Simple Picture Book with Science
The picture book below is a graphical, simplified version of the Big Bible concepts. It may be appropriate for younger children, depending on their level of understanding. This version of a Big Bible picture book shows the Bible passage along with what science says (in simplified form) about that period of cosmic history. The Bible passages below use the New International Reader’s version (NIrV) so that they can be more easily understood. The NIrV is geared to a fourth grade reading level. The scientific descriptions are also put in very simple terms for those who are new to these concepts.
Also, because we believe that the passages about evening and morning in Genesis 1 are symbolic and use metaphor, then those sentences are not included in the quotes below. Other passages that might be considered metaphor (e.g. Genesis 1:5a where “God called the light ‘day’. He called the darkness ‘night'” are included in the quotes below to minimize any editorializing of the Bible). Hopefully the strong correlation between the Bible and science of the measurable events described in Genesis 1 are clear from these comments below. And the point should also be clear that the most reasonable explanation for this strong correlation is that the Genesis 1 descriptions were inspired by the Creator of the universe.
In the Beginning...
The Bible says...
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
Science says...
The universe had a beginning a long, long time ago. It first started as a single point and has been getting bigger ever since. This has come to be known as the “Big Bang”. Science says that many years after the universe first began, then the earth formed. So, we see that just as the Bible says, there was a beginning to the heavens and the earth.
The Bible says...
The earth didn’t have any shape. And it was empty. (Genesis 1:2)
Science says...
The earth didn’t even exist for a while. Then the earth formed from rocks, dust, and gas floating around in space and orbiting the star that we call our sun. The gravity between these rocks and dust caused the formation of the earth. So, we see that just as the Bible says, at first the earth was empty and did not have any shape.
The Bible says...
There was darkness over the surface of the waves. (Genesis 1:2)
Science says...
Over time, the earth got cooler. Objects in space like asteroids and comets crashed into the earth. The comets and asteroids carried frozen water from further out in outer space. This water eventually covered the entire earth. Also, like other planets in our solar system, there were dark clouds over planet earth. These clouds caused darkness to be over the watery surface. So, we see that just as the Bible says, there was water covering the early earth. And there was darkness over the water because of the dense clouds above the earth.
The Bible says...
At that time, the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1:2)
Science cannot say...
Science cannot really say that God’s Spirit was hovering over the waters because God is too big and unseen for science to measure. But from the standpoint of telling the story of creation, this statement is very helpful. This tells us that we can understand the rest of the creation story in Genesis 1 as being told from how the Holy Spirit of God would see it from the surface of the earth. This is known as the Point of View of the story. Once we understand that the events in Genesis 1 are being described as they would be seen from the surface of the earth, then the explanations about these events become much clearer. Note that the Holy Spirit of God is sometimes shown as a dove.
Day 1 ...
The Bible says...
God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. God saw that the light was good. He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day.” He called the darkness “night.” (Genesis 1:3-5a)
Science says...
The first clouds over the earth were very dark and dense. No light could be seen on the surface of the earth through these dark and dense clouds. But then a smaller planet crashed into the earth and made the dark clouds not as dense. Then there was some light that could be seen on the surface of the earth. Over time, the small planet that crashed into the earth then became the moon that now orbits the earth. So, we see that just as the Bible says, that from the point of view of the Spirit of God hovering over the waters, that light appeared in a very early stage of the earth’s development as some light broke through the dark clouds.
Day 2 ...
The Bible says...
God said, “Let there be a huge space between the waters. Let it separate water from water.” And that’s exactly what happened. God made the huge space between the waters. He separated the water under the space from the water above it. God called the huge space “sky.” (Genesis 1:6-8a)
Science says...
Following the time when some light appeared on the earth through the clouds, then the sky (or what we can also call the atmosphere) was formed. The atmosphere is the area between the clouds above and the earth beneath.
This is also the time that rain began. The rain fell on the earth from the clouds above and the evaporation of the water from the oceans then formed the clouds. This is the beginning of what scientists call the water cycle on the earth. So, we see that just as the Bible says, after some light appeared through the clouds then an atmosphere or “sky” appeared above the earth.
