as God sent Jesus, he reveals to us “discoveries” when we are ready. We are not ready to meet his other creations yet, and may never be. I believe someday our time is up. I don’t know if that’s just our time or the universes time and everything in it, but I believe that God does. Maybe that’s what Revelation is trying to tell us.
I also believe that God created all that was made (John 1:3), including the entire universe. Is there life elsewhere in the universe? Potentially. But it is not something I spend any time speculating about.
Hi Ed,
I agree with your conclusion that the ancient Genesis narrative has more to do with defining the place of mankind in God’s creation order than it does with providing a scientific explanation of the beginning. The account is written in a unique poetic/narrative style which certainly doesn’t bear loading with a rigorous scientific reading in the modern sense. So far so good.
However, if you label the account as mythological (as I once heard taught in a church!) you end up in a real biblical conundrum (as I mentioned to the pastor afterwards!). You have a mythical man who is a direct ancestor of Jesus—who is presumably believed to be a real man. This begs the question: who in the line of ancestors listed in Luke 3:23–37 was the real person who had a mythical father? Should we then tear Luke out of our Bibles?
Likewise, if you go down the path of the evolution of mankind, the whole biblical proposition (eg Rom 6:23) of sin leading to death, leading to the need for a saviour, breaks down. This is because evolution relies on death having been around for a very long time prior to mankind coming along. All sorts of questions follow. For example, could some folks claim not to be descended from Adam’s line, and therefore not guilty of original sin, therefore not needing a saviour? Or, if death wasn’t the result of sin, then what exactly did Jesus come along to do on the cross? Should we tear Romans out of our Bibles?
Personally I believe the creation account as it is written is true, but that we err foolishly when we try to make it answer questions it doesn’t bear.
Thanks,
Bruce
I agree that Genesis 1 is true. But not that it is literal history or scientifically accurate. Nor do I have an issue with not being descended from Adam. Adam’s story is mine as well. I have eaten of the forbidden tree and am in need of a savior. Not because of Adam’s sin. Bu because of my own.
God defined day on day 1. For us, a day is 24 hours and requires the earth and the sun to measure it. The sun was created on day 4. This suggests to me that the day as defined on day 1 and is used throughout Genesis 1 to measure the length of creation may quite possibly differ from the day that we experience. We keep saying that God is outside of time and is not limited by it. This may be the first example.
This is indeed one way that many people understand the timing of Genesis 1.