The creation of the world by a single Creator God is one of the central ideas of Judaism and Christianity. The main source of this concept is the Bible, or rather, its first book, Genesis, referring to. The creation of the world has many interpretations. This or that point of view is formed depending on which religion a person belongs to.

Scientific approach

The story in the Bible is described in a similar way: the Creator created the earth in 6 days (On the seventh day, the Creator "rested" - followed the development of life). How did God create the earth in 7 days with all its diversity? It's just incredible! Perhaps "day" is a rough translation from Hebrew. The Hebrew "yom" (the word that was ambiguously translated as "day") can also mean a much longer time period, for example, an era or an era. For example, in Psalm No. 89 one divine day corresponds to a thousand earth years.

There is another meaning of the divine day. In the "Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven", the Apostle Jude tells about the conversation of Jesus Christ with the Pharisees, in which he says that the divine day corresponds to the time during which the Sun will travel three times. The son of God in his statement does not mean the rotation of the Earth around the Sun, but the movement of the Sun around the center of the galaxy. According to the calculations of astrophysicists, it takes 250 million years, so we see that one divine day equals 750 million Earth years.

Accordingly, the six days during which God created the world is 4.5 billion human years. An interesting fact is that in the scientific picture of the world, the date of the formation of the Earth was 4.5 billion years ago.

Days of the creation of the world by God:

• Day I (750 million years). Heaven, earthly firmament and light were created.
• Day II (1.5 billion years). The atmosphere was created.
• Day III (2.25 billion years). Seas and land, grasses and trees were created.
• IV day (3 billion years). Due to the decrease in the density of the atmosphere and its purification, the Sun, the stars and the Moon became visible.
• V day (3.75 billion years). Fish, ancient reptiles (dinosaurs), birds were created.
• VI day (4.5 billion years). Mammals and modern reptiles (snakes and lizards) were created, man was created in a divine image and likeness - a man and a woman with a body, Soul, Spirit and Conscience.
• VII day (5.25 billion years). Rest of God. Development of life (divine task - "be fruitful and multiply").

The Bible's creation of the world for children is briefly described in this way, but we will take a closer look at what happens on each of the days.

The biblical story of the creation of the world is called the Six Day... At the beginning of the Book of Genesis, there is a story about the great divine deeds - the creation of the world with all its diversity and in all its perfection for six days. God created the Universe, having filled it with a huge multitude of heavenly bodies, created the earth with its reservoirs and mountain peaks, man, flora and fauna. The revelation of the creation of the universe is the greatest idea, an idea that could even surpass reason. The idea of \u200b\u200bcreating everything from nothing, being from nothing. So, in the beginning, the Lord created heaven and earth.

God is self-sufficient, he created the world only out of exclusive love. The Lord created Angels first. Although the Angels are divine beings, they were also once created, they have their beginning, for everything has a beginning, and only God is without beginning.

Chronology of creation

At the very beginning, the land was an unsettled wasteland. Matter (being), which was created from nothing (from nothingness), was disordered, hidden darkness. However, darkness was only a consequence of the absence of light, just as evil was only a consequence of the absence of good, that is, darkness could not initially be created as an independent element.

First day

By the will of the Lord, light arose that separated existence from darkness. The Lord did not destroy the darkness, but introduced a periodic change of darkness and light, day and night. At night, a person, like any other human being, is supposed to recuperate.

It is noteworthy that in the description of the first day of creation, the evening was described first, and then only the morning. It is for this reason that the ancient Jews began a new day in the evening. A similar order remained unchanged in the divine services of the Church of the New Testament.

Second day

The Lord created the sky. In Hebrew culture, we can find a metaphorical comparison of the sky with a tent: you stretch out the heavens like a tent. In the description of the second day, we are also talking about water, which, in addition to earth, is also found in the atmosphere.

The third day

Oceans, seas, lakes and rivers, as well as continents and islands were created. On the third day, the Lord created all the flora, laying the foundation for organic life on earth. Greenery, grass and trees appeared from the earth, which, multiplying by seeds, continued their race, observing the continuity of generations. This speaks of the constancy of everything that divine creation has.

Fourth day

On this day, the heavenly bodies were created. Each of them has its own purpose, is different from the others. As we remember, the light itself was created on the second day, and all the stars, including the Sun, were created on the fourth. Accordingly, the Sun is not the only source of light, but the Lord is the father of all light.

The creation of the luminaries had several purposes:

• Illumination of the earth and everything that is on it;
• Establish the difference between daytime (Sun) and nighttime (Moon and stars);
• Introduce the separation of day and night, seasons;
• Keep chronology using the calendar;
• Light can be a sign.

The fifth day

At the dawn of the fifth day, the Lord pays attention to the water (just as on the third day - to the earth). It is worth clarifying that the atmosphere is also understood by water.

In this same God commanded the creation of the representatives of the fauna, a form of life higher than that of plants. On the fifth day, fish and amphibians were created, as well as birds, insects and all those who live in the air. The Lord creates the first creatures of different sexes and commands them to be fruitful and multiply.

Sixth day

The Lord created beings from the lowest to the highest. On the sixth day, God created man from the dust of the ground. The Creator decided that a man does not need to be alone, took his rib and created a wife for a man. The Lord did not create several married couples, because he wanted to see humanity as one, their unity would be in a common ancestor - Adam. Based on this, all people are relatives.

After the creation of the human body, God endowed him with the breath of life and the soul, that is, the soul has a divine origin, this is the main feature of man.

The Creation of Man - The Last Stage of the Six Day... The Lord created the world, and this is his perfect creation, the hand of God did not bring evil into it, that is, the world was originally a container of only good.

Perhaps Six Days is just a beautiful parable. Science presents us with a different picture of the world than religious teaching. However, a scientific theory is only a theory, and therefore cannot be proven. To learn more about the opinion of scientists, you can watch one of the many documentaries, for example, "The Question of Origin". And, having looked, decide whether this is true or not. Everyone will adhere to their opinion, because for one the icon is just a picture, and for another it is a holy relic.

world creation

"" (Genesis 1, 1).

In the beginning, first of all, the visible world and man, God created from nothing sky, i.e spiritual, invisible world or angels.

Angels are disembodied and immortal perfumegifted with intelligence, will and power. God created countless numbers of them. They differ among themselves in the degree of perfection and in the nature of their service and are divided into several ranks. The highest of these are called seraphim, cherubim and archangels.

All angels were created good, so that they love God and each other, and from this life of love have constant great joy. But, God did not want to force love, so He left the angels free to choose - whether they themselves want to love Him - to live in God or not.

One, the highest and most powerful angel, named Dennitsa, was proud of his power and strength, did not want to love God and do the will of God, but wanted to become like God himself. He began to slander God, oppose everything and deny everything, and began a dark, evil spirit - the devil, Satan. The word "devil" means "slanderer", and the word "satan" means "enemy" of God and all that is good. This evil spirit seduced and carried away many other angels who also became evil spirits and are called demons.

Then one of the highest angels of God, the archangel Michael, spoke out against Satan and said: “Who is equal to God? Nobody is like God! " And there was a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against Satan, and Satan and his demons fought against them.

But the evil power could not withstand the angels of God, and Satan fell, along with the demons, like lightning, down - to the underworld, to hell... "Hell" or "Sheol" is a place far from God, where evil spirits now dwell. There they are tormented in their anger, seeing their powerlessness before God. All of them, due to their impenitence, have become so entrenched in evil that they can no longer be good. They try to seduce every person with cunning and cunning, instilling in him false thoughts and evil desires in order to destroy.

This is how evil in God's creation. Everything that is done against God, everything that violates the will of God is called evil.

And all the angels who have remained faithful to God since then live with God in unceasing love and joy, always fulfilling the will of God. And now they are so firmly established in the good and love of God that they can never do evil - they cannot sin, that is why they are called holy angels... The word "angel" means "messenger" in Russian. God sends them to proclaim His will to people, for this angels take on themselves a visible, human image.

God gives every Christian at baptism guardian angel, which invisibly guards a person throughout his earthly life, does not leave his soul even after death.

Note... - This is a short description of the creation of the heaven-angelic world - set out on the basis of the Holy. The scriptures and teachings of Sts. Fathers and Teachers of St. Orthodox Church.

A detailed description of the life of the angelic world is set out in st. Dionysius the Areopagite, disciple of St. Ap. Paul and the 1st Athenian Bishop, in his book "Heavenly Hierarchy", written on the basis of all the Scriptures that speak of angels.

Creation of the earth - the visible world

After the creation of heaven - the invisible, angelic world, God created out of nothing, with His one Word, land, that is, the substance (matter) from which we gradually created our entire visible, material (material) world: the visible sky, earth and everything on them.

God could have created the whole world in an instant, but since from the very beginning He wanted this world to live and develop gradually, he did not create it all at once, but during several periods of time, which are called "days" in the Bible.

