Religion and science - origins
“It’s
all a question of origins”
The origins of the world have always been a
debateable topic with many different views and many sides of the argument. The
origins of the world have been argued yet still people cannot come to a final
conclusion. Some of these views are explained below.
Scientific ideas
Many people believe in science being the
source of the origin of the earth and the rest of the world. Man has always
tried to look for the answers for everything independently. Now when the
origins of the world are being questioned, humans have got science to get an
answer; the big bang. If the big bang theory is scientifically proven then why
doesn’t everyone believe in it?
Almost all atheists in a recent survey said
that they believed that the big bang theory was correct because it was
something that they could relate to unlike God. They said “we can’t imagine
what God did to make the world, was it like magic and it just came there.”
The big bang suggests that the world was
made from lots of energy starting a big bang this created the first matter.
This matter, which was hydrogen, began to compress to produce helium. Some of
this matter would become so dense it would ignite and become a star this would
create many other elements. When some stars died it created a nova, this used
up fuel was normally the source of the planets. Our solar system was made when
the sun crashed into a nova. This flung all the different elements at different
locations to produce planets.
I don’t agree with this view because the big
bang doesn’t say how life was formed. Many people say we were made because all
the elements that we are made from are present but what actually made these
elements come to life? What made things live? I don’t think that the big bang
answers this question.
Religious ideas
The Koran says that if Allah says “be” it is
created. The Koran describes how Allah created the world and the heavens and
how he made all creatures swim, fly, walk or crawl on the face of the earth. He
made the angels the sun the stars and the universe. Allah poured the rain and
broke up the ground to bring the corn and the grapes and all other vegetations.
He then ordered the angels to bring him lots of soil so he could make man.
Allah then made man and women and called them Adam and Eve he made them take
care of the animals.
A recent counter argument to this from
atheists was that if Allah says ‘be’ and it is created why did he need soil for
the creation of man? A recent Islamic belief is that God created the big bang.
This ties in both ideas about science and religion however not all Muslims
believe this.
The Hindu’s view
suggests that the before time began there was nothing except for water (similar
to the Christian view) and Lord Vishnu lay on this water with a giant cobra.
With lots of energy
Vishnu awoke (this is a link to the big bang as it started with energy). From
Lord Vishnu’s navel grew a big lotus flower and in the middle was Brahma the
God of creation. Vishnu told Brahman to create the world.
Vishnu then
disappeared but Brahma began to create the world. He split the lotus flower
into three making one the heavens, one the earth and one the skies.
At this time the
earth was bare so Brahma set to work. He created
Plants of all kinds
and gave them feeling. Next he created the animals and the insects to live on
the land. He made birds to fly in the air and many fish to swim in the sea. To
all these creatures, he gave the senses of touch, smell and sight and allowed
them to move.
This account shows the religious side as the
world was made by a God in this case Vishnu and also the scientific side as it
says how the world was made with lots of energy during the awakening of Vishnu
to create the world.
My own view
I am a devout Christian and agree with the
Christian views, as it seems the easiest to relate to. I can’t imagine the
world being created from a big bang. How does the world look so beautiful? It
can’t be the product of an explosion. I think that the Islamic view is ok as it
does show that the world was definitely made from God and I agree with some of
its aspects. I am sure that the world was made by a God as there is no way that
the world could have been made by anything else. How did energy produce life?
Does a bang just suddenly produce nothing into something? With the Hindu’s view
I can understand how they believe that God made the world, which I agree with
but an interesting thing is that they include the point of energy which
suggests that it has some concurrence with the big bang theory.
As a Christian I believe that God made the
world by making it in days with water just being there all the time. On the
first day he separated the light from the darkness and called the light day and
the darkness night. On the second day he
made an expanse to separate water from water. He called the expanse sky. On the
third day he gathered the water to one place and dry ground appeared he called
the ground land and the water sea. He made the land produce vegetation. With
trees that bare fruit. On the fourth day God made the sun to govern the day and
the moon to govern the night he also made the stars. On the fifth day God made
the sea creatures to roam the seas and the birds to roam the skies. He was
pleased with it. On the sixth day God created living creatures to live on the
land. He made all sorts of creatures. He then made in an image of himself man
so that they could rule over all the earth, and over all the creatures. He
created both male and female and he blessed them. On the seventh day he rested.
This is a controversial view, as it doesn’t agree with many things to do with
science. However it does say how the world was created. And it suggests that
God made it; which I think is the most important thing.
Many of the atheists
that I know and have asked say that the creation story from the Islam, Hinduism
and Christianity are too farfetched and they can’t relate to them, as they
can’t understand what God did to make the world. But I think that it is the
only solution for the creation of the world it is the only answer and I don’t
see why anyone can think otherwise.
I believe that the
big bang theory is not fully correct. I don’t think that a bang suddenly
created the world. What caused the big bang? Why is it that life was made? I
think that the big bang is not the correct answer. I think that there must be a
God, but people try to be independent so they use science to get their answer.
I think that we have the freedom to choose how the world was made and this
means there will be a number of conflicting ideas.
Everyone has the
right to chose what they want but really why would you believe that we
everything around us is a product of a bang. If we are a product of a big bang
there must have been some sort of external influence (God) that caused us to
exist. I understand how people believe in the big bang yet I don’t understand
how they don’t believe in God.