Day 3 ...
The Bible says...
God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place. Let dry ground appear.” And that’s exactly what happened. God called the dry ground “land.” He called all the water that was gathered together “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let the land produce plants. Let them produce their own seeds. And let there be trees on the land that grow fruit with seeds in it. Let each kind of plant or tree have its own kind of seeds.” And that’s exactly what happened. So the land produced plants. Each kind of plant had its own kind of seeds. And the land produced trees that grew fruit with seeds in it. Each kind of tree had its own kind of seeds. God saw that it was good.
(Genesis 1:9-12)
Science says...
The earth continued to cool down. However, volcanoes on the earth continued to erupt from the melted rocks inside the earth. After a while these volcanoes caused land to appear above the ocean water.
Then there began to be more oxygen in the air. Oxygen was produced from early green plant life like algae by a process called photosynthesis that used the light from the sun. The scientific records in the earth’s rocks called fossils are not as clear about the appearance of plant life. This could be for many reasons, such as the fact that it is difficult for plant life to become fossils because they decay so easily. But we know that plants must have come before animals because animals feed off of plants. So, we see that just as the Bible says, land began to appear out of the oceans. Then some form of early plant life appeared after the appearance of the land.
Day 4 ...
The Bible says...
God said, “Let there be lights in the huge space of the sky. Let them separate the day from the night. Let the lights set the times for the holy celebrations and the days and the years. Let them be lights in the huge space of the sky to give light on the earth.” And that’s exactly what happened. God made two great lights. He made the larger light to rule over the day and the smaller light to rule over the night. He also made the stars. God put the lights in the huge space of the sky to give light on the earth. He put them there to rule over the day and the night. He put them there to separate light from darkness. God saw that it was good.
(Genesis 1:14-18)
Science says...
The plant life continued to produce oxygen that filled the atmosphere. The oxygen made the atmosphere clearer and helped to make the dark clouds go away. Since there were no longer the dark clouds in the sky, then from the surface of the earth the Holy Spirit could see the stars, moon, and sun very easily now. From the point of view of the earth’s surface, now the sun, moon, and stars appeared visible, where they had not been visible before. So, we see that just as in the Bible when it says “Let there be lights. . .”, then the lights of the sun, moon, and stars began to be visible on the surface of the earth. Both the Bible and science say that the sun, moon, and stars began to be visible before the fish, birds, and other animals appeared on the earth.
Day 5 ...
The Bible says...
God said, “Let the seas be filled with living things. Let birds fly above the earth across the huge space of the sky.” So God created the great sea creatures. He created every kind of living thing that fills the seas and moves about in them. He created every kind of bird that flies. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them. He said, “Have little ones so that there will be many of you. Fill the water in the seas. Let there be more and more birds on the earth.”
(Genesis 1:20-22)
Science says...
The next stage in the development on the earth was that there was a bursting forth of new life forms. Large sea creatures began to appear in the oceans. And smaller sea creatures appeared such as the trilobites that are shown on the sea floor of this illustration. We have many fossils from these sea creatures.
Following the appearance of the many sea creatures then there were flying creatures that appeared. The first flying creatures probably developed from the dinosaurs. Then some time after that the flying creatures appeared to be more like the birds that we know today. So, we see that just as the Bible says, after there was enough oxygen in the atmosphere and the sky became clear enough to see the sun, stars, and moon, then large fish appeared in the sea and then flying creatures appeared in the skies.
Day 6 ...
Domesticated Livestock
Small Rodents
Wild Animals
Man and Woman
The Bible says...
God said, “Let the land produce every kind of living creature. Let there be livestock, and creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals.” And that’s exactly what happened. God made every kind of wild animal. He made every kind of livestock. He made every kind of creature that moves along the ground. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let us make human beings so that they are like us. Let them rule over the fish in the seas and the birds in the sky. Let them rule over the livestock and all the wild animals. And let them rule over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So God created human beings in his own likeness.
He created them to be like himself.
He created them as male and female.