But these " daysCreations were not our ordinary days, in 24 hours. Indeed, our day depends on the sun, and in the first three "days" of creation there was not even the sun itself, which means that there could not be present days. The Bible was written by the prophet Moses in the ancient Hebrew language, and in this language both the day and the period of time were called by one word "uom". But we cannot know exactly what “days” they were, especially since we know: “ The Lord has one day like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day"(2 Pet. 3 , 8; Psalm. 89 , 5).

The Holy Fathers of the Church consider the seventh “day” of the world to continue to this day, and then, after the resurrection of the dead, it will come eternal eighth day, that is, eternal future life. As he writes about, for example, st. John Damascene (VIII century): “Seven centuries of this world are counted, from the creation of heaven and earth to the general end and resurrection of people. For although there is a particular end - the death of everyone; but there is also a general perfect end, when there will be a general resurrection of people. And the eighth century is the future. "

St. Basil the Great back in the 4th century, he wrote in his book Conversations on the Six Days: “Therefore, whether you call it a day or a century, you will express the same concept”.

So, at first, the earth (matter) created by God had nothing definite, no form, was unsettled (like fog or water) and was covered with darkness, and the Spirit of God hovered over it, giving it life-giving power.

Note... - The Holy Bible begins with the words: “ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"(Gen. 1 , 1).

« At the beginning"In Hebrew" takes care of"Means" first, "or" at the beginning of time, "because before that there was only eternity.

« Created"The Hebrew word is used here" bar", Meaning made of nothing - created; in contrast to another Hebrew word "assa", meaning to create, educate, make from available material. The word "bara" (created from nothing) is used only three times in the creation of the world: 1) at the beginning - the first creative act, 2) when creating the "living soul" - the first animals, and 3) when creating man.

About the sky, in the proper sense, nothing is said further, since it was finished with the improvement. It was, as stated above, the spiritual, angelic world. Further in the Bible it will be said about firm heavenly, called by God "heaven", as a reminder of the highest spiritual heaven.

“The earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the water” (Gen. 1, 2).

By "earth" here we mean the initial, yet unsettled substance, from which the Lord God in six "days" arranged or later formed the visible world - the universe. This unsettled substance or chaos is called abyssas an immense and unlimited space, and water, as a water or vapor substance.

Darkness was over the abyss, that is, the entire chaotic mass was immersed in darkness, for the complete absence of light.

And the Spirit of God hovered over the water: - here is the beginning of God's educational creativity. By the value of the expression itself: worn (the Hebrew word used here has the following meaning: he embraced the whole substance, like a bird with outstretched wings embraces and warms its chicks), the action of the Spirit of God on the primordial substance must be understood as imparting to it the vital force necessary for its formation and development.

All three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity equally participated in the creation of the world: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as the Triune God, Consubstantial and Inseparable. The word "God" in this place is put in the plural - " Elohim", Ie. Gods (singular number Eloah or El - God), and the word “ created» - « bar»Delivered in the singular. Thus, the original Hebrew text of the Bible, from its very first lines, points to the consubstantial Persons of the Holy Trinity, saying as it were: “in the beginning the Gods (Three Persons of the Holy Trinity) created heaven and earth”.

This is just as clearly stated in the psalms: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were created, and by the Spirit of His mouth all their host" (Ps. 32 , 6). Here, by the "Word" is meant God the Son, under "Lord" - God the Father and under the "Spirit of His mouth" - God the Holy Spirit.

The Son of God, Jesus Christ, in the Gospel is directly referred to as the “Word”: “In the beginning was the Word ... and the Word was God ... Everything through Him began to be, and without Him nothing began to be that began to be” (John . 1, 1-3).

It is especially important for us to know, because the creation of the world itself would have been impossible if it had not been for the voluntary desire of the Son of God from the beginning to offer the sacrifice on the cross to save the world: “ - all im (Son of God) and created for Him; and He is first of all, and everything is worth to Him. And He is the head of the body, the Church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He may have primacy in everything: for it was pleasing to the Father that all fullness should dwell in Him, and that through Him to reconcile everything to Himself, having made peace through Him, by the Blood of His cross, both earthly and heavenly " ... 1 , 16-20).

And God said: "Let there be light!" And there was light. And God called light day, and darkness night. And there was evening and there was morning. This was the first "day" of the world.

Conversation on the first day of creation

The first action of God's educational creativity was the creation of light: “And God said: Let there be light. And there was light. And God saw the light that it was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. And God called light day, and darkness night. And there was evening and there was morning: one day ”(1, 3-5).

It may seem strange how this light could appear and alternate day and night from the first day of creation, when there was still no sun and other heavenly bodies. This gave rise to the atheists of the 18th century. (Voltaire, encyclopedists, etc.) mock the Holy Bible. But these wretched madmen did not suspect that their ignorant ridicule would turn against themselves.

Light by its nature is completely independent of the sun (fire, electricity). Only then, by the will of God, the light concentrated, and even then not all, in the heavenly luminaries.

Light is a consequence of the oscillation of the ether, which is now produced mainly through the sun, but which can be produced by many other reasons. If the primitive light could appear before the sun and could be, for example, the light of the present northern lights, the result of the combination of two opposite electric currents, then obviously there must be moments when this light began, reached its highest brilliance and then decreased again and almost stopped. And thus, according to the biblical expression, there were days and nights, there could be evening and morning, before the sun appeared, which serves as a standard for determining these parts of time.

Some commentators point out that the Hebrew words “ yerev"And" walker"- evening and morning - also mean" confusion "and" order ". St. John Chrysostom says: "The end of the day and the end of the night (Moses) clearly called one day, in order to establish some order and consistency in the visible (world), and there would be no confusion."

It should always be remembered that science cannot have a limit of knowledge: the more science learns, the more the area of \u200b\u200bthe unknown is revealed to it. Therefore, science can never say its "last word". Which has already been confirmed many times and is even more confirmed by the present time.

Just a few decades ago, science had its "last word". Science has established what was only a philosophical hypothesis of ancient Greek thought, namely: the so-called fundamental principle of matter, which consisted in the smallest dead point, absolutely nothing and under no guise indivisible... Therefore, the scientific name of this material point was determined as the basis of matter, "atom", which means in Greek " indivisible».

But the latest scientific advances have allowed scientists to investigate this, seeming until now, Dead point of matter.

For all its smallness atom ended up not a tiny bit of matter, but represents a whole "Planetary system" in miniature. Inside every atom is, as it were, " a heart" or " the sun» - atomic nucleus... Atomic "Sun" - core, surrounded by "planets" - electrons... Planets - electrons revolve around their "sun" at a monstrous speed - 1,000 billion revolutions per second. Each atomic nucleus - the "sun" is charged with electrical energy positively... Atomic "planets" - electrons charged negatively... Therefore, the atomic nucleus attracts electrons to itself and keeps them on the paths of rotation according to the laws of rotation of planets around the sun in world space. Moreover, in the world around us there are as many different types of atomic "planetary systems" as there are types of atoms (ie 96), according to the periodic table of elements.

Moreover, modern electronic physics has established that atomic nucleidespite their hard to imagine smallness, are also composite bodies. Atomic nuclei consist of so-called protons and neutrons, connected with each other in certain combinations and numbers. Some unknown force unites them and holds them together!

So the discovery by science of the structure of the atom turns into the discovery of perfection in the creation of the world. Wise Creator, and, fundamentally, completely changes the concept of matter. Such matteras the materialists understand it, does not exist.

Modern science has established that the primary basis of matter is energy, and the primary form of energy is light energy... Now it becomes clear why at the beginning of the formation of matter, God created light.

Thus, the first lines of the Bible, for our generation, are the best evidence Holy inspiration Bible... For how could Moses know that the creation of the world must begin with light, when did it become the property of science only in our XX century?

So the writer of everyday life Moses, according to Divine Revelation, revealed the secret of the structure of matter-matter, unknown to any of the people in those distant times.

Thus, the discovery of atomic energy, "the life of the atom", in our days is only a new proof of Divine truth!

"Wonderful are Thy works, O Lord, Thou hast created all wisdom!"

In second "day" of the world God created solid - that immense space that extends above us and surrounds the earth, that is, the sky we see.

Conversation on the second day of creation

The second creative command forms the firmament. And God said: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it separate the water from the water: and it was so. And God created the firmament, and God separated the water that is under the firmament from the water that is above the firmament. And God called the firmament Heaven. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day (vv. 6-8). Solid is airspace, or the visible sky. The origin of the firmament, or the visible sky, can be represented as follows. The immeasurably enormous mass of the primordial watery substance disintegrated at the behest of God, into millions of separate balls, which whirled on their axes and each rushed along its own separate orbit. The space that formed between these balls became solid; for in this space the movement of the newly created worlds was approved by the Lord on certain and unchanging laws of gravity, so that they do not collide with each other and do not interfere with each other in their movements. The water above the firmament is also the essence of the newly created watery balls, which then grew stronger, and from the fourth day of creation shone and sparkled above our heads; and the water under the firmament is our planet-earth, spreading beneath our feet. All this still bore the name of water because on the second day of creation it had not yet received a durable structure and strong forms.

