Tasneem’s Blog Post
At the beginning of our class, before we discussed the readings in the Genesis, we watched the clip from the movie Noah and in this clip we saw the creation story from the Genesis. The narration of the creation myth was similar to the reading but the visuals were a bit different. The obvious difference was that the creation of the world according to science was incorporated along with the Genesis version of the creation of the world. For example, when they talked about the creation of the Earth, the clip showed Earth as a hot molten ball of rock as well as animals evolving to what they are now. The clip helped an important question which for a long time has garnered a lot of debate to come back into my mind: Is science and religion two different institutions or could they both assimilate together?
Many argue that science and religion are separate institutions and that there is much scientific evidence that goes against what the Genesis teaches such as for example evolution and the scientific creation theory. The Genesis claims that when god created the first man, he also created animals to accompany him; “And the Lord God fashioned from the soil each beast of the field and each fowl of the heavens and brought each to the human.” This contradicts what science says in that animals evolved into what they are today. The Genesis also claims that god created the Earth in six days by simply commanding what things should be created. This contradicts the scientific creation theory in which the Earth took millions of years to form.
For most of my middle school and high school life I believed that the bible and science never went together until we discussed the Genesis in class. That was when I realized that many holy books including the Genesis and the Bible are subject to a lot of open interpretation. I personally find that it can assimilate with science because maybe the teachings in the Genesis don’t always have to be taken literally. For example, the Genesis says that God created the Earth in six days, but how long is a day according to the Genesis? Is it as long as how we interpret the day? When did he start creating life on Earth? Was it when the Earth was starting to form or was it much later? In the end, it depends on how a person interprets the holy book. Should they take the teachings in the Genesis literally or metaphorically? So read the Genesis and the Bible and see how you interpret it. Do you think science and religion can assimilate or are they two separate institutions?
Hi Tasneem, I would like to point out that I quite agree with what you’re stating about science and religion being assimilate to one another but the main part I believe really lies on how each individual interprets the idea or text. Certain people are more religious and therefore might not believe the theory of big bang and such. However I do think that according to the text that God created Earth in just six days filling it with every means of necessary things we need for survival is a bit absurd since there isn’t much proof of it. Whose to say that God is real? Is there proof of this being? According to Genesis when God created the world he only created Adam and Eve which points out they are the only beings that even came in contact with God. Therefore the people who wrote Genesis or even tie other creation of the world to other Gods points out that maybe us human beings are just finding ways to reassure ourselves and maybe make life much more understandable as to where we come from. Especially back in the days when there was no scientific explanation on how the Earth came to be. While those who rely on the story of Genesis and other similar texts to pass down the version of God creating Earth is passed down from one generation to the next and that is where religious belief comes in. So I would have to say they may be assimilate to one another depending on each individual or they may just each have their individual roles for those who only believe in one other then the other.