One way in which Genesis correctly predicted what science has found is what is now known as the “Big Bang”, when the universe was first created. The current estimate for when that happened is about 13.8 billion years ago.
Genesis 1:1 states this creation event very clearly and simply.
These are some of the most famous words that have ever been written. However, the familiarity of this statement should not allow us to miss how profound and unique this statement is among religions and human thought.
First of all this is a Creator who is outside of the creation. There is nothing about a being that is created out of something else, as is the case with many other origin stories. This tells about one Supreme Being who is responsible for creation out of nothing. The early Hebrew in which Genesis 1 was written did not have a word for universe as we understand it today. So, the heavens and the earth would have been the best way to describe what we now call our universe.
Additionally, this passage is clear and consistent throughout the Bible in stating that there was one beginning to our physical universe. Other religions are oftentimes not as clear about their origin stories or have their origin stories from beings who were already part of the universe.
This passage is also the beginning of the unique story of how the Creator values the creation and made man and woman the pinnacle of creation. And the Bible points out that this is both a privilege and a responsibility that we have as human beings.
Combining the Genesis 1 origin story with the findings of science also shows the benefits of cross-pollination between science and the Bible. For example, Einstein’s general theory of relativity was the theoretical foundation of the Big Bang theory. It is also the theory that explains that the Big Bang was not only the beginning of the universe, but it was the beginning of space and time itself. Because as finite creatures we live within space and time, then we really cannot fully comprehend what it means to say something exists beyond space and time. But through combining general relativity with Biblical passages like Genesis 1:1, we have the added insight from science that the Bible is telling us about an event that is beyond space and time from a truly an unfathomable and breathtaking God. The Scriptures themselves remind us of this.