Noteworthy is the indication of the greatest teacher of the Church, St. John Damascene, who lived in the 8th century. In the irmos of the 3rd canto of the 5th voice, he says: " nothing earth by thy command and hanged uncontrollably gravitating... ". So St. John Damascene revealed scientific truth many centuries before the time when it became the property of science.

IN the third "day" of the world God gathered the water under the sky into one place, and it appeared land... And God called dry land earthand the collection of waters seas... And he commanded the earth to grow greenery, grass and trees... And the earth was covered with grass, and all kinds of plants, and trees of all kinds.

Conversation on the third day of creation

Further, the earth receives such a structure that life already appears on it, although still only lower, namely plant life. And God said; let the water that is under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear. And it became so. And God said: Let the earth bring forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind and after its likeness, and a fruit tree, bearing fruit after its kind, in which is its seed on the earth. And it became so. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. (1, 9-13). The separation of water from land on the third day should not be simple, so to speak, by draining off the already prepared water from solid earthy parts. Water was not yet in the form and chemical composition as we now know it. So, firstly, by the creative word of the Lord, the ugly and unsettled substance of our planet was transformed on the third day of the world into two types: water and land were created, and the latter immediately formed different reservoirs on its surface: rivers, lakes and seas. Secondly, our planet was dressed in a thin and transparent cover of atmospheric air, and gases appeared with their numerous combinations. Thirdly, on the land itself, not only the surface of the land with mountains, valleys, etc., but also in its very depths - different layers of the earth, metals, minerals, and so on became the subject of creative work. Fourthly, all kinds of plants appeared on earth by a special command of the Creator. Finally, one must believe that on the third day of the world and other dark and chaotic masses, celestial bodies received the final arrangement, consistent with their goals, even though the writer speaks only of one earth. It is necessary to assume this on the basis that on the second and fourth days the Lord acts in the entire Universe, and therefore it cannot be that the whole third day should be dedicated to the earth alone, which is an insignificant grain of sand in the whole composition of the Universe. A clearer creative action of the third day can presumably be imagined in the following form. The land was still a solid sea. Then God said: “Let the water that is under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear; and it became so. " The thickened and gradually cooled substance rose in some places and fell in others; elevated places were exposed from water, became dry land, and depressions and depressions were filled with water merging into them and formed a sea out of themselves. "And God called the dry land earth, and the gatherings of waters called the sea: and God saw that it was good." But the earth did not yet possess what constituted the purpose of its creation: there was still no life on it, only the bare, dead rocks looked gloomily at the reservoir of waters. But now, when the distribution of water and land was completed and the necessary conditions for life were formed, then, according to the word of God, the first rudiments of it did not hesitate to appear - in the form of vegetation: “And God said: let the earth grow greenery, grass sowing seed (according to to its kind and likeness), and a fruitful tree, bearing fruit after its kind, in which is its seed on the earth - and it was so. And God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning: the third day. "

Science knows the remains of this vegetation, and it amazes with its majestic size. What is now an insignificant blade of grass, such as our fern, in primitive times was a majestic tree. The threads of the present moss in primitive times were about a fathom in a circle. But how could this powerful vegetation have happened without the influence of the sun's rays, which illuminated the earth only on the next fourth day? But scientific research here, as in many other cases, with all the irresistibility of an immutable truth, confirm everyday life. Experiments were done with electric light to develop greenery. One scientist (Famintsyn) achieved important results in this respect even with the help of the amplified light of a simple kerosene lamp. Thus, the question posed, in view of scientific research, has lost all force. Much more serious in this case appears to be another objection, namely: in the very layer of the earth, in which traces of organic life only first appear and in which, according to everyday description, the earth produced only greenery and vegetation in general, animal organisms are already found along with plants: corals, soft-bodied and gelatinous animals of the simplest forms. But this objection is not inevitable: the layers of the earth are not separated from each other by any impenetrable wall; on the contrary, during the millennia experienced by the earth, all kinds of fluctuations and changes in their location have occurred, which is why they mix and often turn into one another.

Although vegetation could develop under the influence of primitive light, its development under such conditions could not be accomplished with such regularity and purposefulness as is seen in it now. Majestic in size, it was poor in shape and color. In addition to greenery, she could not imagine anything: not a single flower, not a single fruit is found in the layers of the Carboniferous period. She obviously needed a properly measured light from the current luminaries.

IN fourth "day" of the world, at the command of God, the heavenly bodies shone over our land: sun, moon and stars... Since then, the intervals of time began to be determined - our present days, months and years.

Conversation on the fourth day of creation

The formation of the earth is followed by the arrangement of the heavenly bodies. And God said: Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven (to illuminate the earth and) to separate day from night, and for signs and times, and days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give light on the earth. And it became so. And God created two great luminaries: a greater luminary to govern the day, and a lesser one to govern the night, and the stars; and God set them up in the firmament of heaven ... And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning: the fourth day (1, 14-19).

Creative Command: let there be lightsis obviously equivalent to the previous commands of the Creator: let there be light ... let the water gather, and just as there it is clear not the initial creation, but the creative formation of objects, so here one must understand not a new creation, but only the complete formation of heavenly bodies.

How should one represent the origin of the heavenly bodies? According to their inner and basic matter, the celestial luminaries existed already up to the fourth day; they were that water above the firmament from which countless spherical bodies were formed on the second day of creation. On the fourth day, some of these Bodies were so arranged that the primordial light concentrated in them to the highest degree, and began to act in the most intense way - these are self-luminous bodies, or luminaries in the proper sense, such is, for example, the sun, and fixed stars. Other of the dark spherical bodies remained dark, but adapted by the Creator to reflect the light that poured on them from other luminaries - these are luminaries in an improper sense, or the so-called planets, shining with borrowed light, for example, the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn and others planets.

IN the fifth "day" of the world, according to the word of God, the water produced a living soul, that is, appeared in the water slugs, insects, reptiles and fish, and over the earth, through the firmament of heaven, flew birds.

Conversation on the fifth day of creation

On the fifth day, animals were created that live in the water and fly in the air. And God said: Let the water bring forth reptiles, the living soul; and let the birds fly over the earth, in the firmament of heaven. And it became so. And God created big fish ... And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. (1, 20-23).

The creative command of God, of course, forms these kinds of creatures from the elements of the earth; but as everywhere, so here, even here, more than in previous cases. To him, and not to the material elements, belongs the educational power: because, with the formation of animals, a new, higher principle of life is introduced into nature, animate, voluntarily moving and feeling beings appear.

By giving the newly created creatures the blessing to multiply, God, as it were, turns into their property the power through which they received their being, that is, gives them the ability to produce new creatures from themselves, each according to his own kind.

In more detail, the creative action of the fifth day can be imagined presumably in the following form:

The sky was decorated with luminaries, gigantic vegetation developed on earth, but there were no living creatures on earth that could enjoy the gifts of nature. For their existence there were not yet the proper conditions, since the air was saturated with harmful fumes that could only contribute to the vegetable kingdom. The atmosphere still contained so many foreign impurities, and mainly carbonic acid, that the existence of animal life was still impossible. It was necessary to clear the atmosphere of impurities harmful to life. This task was fulfilled by the gigantic vegetation under the influence of the sun shining on the fourth day. Carbonic acid is one of the essential elements of plant life, and since the atmosphere was saturated with it, the created vegetation began to develop rapidly and grandiosely, absorbing carbonic acid and purifying the atmosphere from it. Huge coal deposits are nothing more than the same atmospheric carbonic acid, converted into a solid by the process of vegetation. Thus, the purification of the atmosphere was accomplished, and when the conditions for the existence of animal life were prepared, it did not hesitate to appear by virtue of a new creative act.

“And God said: Let the water bring forth reptiles, the living soul; and let the birds fly over the earth in the firmament of heaven. " By virtue of this Divine command, a new creative act took place, not just educational, as in previous days, but in the full sense of the creative, as was the first act of the creation of a primitive substance - out of nothing.

Here was created " living soul", Something was introduced that was not in the existing primitive substance, and indeed, the everyday writer here uses the verb for the second time bar - create out of nothing. "And God created great fishes, and every living creature that creeps, which the water brought forth after its kind, and every bird of feathers after its kind."

The latest geological research clarifies and complements this short story of the everyday writer.

Descending into the depths of the earth's layers, geologists reach such a layer in which the "living soul" first appears. This layer is, therefore, the cradle of animal life, and the simplest animal organisms are found in it.

