Creation
If someone told you that the world was hatched from a cosmic egg, what would you think?
It’s not as daft as it sounds!
The yolk represents the sun and the white of the egg represents the moon.
If you were born in China or India many years ago, this is what the adults would tell you…
and guess what – you would probably have believed it too because all of your friends and family thought the same thing.
But in Egypt people believed something different. They believed that the stars first appeared when the sky god, Nut, arched over the ground.
What about this picture, which story does that illustrate?
It is the Creation story that appears at the beginning of the Christian Bible.
So with so many stories around, what should we believe? Generally, we believe what people tell us. But how do our parents and teachers and experts know what to believe?
Is everyone just believing what they are told?
Jews, Muslims and Christians share a Creation story.
It was written by the ancient Hebrews over 2000 years ago.
It has two parts, written by different people, living hundreds of years apart.
The first part talks about the Creation of everything.
The second part which is like a separate story is about the first two people, Adam and Eve.
The picture above sets out the beginning of the first story.
As we know, science is the best method we have to test ideas.
We found out earlier that science can’t tell us whether God exists. You can’t observe God.
Surely, however, science can tell us whether the Universe came out of an egg or whether a goddess in a sparkly dress leans across the sky?
Surely those kinds of ideas can be tested through observations?
Surely those kinds of ideas can be tested through observations?
The answer is yes (of course). These days you don’t hear anyone saying that the stars are sequins.
But for some reason, the Creation stories of the major faiths are still accepted as true by many people. Why is that?
Three approaches
When the Bible and Science seem to differ, there are three main approaches that people take when deciding what to believe.
LITERALISM
You believe EVERYTHING about creation in religious scripture. When scientists say something different, you say they are mistaken.
ATHEISM
You believe NOTHING about creation from scripture. You only listen to what scientists tell us.
OPEN TO BOTH SCIENCE AND RELIGION
You take ideas from both scripture and science. In general, science is your guide on how things work and religion tells you how to live and why everything is here.
How can you be open to both?
This is really tricky! Some people seem to think you can have both science and religion. But how?
The Creation story that is shared by Christians, Muslims and Jews is very different to the story from science. How can science and religion both be true at the same time?
To help us out, we’re going to call in some professional help. No, not teachers … We’re calling in two Secret Agents. Just remember, you met them here first … and here they are … THE CREATION SLEUTHS!