Standard Picture Book
The standard Big Bible picture book below is an intermediate version that was created for those who are more familiar with science and with the concepts on this website. This version of a Big Bible picture book shows the Bible passage along with what scientists say about that period of cosmic history. The Bible passages use the New International Version. The scientific descriptions are for those who are familiar with basic scientific concepts at the level of an American high school. The scientific descriptions include the estimated time period in cosmic history.
The first verse of Genesis reads as follows.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
We begin by exploring this first sentence one phrase at a time. By comparing this one verse with science, we can gain much insight into the richness of how the Bible can summarize what we now know from science.
Before time began
The Bible says...
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
Scientists say...
Scientists understandably cannot say much about God directly because this Creator of the universe is beyond direct observation. This is why it is God Himself who must reveal Himself to us in order for us to know Him. Scientists can only observe and study the wonders of the creation.
It is God who has always existed, the great I AM. He existed before the beginning of our universe. This is why we put this frame first, even though it does not follow exactly the word sequence in the first verse of Genesis (the word sequence is dictated by how grammar worked in ancient Hebrew). Following Jewish practices, we use the name of G-d here, recognizing that from a religious as well as a scientific standpoint, our Creator is far, far above what we can fully understand or imagine. From a religious standpoint, this is one of the many reasons that we call G-d holy.
The beginning of time and space
The Bible says...
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
Scientists say...
It was only in the early 20th century that science began to have strong evidence that there was a beginning to the universe. This evidence was from a combination of observations of the astronomer Edwin Hubble, the General Theory of Relativity of Albert Einstein, and a cosmological theory based on the General Theory of Relativity from the Catholic priest George Lemaitre. This beginning of the universe was later denoted by the expression of “the Big Bang”.
Here we represent the beginning by an arrow, because before this beginning, there was no time or space. But after the beginning, there was time and space and everything that has come afterwards.
Approximately 13.8 Billion Years Ago (BYA)
The Bible says...
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
Scientists say...
The consensus of science is that there was a beginning to the universe about 13.8 billion years ago, which was also the beginning of space and time. But to try to understand what “happened” before time began is of course difficult to do. Any theories become more philosophy than true science.
The most logical explanation for this complex universe that had a beginning is that there must have been a Creator with intelligence that is far beyond what we can imagine. This would be a Creator that transcends or is beyond even space and time. The description from Genesis that was written over 3,000 years ago is consistent with this explanation of a beginning that we have from modern science.
A time span of about 9 billion years from 13.8 to 4.6 BYA
The Bible says...
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
Scientists say...
According to scientific consensus, the universe began as an extremely dense, hot point and then rapidly expanded and cooled. Subatomic particles formed which then formed atoms and then molecules like hydrogen and helium. Over billions of years, gravity pulled these atoms together to form clouds and then stars and galaxies, including our Milky Way galaxy.
Genesis 1:1 covers the first 9 billion years of our universe in just a few words. The expansion of the universe for the first 9 billion years was obviously not the focus of the narrative in Genesis 1:1. But it is significant that even in these few descriptive words, the order of creation as described by science does follow the order of the words in Genesis – first the heavens and then the earth.
Approximately 4.6 BYA
The Bible says...
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
Scientists say...
The scientific consensus is that the earth formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago from a vast cloud of dust and gas known as the solar nebula. Gravity caused particles to collide and stick together, a process called accretion. Heavier elements sank to the center of the earth’s core, while lighter materials formed the mantle and crust. The earth cooled over time and then water formed on the earth’s surface and eventually water covered the entire earth.
Genesis 1:1 provides an overview of the creation of the entire universe, including the mentioning of the earth’s creation. The verses following Genesis 1:1 then provide further details about the formation of the earth, the atmosphere, the oceans, and land along with animal and human life.
A span of approximately 10 to 40 million years about 4.6 BYA
The Bible says...
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
(Genesis 1:2)
Scientists say...
According to current scientific understanding, the accretion process that formed the Earth likely took between 10 and 40 million years as smaller “planetesimals” collided and clumped together, transforming Earth from a formless state to something that looked like a planet.
Like Genesis 1:1, the verse of Genesis 1:2 seems to cover multiple events. In Genesis 1:2 we have the earth being formless and empty and then having darkness over the face of the deep. The earth being formless and empty is in harmony with the current scientific consensus that the earth formed due to gravity causing the dust and gas particles to go through the accretion process.
Approximately
The Bible says...
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
(Genesis 1:2)
Scientists say...
According to current scientific understanding,
The second part of Genesis 1:2 seems to move Earth’s history forward from the point where earth has just become a planet to the point where deep water has covered the earth an there is darkness above.