The most ancient "living soul" that is only known to geology is the so-called Eozoon Canadian, found in the lowest layers of the so-called Laurentian period. Then corals and ciliates appear, as well as crustaceans of various breeds, and even higher giants, reptiles and lizards appear. Of these, Ichthyosaurus, Hileosaurus, Plesiosaurus and Pterodactyl are especially known. All of them are striking in their gigantic size.

The ichthyosaurus was up to 40 feet in length, with the appearance of a lizard, with a dolphin's head, crocodile teeth, and a tail fitted with a leathery fish fin. Gileosaurus was up to three fathoms in height and represented a terrible look of a lizard. The plesiosaur looked like a giant tortoise with a 20-foot long neck, a small snake head, and a 6-foot-long stinger. The pterodactyl was like a flying dragon, with wings, a long head, crocodile teeth and tiger's claws - generally similar to a bat, but huge in size. Some of these monsters are still found now, but only their present representatives are insignificant dwarfs in comparison with their ancestors. So the productive power of the aging earth has weakened!

“And God saw that it was good! And God blessed them, saying: be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. And there was evening and there was morning: the fifth day. "

IN sixth "day" of the world, according to the word of God, the earth produced a living soul, and appeared on earth animals, that is, cattle, reptiles and beasts; and finally God created human - man and woman, in their own image and likeness, that is, similar in spirit to themselves.

Having finished the creation of man, the creation of the entire visible world, God saw that everything that He created was very good.

Conversation on the sixth day of creation

On the sixth, last day of creation, animals were created that are tenacious on earth and man.

As for the production of fish and water reptiles, the Lord turned to water, so also for the production of quadrupeds He now turns to the earth, just as He turned to it for the production of plants. This must be understood in such a way that the Lord gave the earth life-giving power, and not, as some naturalists think, that the earth, warmed by the warmth of the rays of the sun, fertile animals itself. In the entire vast area of \u200b\u200bnature, there is not the slightest hint that any one species of animal creatures could pass into another, for example, a herbivore into a carnivore: it is all the more unnatural to imagine the origin of animal life itself from inorganic principles (from gases, minerals, etc. etc.). “When God said: let the earth wear out,” says Basil the Great, “this does not mean that the earth will wear out what was already in it; but the One who gave the command gave the earth and the power of lime ”(“ Conversations for Six Days ”).

In accordance with recent natural science research, one can imagine the history of the sixth day of creation in the following presentation. Water and air were filled with life, but a third of the earth was still a desert - land, the one that provides the most convenience for the life of living beings. But then came the period and its settlement. “And God say, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after its kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after its kind, and cattle after its kind, and every thing that creeps on the earth after its kind. And God saw that it was good "( 1 , 24-25).

Scientific research, climbing higher up the ladder of earthly layers, following the layer containing the described monsters, fish and birds, also meets with a new layer in which new organisms appear - tetrapods. First, tetrapods of huge, now no longer existing species appeared on earth - dinotherium, mastodon and mammoth (a genus of elephants, with huge clumsy forms), then more advanced animals and, finally, their present species - lions, tigers, bears, cattle and etc.

Looking at this gradual appearance of species, science involuntarily poses the question: how did these species form? Do they represent immutable forms that received their origin in the creative and educational act, or did they gradually form one from another and all from one primary species?

In the last century, as you know, Darwin's theory, the theory of so-called transformism, or gradual development (evolution), became widespread. How does it relate to the biblical creation story?

The life writer says that plants and animals are created "after their own kind," that is, not one plant or animal form, but many plants and animals. But this does not mean that all species now existing owe their origin to the original creative act. Hebrew word min, translated in the sense of "genus", has a very broad meaning that does not fit into the technically scientific meaning of the word "species". It is wider than it in any case, without embracing all the present species and varieties of animals and plants, does not deny the possibility of gradual improvement of forms.

And that really a change in forms is possible is proved by certain facts. Many varieties of roses, carnations and dahlias and many varieties of chickens and pigeons that can be seen in zoological gardens were formed not more than centuries ago. Changes also occur under the influence of different climatic conditions, differences in soil, nutrition, etc. Based on this, it can be assumed that the number of plant and animal forms in the primitive world was not as great and diverse as it is now.

Genesis description, narrating that creation in the proper sense (bar) was only at the creation of the first rudiments of animal-organic life, and then a simple formation took place, also does not categorically (decisively) deny the possibility of the development of species from one another. Nevertheless, it does not provide any basis for the acceptance of the theory of development in its entirety: it clearly and distinctly asserts that animal and plant organisms were directly created “according to their kind,” that is, in a variety of definite forms.

This theory has no solid foundation for itself in science, and at the present time it has been severely defeated. We will not give all the scientific arguments, but point out at least one. Prominent American scientist Cressm Morrison (former chairman of the New York Academy of Sciences) says:

“The miracle of genes - a phenomenon that we know, but which was not known to Darwin - testifies that care was taken about all living things.

The size of genes is so incredibly insignificant that if all of them, that is, the genes thanks to which all people of the entire globe live, were collected together, they could fit into a thimble. And the thimble would not have been full! And nevertheless, these ultramicroscopic genes and their accompanying chromos are found in all cells of all living things and are the absolute key to explaining all the characteristics of humans, animals and plants. Thimble! It can accommodate all the individual characteristics of all two billion human beings. And there can be no question of doubting this. If this is so, then how is it that the gene includes even the key to the psychology of each individual being, accommodating all this in such a small volume?

This is where evolution begins! It begins in the unit that is the guardian and carrier of genes. And the fact that several million atoms included in the ultramicroscopic gene may turn out to be the absolute key that directs life on earth is evidence that care has been taken about all living things, that someone has foreseen them in advance, and that the provision should be from the Creative Mind. No other hypothesis here can help to solve this riddle of being.

On the sixth day of creation, the earth was already inhabited by living beings in all its parts. The world of living beings was a slender tree, the root of which consisted of the simplest, and the upper branches of the higher animals. But this tree was not complete, there was not yet a flower that would complete and decorate its top, there was not yet a man - the king of nature.

But then he appeared. “And God said: Let us make man in our image (and) in our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creeping things that creep on the earth. And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. " Here, for the third time, it happened in the full sense creative act (bar), since man in his being again has something that was not in the nature created before him, namely the spirit, which distinguishes him from all other creatures.

Thus ended the history of the creation and formation of the world. " And God saw all that He had created, and it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning: the sixth day».

“And on the seventh day God completed His works, and rested on the seventh day from all His works, which He did and created. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. "

In the next period then, that is, in seventh "day" of the world, which, as taught by St. fathers, continues to this day, God stopped creating. He blessed and sanctified this "day" and called it saturday, that is, peace; and commanded that people also rest on their usual seventh day from their deeds and devote it to the service of God and their neighbors, that is, make this day free from everyday affairs - holiday.

At the end of creation, God left the world to live and develop according to the plan and laws established by Him (or, as they say, according to the "laws of nature"), but at the same time He constantly takes care of everything created, giving each creation what he needs for life. This concern of God for the world is called “ By the Providence of God».

Note: For details on the creation of the visible world, see St. Bible, in the 1st book of Moses "Genesis" ch. 1 , Art. 1-31; 2 , 1-3.

How God Created the First Humans

God created man differently from other creatures. Before his creation, God, in the Most Holy Trinity, confirmed His desire, He said: “ let us make man in our image and in our likeness».

And God created man from the dust of the earth, that is, from the substance from which the entire material, earthly world was created, and breathed into his face breath of life, that is, he gave him a free, rational, living and immortal spirit, in his own image and likeness; and a man became with an immortal soul. It is this "breath of God" or the immortal soul that distinguishes man from all other living creatures.

Thus, we belong to two worlds: with the body - to the visible, material, earthly world, and by the soul - to the invisible, spiritual, heavenly world.

And God gave the first man a name Adamwhich means "taken from the earth." For him God raised on earth paradise, that is, a beautiful garden and put Adam in it, so that he would cultivate and keep it.

All kinds of trees with beautiful fruits grew in paradise, among which were two special trees: one was called tree of lifeand the other is the tree of knowledge of good and evil... Eating the fruits of the tree of life had the power to protect a person from illness and death. On the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God commanded, that is, he commanded a person: "You can eat from every tree in paradise, but you cannot eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because if you eat of it, you will die."

Then, at the command of God, Adam gave names to all the beasts and birds of the air, but he did not find among them a friend and helper similar to himself. Then God caused a deep sleep on Adam; and when he fell asleep, he took one of his ribs and covered that place with flesh (body). And God created a wife from a rib taken from a man. Adam named her Eve, that is, the mother of people.

God blessed the first people in paradise and told them: “ be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and own it».

Having created a wife from the rib of the first man, God showed us that all people come from one body and soul, should be united - to love and take care of each other.

Note: See the Bible in the book. "Being": ch. 2, 7-9; 2, 15-25; 1, 27-29; five; 1-2.

Can the first chapter of Genesis be viewed as a record of events that actually took place in the past?

For the Jewish believer, the words of the Torah are absolute truth. But then how should he relate to the results of scientific research? Over the centuries, this issue has attracted the attention of Torah scholars, who tried to keep abreast of modern scientific knowledge and, if possible, use it for a new interpretation of a particular Torah passage. This book by Professor Aviezer is a continuation of this tradition.

Over the past several decades, a huge amount of new scientific information has been accumulated. Such major technological advances as the creation of a transistor, a computer, a laser, etc., made it possible to carry out experiments that previously could only be dreamed of. It should not be forgotten that until relatively recently, many scientific theories were based mainly on guesses and logical inferences.

Now the situation has changed radically. A number of branches of science - cosmology, geology, molecular biology and others - for the first time received serious experimental confirmation. A new explanation of scientific facts often leads to completely unexpected consequences. So, in our views on the world, in essence, a true revolution took place. The time has clearly come to ask the question: how should a person who believes in God relate to these new scientific discoveries?

Professor Aviezer's book on this issue tries to find a correspondence between the latest scientific information and the statements of the Torah. In his research, Professor Aviezer touches on all areas of science relevant to the creation story in Genesis, including cosmology, astronomy, geology, biology, anthropology and archeology. The eminent scientist shows how closely the latest scientific data in all these areas correspond to the text of the Book of Genesis. Moreover, for many expressions from the Book of Genesis, which until now seemed unclear and vague, he was able to find an accurate explanation in the light of modern scientific knowledge.

Professor Avieser certainly possesses the qualifications required for such an analysis. More than a hundred scientific publications belong to him; recently, in recognition of the importance of his contributions to science, he was elected an honorary member of the American Physical Society.

The results of the analysis are presented in the book consistently and convincingly. The author often cites articles from reputable scientific journals, mostly published over the past decade. He demonstrates with great skill how these articles shed light on obscure concepts and places in the biblical account. In addition, at each stage of his analysis, he focuses attention on those physical aspects of the universe that appear to a secular person as just a series of fortunate coincidences, while the believer sees them as undeniable proof of a single great design. Professor Aviezer does not claim to be a complete solution to all problems. But his fresh outlook provides food for thought and makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the first, most difficult chapter of the Torah.

Professor Cyril Domb

When people study the first chapter of Genesis, people usually do not tend to take what is written in it literally. This approach to the text is not surprising. Having even a small idea of \u200b\u200bscience, one cannot fail to notice that between the "facts", as science understands them, and the "facts" as they appear before us when we literally read the first chapter of Genesis, there are apparently many contradictions.

On these pages, we ask ourselves: can the first chapter of Genesis be viewed as a record of events that actually took place in the past? To answer this question, we carry out a detailed comparison of the biblical text and the data of modern science. This analysis shows that, contrary to popular belief, many passages in the biblical account are strikingly consistent with the latest discoveries in such branches of science as cosmology, astronomy, geology, paleontology, anthropology, and archeology.

As is well known, in all these sciences there has recently been significant, sometimes dramatic, progress. However, few are aware of the profound impact this newfound knowledge can have on our understanding of the first chapter of Genesis. This is the main thesis of this monograph: modern science has given us a unique opportunity to read in a new way, with deeper understanding, many passages of the biblical text that otherwise seem mysterious. Science today not only does not oppose the Book of Genesis, but has become the most important tool for understanding it.

From the outset, it is necessary to agree on the meaning of the biblical chronology - six days of creation. In any attempt to compare the biblical text with the data of science, the term "day" must be understood not as a period of time of twenty-four hours, but as a phase, a period in the development of the world. This idea, of course, is not new. Talmudic sages have long drawn attention to the fact that one cannot speak of "day" or "evening and morning" in the usual sense of the word, when there is neither sun nor moon in the sky. Rabbi Eli Munch, in his comprehensive work on the etymology of the first chapter of Genesis, explores the issue of biblical chronology in detail, carefully comparing the different points of view of traditional Jewish commentators. 1 He concludes his analysis of biblical chronology with the following words: "There is no single traditional definition of the word" Day "in the Seven Days of Genesis." Bearing in mind this divergence of views, Munch always writes the word "day" in italics in his book, so that no one did not accept it in a twenty-four hour period. In the book Challenge, 2 the collection of sayings of traditional commentators of the Bible, there is also no single interpretation of biblical chronology.

In this book, we proceed from the premise that six days of creation does not mean a period of time of 144 hours, but six separate phases in the development of the universe - from the creation of the world to the appearance of man. Many commentators of the Bible adhere to the same position, from the time of the ancient Talmudists to the present day. 3

Analyzing the text, we focus on events and the statement factsas recorded in the first chapter of Genesis. For these events and facts, we try to find the corresponding sections in the scientific theory of the development of the Universe. We are not going to claim that an explanation has been found for everything. However, we will show that much in the biblical text can taken literally, based on the data of modern science.

This book is divided into chapters, each of which is devoted to one of the days of creation. The chapter begins with questions that arise when reading the biblical text. This is followed by the relevant scientific material. Finally, we provide an interpretation of the biblical text in the light of modern scientific knowledge. Each of these three elements requires some comment.

The questions presented here are not the only ones that could be asked, and not every reader may find these questions the most essential. These are simply the questions that people ask most often: some with a sincere desire to understand, and others with a challenge, challenging the biblical text. Modern science sheds light on each of these questions, giving them a new explanation.

There is a tendency today to treat science with some disdain, emphasizing the transitory nature of scientific theories. However, any competent scientist is able to distinguish theories of a speculative nature from the well-established and well-founded ones. The former do not live long, and the media now and then report the demise of one or another of them, while the latter are remarkably durable. For example, the theory of relativity and quantum theory, from the very moment of their inception and until now, explain hundreds of various phenomena with unchanged success. Such well-established theories are constantly being refined and expanded, but not radically revised. Of course, the empirical nature of science precludes the possibility of absolute proof of any theory. However, the likelihood that such a solidly based theory will be disproved is extremely small.

So, we will show that modern science provides answers to each of the questions that arise in connection with the biblical text. This, of course, not means that the Book of Genesis can be read as a teaching aid. We claim only that there is a scientific explanation that does not contradictbiblical text. This work is devoted to establishing this fact.

1. Rabbi E. Munk, The Seven Days of the Beginning (Jerusalem: Feldheim, 1974).

2. A. Carmell and C. Domb, Challenge (Jerusalem: Feldheim, 1978), pp. 124-140.

3. Munk, p. 50.

The first day

THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

Genesis Chapter 1

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was chaotic and empty, and darkness over the abyss; and the Spirit of God was hovering over the water. 3 And God said: Let there be light. And there was light. 4 And God saw the light that it was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 And God called light day, and darkness night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

Questions

Events related to the first day of creation are described in the first five verses of Genesis. They contain several statements that seem incredible.

1. First of all, we read that God created the universe (1: 1). It is clear that the creation of the universe is the greatest event that ever happened. No scientist, however, has been able to find any evidence that clearly and irrefutably testifies to this event. Why? Why is there ns, in essence, no signs indicating this event? And in general, we have to admit that the very concept of creation ex nihilo (i.e. something from nothing) contradicts well-known laws of nature, in particular, the law of conservation of mass and energy. It follows from this law that the creation of something from nothing - impossible.

2. We read that God created light (1: 3). What kind of light? We now know such light sources as the Sun and stars, the light reflected by the Moon, the light of a burning match or a lamp turned on. But the first day was not norSun, nor stars, not there was also a person. Thus, the nature of this light is a mystery, never explained in the following text. Meanwhile, this issue is given such importance that the entire first day, one-sixth of the entire history of the creation of the world, is devoted to this mysterious light.

3. Then, we read, God "separated" light from darkness (1: 4). Darkness is not substance, able to be separated from the light. The word "darkness" simply means the absence of light. Where there is darkness, there is no light; where there is light, there is no darkness. Thus, the concept of separating light from darkness has no logical meaning.

4. We read that in the beginning the universe was in a state of chaos (in Hebrew: tohu vavokhu) (1: 2). The text does not give the slightest indication of the nature of this chaos. What exactly was in a chaotic state? And how was this chaos eliminated, if it was eliminated at all?

5. Finally, we read that the entire complex chain of cosmological events, without which the creation of the world could not do, took place in a single day (1: 5). Meanwhile, it is well known that cosmological events are measured not in days or even years, but in billions of years.

Here are some questions that I would like to receive an answer to. And now we will look at modern scientific facts on each of these issues, while examining in detail all the apparent contradictions between science and the Book of Genesis. We will show that, as incredible as it may seem, the scientific information obtained in recent years provides an explanation for the biblical text that fully corresponds to the modern level of scientific knowledge.

COSMOLOGY

Cosmology is the branch of science that deals with the origin of the universe. Interest in it has not dried up for millennia in almost all civilizations. However, up to this century, all cosmological research had a very meager scientific basis, if not none at all, based solely on speculation. It is important to note that even by the middle of the twentieth century, the situation had changed little for the better. As the Nobel laureate, Harvard University professor Stephen Weinberg writes, “in the fifties of our century it was customary to think that a self-respecting scientist would not devote time to such a subject as the study of the early stages of the development of the Universe - then there simply did not exist an experimental and theoretical basis on which it would be possible to build the history of the Universe in the early stages of development "1

The approach to cosmology prevalent in the 1950s was based on the belief that the universe as we observe it today has always existed in its present form. 2 Indeed, the supposed immutability of the Universe was confirmed by the results of thousands of years of continuous astronomical observations, drawing a constant, unchanging picture of the sky. The arrangement of stars and constellations that we observe today is almost identical to that which we find in the records of ancient astrologers. The traditional concept of the immovability of the stars naturally suggests to us the idea of \u200b\u200bthe immutability of the universe; it probably explains in part our readiness to perceive this thought, although it has no truly scientific basis

THE BIG BANG THEORY"

In 1946, George Gamow and his co-workers proposed a completely different cosmological theory. 3 The main features of this revolutionary theory are presented in a table in which time is measured in billions of years. The present time is indicated by the number "15", for, according to Gamow's theory, The universe began 15 billion years ago. It was at that moment, indicated on the table with the number "O", suddenly appeared, out of nothing, a giant fireball, the so-called primary energy ball, popularly known as the "big bang". The sudden appearance of the primary fireball and was marked by the beginning of the universe,in the sense that absolutely nothing existed before the “big bang”. The Big Bang is thus the most accurate embodiment of creation. ex nihilo.

The term "fireball" should not give the mistaken impression that something was actually on fire. This clot represented the highest concentration of pure energy. A familiar example of concentrated pure energy is the bright spot of light produced by the sun's rays at the focus of a magnifying glass. The primary fireball can be imagined as a bunch of sun rays magnified millions of times, concentrated by a lens.

Let's leave for the time being the most important question of where this fiery clot came from, and start describing some of the main features of this theory. In particular, how did the development of the primary energy bunch take place, the result of which was the Universe that we know? Our world consists of matter (in the form of atoms and molecules), which is the original constituent part of everything we see, from stars and galaxies to oceans, trees and animals. Where did all this matter come from?

The answer is contained in the famous formula of Einstein's theory of relativity:

E = m from 2,

where E means energy, m — matter, and from Is the speed of light. This formula reflects the ability of matter to turn into energy. Moreover, since c 2 is an enormous quantity, a small amount of matter is sufficient to produce a gigantic amount of energy.

This transformation of matter into energy is not just a hypothetical possibility, it underlies the production of atomic energy; Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been destroyed by powerful atomic bombs - and on the other hand, millions of families are using electricity from the same process for peaceful purposes. The Big Bang theory is based on the fact that Einstein's formula acts in both directions: not only matter can be converted into energy, but also energy can be converted into matter. Although a huge amount of energy is required to produce even a small amount of matter, the supply of it in the primary clot was so enormous that it served as the source of all matter now existing in the Universe.

The primary blob consisted of the same type of light energy that is emitted by the Sun. The term "light" is used by us to designate a general phenomenon called by scientists "electromagnetic radiation". This phenomenon is most easily explained by turning again to the Sun. The electromagnetic radiation of the Sun, visible to the eye, is called visible light. Its spectrum includes all shades from red to blue (the colors of the rainbow familiar to us). The sun also emits electromagnetic radiation not visible to the eye, or invisible light. The "color" spectrum of invisible sunlight includes infrared rays (which give the skin a feeling of warmth), ultraviolet rays (which cause sunburn), microwaves (used in microwave ovens), radio waves, X-rays, and the like. The significant difference between the colors of visible and invisible light not; together they constitute the full spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. A camera loaded with appropriate film will record all these colors with equal success. Therefore, following common practice, we call the word "light" all electromagnetic radiation, including both visible and invisible light.

We now come to the most important event, which took place shortly after the "big bang", and indicated in the table as 0.001. Some background information is needed to understand this event. The form of matter known to us is an atom or a group of atoms called a molecule. However, when, just after time zero, the formation of matter took place, it did not exist in the form of atoms. The incredibly high temperature of the primary clump would instantly destroy any atom. Therefore, matter existed in a different form, which is called "plasma". The essential difference between the two forms of matter is that the atom is electrically neutral, while the plasma is made up of particles that carry either a positive or negative charge. These charged particles “catch” light, blocking its penetration through the plasma. Therefore, the plasma always looks dark from the side.

A fraction of a second after the "big bang", the universe consisted of the light of the primary clot penetrating the plasma. Although the light from the bunch was incredibly strong, the plasma absorbed it; light could not penetrate her and therefore was "invisible." To imagine this situation, imagine that there was someone in the world at that time with a camera. The universe would seem to our photographer dark because of the plasma, and the footage he shot would be completely black, although the universe was filled with the light of the primary fireball. It would look like someone, without using the flash, snapped pictures in a completely dark room.

Starting from the zero moment, the incandescent primary clot began to rapidly cool. By the time indicated on the table as 0.001, it had cooled so much that it allowed the charged plasma particles to combine and form atoms. The formation of atoms from plasma was a vital event that determined the path of the development of the Universe in its present form.

In contrast to plasma, any space filled with free atoms and molecules is completely transparent. One has only to remember the transparent atmosphere of our planet, consisting of air molecules (mainly nitrogen and oxygen). Light streams freely through the atmosphere; the Sun, Moon, distant stars and galaxies are clearly visible from the Earth's surface. Thus, when 15 billion years ago the plasma suddenly turned into atoms and molecules, it stopped trapping the light of the fireball. This light has become "visible"; he soon filled the entire universe and fills it to this day.

This concludes our very brief description of the main provisions of George Gamow's theory of the "big bang". As with any scientific theory, the criterion of its acceptability is the confirmation by practice of the correctness of its assumptions. The most striking thing about the big bang theory is the assumption that the world has been filled with light for 15 billion years, from the very beginning of time. This light, most of the spectrum of which is invisible, has very special qualities (there is no need to consider them now), thanks to which it is easy to distinguish it from any other types of electromagnetic radiation. However, the predicted radiation was not detected. Here's why: the primary clot was incredibly hot and contained gigantic energy. Over time, however, it expanded and cooled, causing the radiant energy to spread in all directions. Today, fifteen billion years later, the energy of the primary clot is extremely rarefied, its electromagnetic radiation is so weak that it was technically impossible to detect it with the help of the previously available scientific equipment.

Let's summarize the situation. The cosmological theory of the "big bang" was fundamentally different from the generally accepted concepts. In addition, the dramatic assumption put forward by the theory about the existence of a special radiation that fills the entire Universe could not be verified for technical reasons. It is not surprising, therefore, that the theory of the "big bang" was not taken seriously by the scientific community.

CONFIRMATION OF THE THEORY

After World War II, many areas of technology have undergone revolutionary advances. That was the era of semiconductors, lasers and electronic computers. Scientific instrumentation has also undergone radical improvements. Many experiments, which were not feasible with the technique of the forties, became routine in the sixties. Radiation detectors, which is especially important for us, have also been improved a hundredfold. By the sixties, detecting the superweak magnetic radiation predicted by the big bang theory became technically feasible.

In 1965, two American scientists at the Bell Telephone Research Laboratory, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, were measuring galactic radio waves using highly sensitive antennas. While testing the antenna, they noticed a very weak, unfamiliar electromagnetic radiation that seemed to be coming from all directions from outer space. It soon became clear that this was the very radiation predicted by the Big Bang theory.

After the publication of the discovery of Penzias and Wilson, their results were confirmed by many other researchers. At present, there is no shadow of a doubt that this fundamental assumption of the "big bang" theory is a scientifically substantiated fact. Moreover, other key assumptions of this theory have also been confirmed. For example, the theory assumes that all galaxies in the Universe scatter at a tremendous speed as a result of the initial explosion, with distant galaxies moving at a faster speed than nearby ones. This "scattering" of galaxies, guessed by Gamow, was confirmed mainly by the studies of the American astronomer Edwin Hubble; the speed of galactic movement is called the Hubble constant. Another victory of the "big bang" theory is associated with the chemical composition of the universe. The ratio of the amount of hydrogen and helium observed in the Universe is fully consistent with the postulates of the theory.

The big bang theory received additional confirmation in the late 90s, when the space satellite COBE transmitted the results of his measurements. US Outer Space Exploration Agency (NASA) launched this satellite outside the atmosphere to measure various properties of the radiation caused by the "big bang". The information received fully confirmed the Big Bang theory. English magazine Nature called these studies "a triumph of science," 4 and the journal Scientific american July 1992 opened with Further Evidence for the Big Bang Theory. Discoveries made in 1992 with COBE, were also repeatedly covered in the general press. Since all the assumptions of the "big bang" theory were confirmed, it turned into generally accepted cosmological theory, yet other theories of this kind were consigned to oblivion. Currently, all cosmological studies are carried out exclusively within the framework of the "big bang" theory. The final recognition of the validity of this theory came in 1978, when Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their fundamental discovery. Unfortunately, George Gamow died in 1968 and could not share the glory with them, because the rules of the Nobel Committee do not allow awards are posthumous.

The significance of Penzias and Wilson's discovery can hardly be overestimated. Professor Steven Weinberg called it "one of the most important scientific discoveries of the twentieth century." 5 Weinberg's enthusiasm is understandable The Big Bang theory has radically changed our understanding of the origin of the universe.

BIBLICAL TEXT

Now let's return to our original intention to compare the biblical text with the findings of modern science. So, let's take a closer look at each of the five points listed at the beginning of this chapter.

1. Creation of the world

Creation of the world acquired the meaning of a recognized scientific fact Professor of the University of Cambridge, Nobel Prize laureate Paul Dirac formulated the position of modern science in relation to the creation of the world as follows: “The development of radio astronomy, which has occurred in recent years, has greatly expanded our knowledge of the distant parts of the Universe. As a result, it became obvious that the creation of the world took place at a certain point in time. " 6 At present, any researcher, with the help of appropriate measurements, can obtain data that clearly and unequivocally prove that the creation of the world did take place.

It will be instructive to cite the statements of several leading cosmologists. Professor of the University of Cambridge Stephen Hawking: "The moment of the creation of the world as such lies outside the limits of the currently known laws of physics." 7 MIT professor Alan Guth and University of Pennsylvania professor Paul Steinhardt: "The moment of the creation of the world still has no explanation." 8 And here are the titles of two recent scientific papers on cosmology: "World creation" 9 and "The moment of the creation of the world" 10 And finally, an article recently published in one of the world's leading physics journals is entitled "The Creation of the World from Nothing." eleven

The term “creation of the world” has clearly ceased to be the exclusive prerogative of Bible students and entered the dictionary of science. In any serious scientific discussion on cosmology, the creation of the world now occupies a leading place.

Now we come to central issue - to the decisive question of what was caused by the sudden appearance of a primary energy bunch that heralded the creation of the universe. According to some leading cosmologists, the creation of the world "lies beyond the currently known laws of physics" 12 and "still has no explanation." 13 Unlike science, Genesis gives explanation. She explains the reason for the creation of the world and does it in the very first line: "In the beginning God created ..."

2. Light

So, cosmology has established that the sudden, inexplicable appearance of a bunch of energy is the creation of the world. The biblical expression "Let there be light" can, therefore, be understood as an indication of the primary fireball - the "big bang" - announcing the emergence of the universe. All matter and all energy existing in the world today derive directly from this "light". Let us especially note the fact that on the first day, not two separate, unconnected acts of creation - the Universe and light - took place, but only one.

3. Separation of light from darkness

The Big Bang Theory states that the universe was originally a mixture of plasma and light from a primordial fireball. The universe at this moment seemed darkdue to plasma. The sudden transformation of plasma into atoms shortly after the creation of the world led to the fact that the electromagnetic radiation ("light") of the primary energy bunch "separated" from the dark until then Universe and shone unhindered in space.

The biblical words “And God separated the light from the darkness” can be interpreted as a description of the “separation” of light from a dark fiery-plasma mixture. Fifteen billion years later, this separated radiation ("light") was discovered by Penzias and Wilson, for which they received the Nobel Prize.

4. Chaos

Beginning in 1980, the big bang theory has been enriched by significant new discoveries, which Guth and Steinhardt have collectively termed "the expanding universe." In a recently published article summarizing these new discoveries, there is the following phrase: "The universe was originally in a disordered, chaotic state." 14 One of the new books on cosmology examines in detail the phenomenon of primordial chaos and the major cosmological consequences arising from it. 15 The section of the book dealing with this issue is entitled "Primary Chaos" and is placed in a chapter entitled "From Chaos to Space." And finally, Andrei Linde, a professor at the Lebedev Moscow Physics Institute, proposed the so-called "chaotic expansion scenario" describing the origins of the universe. 16 An explanation of the nature of this chaos and its significance is beyond the scope of this monograph, but it must be emphasized that the role of chaos in the development of the original Universe has become the most important subject of cosmological research. How important this subject is to our topic is obvious: the Book of Genesis claims that the universe began with a state of chaos (in Hebrew: tohu vavokhu) (1:2).

5. Creation of the world in one day

There is a widespread belief that since cosmological changes are extremely slow at present, they have always occurred at the same rate. This, in essence, was the philosophy of the former, now refuted cosmological theories. The modern theory, the big bang theory, says, on the contrary, that a long chain of dramatic cosmological changes at the beginning of the universe took place in an extremely short time. This situation was clearly emphasized by Harvard University professor Stephen Weinberg, who called his popular book on modern cosmology "The first three minutes." Professor Weinberg needed 151 pages of text and many diagrams to describe the most important cosmological changes in our universe that took only three minutes.

CONCLUSIONS

The main conclusions that follow from this chapter are best captured by Professors Guth and Steinhardt, who believe that "historically, probably the most revolutionary aspect" of modern cosmological theory lies in the assertion that matter and energy were created in the literal sense of this the words. They emphasize that "this postulate radically contradicts the centuries-old scientific tradition that you cannot make something out of nothing." 17

In short, as a result of centuries of intense scientific work done by the best minds of mankind, finally, a picture of the world has been created, strikingly coinciding with those simple words with which the Book of Genesis begins.

TO BE CONTINUED

1. S. Weinberg, The First Three Minutes (London: Andre Deutsch & Fontana, 1977), pp. 13-14.

2. H. Bondi, Cosmology, 2nd ed. (Cambridge University Press, 1960).

3. Weinbeirg see 1; G. Bath, The State of the Universe (Oxford University Press, 1980), chap. 1.

5. Weinberg, p. 120.

6.R.A.M. Dirac, Commentarii, vol. 2, no. 11, 1972, p. 15; vol. 3, No. 24, 1972, p. 2.

7. S.W. Hawking and G.F.R. Ellis, The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time (Cambridge University Press, 1973), p. 364.

9. P.W. Atkins, The Creation (Oxford, W. H. Freeman, 1981).

10. J.S. Trefil, The Moment of Creation (New York: Charles Scriber, 1983).

11. A. Vilenkin, Physics Letters, Vol. 117, 1982, pp. 25-28.

12. Hawking and Ellis, p. 364.

13. Guth and Steinhardt, p. 102.

14. Ibid.

15. J.D. Barrow and J. Silk, The Left Hand of Creation (London, Heinemann, 1983).

17. Guth and Steinhardt, p. 102.

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The history of the creation of the world in the Bible is known to almost every person who does not even particularly believe in the Lord. The depth of such knowledge lies solely in the power of faith and the study of the details of the scriptures. Some of the information is passed down to us from generation to generation. For example, we all know that on the last day of the week it is necessary to drop all business and rest.

Creation of the world by the Lord

There is no indication of the exact year of the creation of the world according to the Bible, but there is mention of the fact that the first man was created 7509 years ago. Since in this book it is indicated that the creation of the planet took place at the same time, it can be assumed that the dates are very close. When reading this story, we learn that all the miracles of the Lord were divided into several days:

• In the first, He created light and separated it from darkness.
• On the second day, He made a firmament and called it heaven. Placed it between the water that was on the ground and above it.
• The third day went to Him for the discovery of seas, oceans, other waters, and also continents. Even then, He made the entire plant world in order to somehow lay the foundation of the organic world on the surface.
• On the fourth, two celestial bodies were produced, which began to be called the sun and the moon. After them the stars also appeared.
• He spent the fifth day creating birds, fish and reptiles. but all the rest - did the next day.
• The sixth day was also marked by the birth of the first people. The man was made in the likeness of God from the dust of the earth, but the woman was made from the rib of a man in order to obey him and obey in everything. They settled them in the Garden of Eden, from where they were eventually expelled for disobedience.
• On the last day, the Almighty decided to simply rest and contemplate what happened to Him.

Everyone can find such a short description of the 7 days of the creation of the world in the Bible.

History of the creation of the world and evolution

The description of this creation is described in the Book of Genesis. The statement of this fact is attributed to Moses. It is the first story that speaks of the creation of the world according to the Bible by day. This text occupies the first and second chapters of the book. The narration is in the form of a description of the working week. Most of us think that the last day is Sunday. But here many of us are mistaken. The text indicates Saturday as a weekend.

Scientists note that the earth was initially not arranged and empty. It was covered with darkness and in order for life to appear on it, some more time had to pass.

But not all scientists were of the opinion that the creation of the world was the work of the Lord. Atheists who are quite skeptical about this issue. They compare the creation of the world according to the Bible and the theory of evolution and find great differences in them. A large number of studies have been conducted that more incline them to the point of view that life on earth appeared after some changes, but not God's intervention.

They do not deny the possibility of something higher, but it is unlikely that this somehow influenced the development of life on earth. In the natural sciences, the origin of life on the planet had a slightly different development. It is in connection with the big steps in the field of understanding the world that the discussion of these two warring camps has become somewhat aggravated.

Friction over this issue has been going on for decades and will continue for a long time. Scientists will defend their point of view, and believers will strengthen the assertion of the hand of the Lord, which he applied to this case.

How he relates to this fact - this is purely personal. But we should not forget that no matter what knowledge we have and no matter how far progress goes, sometimes it is worth bowing to the greatness of the Creator's miracle.

May the Lord protect you!

Some take these chapters as factual descriptions, others as allegories. Some consider the 6 days of creation as a description of the stages of the origin of the universe, although the phrase world creation has a religious connotation, and the phrase origin of the universeused in natural sciences. Very often the biblical history of the creation of the world is criticized for inconsistency with what has been proven by science. But are there any contradictions here? Let's speculate!

World creation. Michelangelo

Before dwelling in more detail on the history of the Creation of the world, I would like to note one interesting feature. Most religions and ancient cosmogonic texts first talk about the creation of the gods, and only then about the creation of the world. The Bible describes a fundamentally different position. The biblical God has always been, He was not created, but is the creator of everything.

Six days of the creation of the world.

As you know, the world was created from nothing in 6 days.

The first day of the Creation of the world.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the water. And God said: Let there be light. And there was light. And God saw the light that it was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. And God called light day, and darkness night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. (The Book of Genesis)

This is how the biblical story of the Creation begins. These opening lines of the Bible allow us to better understand biblical cosmology. It should be noted that here we are not talking about the creation of the heaven and earth we are used to, they will be created a little later - on the second and third days of creation. The first lines of Genesis describe the creation of primary matter, or, if you like, what scientists call the creation of the universe.

Thus, on the first day of creation, primal matter, light and darkness, was created. It should be said about light and darkness, because the lamps in the firmament of heaven will appear only on the fourth day. Many theologians discussed this light, describing it both as energy and as joy and grace. Today there is also a popular version that the light described in the Bible is nothing more than the Big Bang, after which the expansion of the Universe began.

The second day of the creation of the world.

And God said: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it separate water from water. [And it was so.] And God created the firmament, and separated the water that is under the firmament from the water that is above the firmament. And it became so. And God called the firmament Heaven. [And God saw that it was good.] And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

The second day is the day when the primordial substance began to order, stars and planets began to form. The second day of creation tells us about the ancient ideas of the Jews, who believed that the sky was solid, capable of holding huge masses of water.

The third day of the creation of the world.

And God said: Let the water that is under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear. And it became so. [And the water gathered under the sky to its places, and the dry land appeared.] And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters called seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, herb yielding seed [after its kind and after its likeness, and] a fruit tree, yielding fruit after its kind, in which is its seed on the earth. And it became so. And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind [and after its likeness], and a tree [fruitful] bearing fruit, in which is its seed after its kind [on the earth]. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

On the third day, God created the Earth practically as we know it now: seas and land appeared, trees and grasses appeared. From this moment we understand that God creates the living world. In a similar way, science describes the formation of life on a young planet, of course, this did not happen overnight, but still there are no global contradictions here either. Scientists believe that on the gradually cooling Earth, long rains began, which led to the appearance of seas and oceans, rivers and lakes.

Thus, we see that the Bible does not contradict modern science and the biblical history of the Creation fits well with scientific theories. The only question here is chronology. What is one day for God is billions of years for the universe. Today it is known that the first living cells appeared two billion years after the birth of the Earth, another billion years passed - and the first plants and microorganisms appeared in water.

The fourth day of the creation of the world.

And God said: Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven [to illuminate the earth and] to separate day from night, and for signs and seasons and days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give light on the earth. And it became so. And God created two great luminaries: a greater luminary to govern the day, and a lesser one to govern the night, and the stars; and God placed them in the firmament of heaven to shine on the earth, and to rule day and night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

It is the fourth day of creation that leaves the most questions for those who are trying to reconcile faith and science. It is known that the Sun and other stars appeared before the Earth, and in the Bible - later. On the one hand, this is easy to explain if we take into account that the Book of Genesis was written when astronomical observations and cosmological ideas of people were geocentric - that is, the Earth was considered the center of the Universe. However, is it that simple? It is likely that this discrepancy between the cosmology of the Bible and science can be explained by the fact that the Earth is more significant or "spiritually central", because a man, created in the image of God, lives on it.

Heavenly sanctuaries in the Bible and in pagan beliefs are fundamentally different. For the pagans, the sun, moon and other celestial bodies were associated with the activities of gods and goddesses. The author of the Bible, perhaps, deliberately expresses a completely different attitude towards the stars and planets. They are equal to any other created object in the universe. Mentioned in passing, they are demythologized and desacralized - and, in general, reduced to natural reality.

The fifth day of the Creation.

And God said: Let the water bring forth reptiles, the living soul; and let the birds fly over the earth, in the firmament of heaven. [And it was so.] And God created the great fish, and every living creature that creeps, which the waters brought forth, after their kind, and every bird of the bird after its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

World creation. Jacopo Tintoretto

And here the biblical history of the creation of the world fully confirms the scientific facts. Life arose in water - science is sure of this, the Bible confirms this. Living organisms began to multiply and multiply. The universe developed according to the will of God's creative plan. Note, according to the Bible, animals appeared only after algae appeared and filled the air with the product of their vital activity - oxygen. And this is also a scientific fact!

The sixth day of the Creation of the world.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth after its kind. And it became so. And God made the beast of the earth after its kind, and cattle after its kind, and every thing that creeps on the earth after its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God said: Let us make man in Our image [and] in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, [and over the beasts,] and over cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creeping things that creep on the ground. And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea [and over the beasts] and over the birds of the air, [and over every cattle, and over all the earth,] and over every animal that creeps on the ground. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb that sows seed that is on all the earth, and every tree that has tree fruit that sows seed; - this will be food for you; But to all the beasts of the earth, and to all the birds of the air, and to every creeping thing on the earth, in which there is a living soul, I have given all herbal herbs for food. And it became so. And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

The sixth day of creation is marked by the appearance of man - this is a new stage in the universe, from this day the history of the human race begins. Man is something completely new on the young Earth, he has two principles - natural and divine.

It is interesting that in the Bible man is created immediately after animals, this demonstrates his natural origin, he is successively connected with the animal world. But God breathes into a person's face the breath of His Spirit - and a person becomes a partaker of the Lord.

Creation of the world by God from nothing.

The central idea of \u200b\u200bChristianity is the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating the world out of nothing, or сreatio ex Nihilo... According to this idea, God created everything that exists from nothingness, translating nothingness into being. God is both the creator and the cause of the creation of the world.

According to the Bible, before the Creation of the world there was neither primordial chaos, nor primordial matter - there was nothing! Most Christians believe that all three hypostases of the Holy Trinity were involved in the creation of the world: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

The world was created by God to be meaningful, harmonious and obedient to man. God gave this peace to man, together with freedom, which man used for evil, as evidenced. The creation of the world according to the Bible is an act of creativity and love.

Creation story - sources (documentary hypothesis)

The Creation tradition existed in the oral tradition of the ancient Israelites long before the biblical authors wrote it down. Many biblical scholars say that, in fact, it is a composite work, a collection of works by many authors from different periods (documentary theory). It is believed that these sources were combined together around 538 BC. e. It is likely that the Persians, after the conquest of Babylon, agreed to give Jerusalem considerable autonomy within the empire, but demanded that the local authorities adopt a single code that would be accepted by the entire community. This led to the fact that the priests had to drop all ambitions and bring sometimes conflicting religious traditions together. The history of the creation of the world came to us from two sources - the priestly code and the Yahvist. That is why we find in Genesis 2 the stories of the creation of the world, described in the first and second chapters. The first chapter is given on the priestly code, and the second on the Yahvist. The first is more about the creation of the world, the second - about the creation of man.

Both narratives have a lot in common and complement each other. However, we see clear differences in style: Text filed under the Priestly Code, clearly structured... The story is divided into 7 days, in the text the days are separated by phrases "And there was evening and there was morning: day ...". In the first three days of creation, the act of separation is clearly visible - on the first day, God separates the darkness from the light, on the second - the water under the firmament from the water above the firmament, on the third - water from the land. For the next three days, God fills everything that He has created.

The second chapter (Yahvist source) has flowing narrative style.

Comparative mythology claims that both sources of the biblical Creation story contain borrowings from Mesopotamian mythology, adapted to the belief in one God.