Creation Stories

and the BIG BANG

Theory

What Happened?!Modern science theorizes that the universe

appeared about 13,000,000,000 years ago….Humans did not emerge for another

12,999,750,000….THEREFORE:

There is no first hand account of the world’s origins!

Just To Be Clear!

For our purposes, the actual processes that formed our Earth are not as important as the ways in which these

processes have been perceived by humans.

Never Stop Asking Questions!

While we may never “know” for sure how our world came to be, they will never stop asking

this question!

Beginning are fundamentally important to humans. They want to know how the world

began and want to know their own beginnings as well!

Creation StoriesThough people cannot know how the

world began, this has not stopped them from developing explanations of it.

This is how we have developed Creation Stories/Creation Myths!

Creation MythsCreation myths try to explain how the world

started. Individuals and communities often accept myths

as valid explanations of something that has occurred. They accept creation myths because

they believe that the myth contains a valid explanation for the ways in which the world

came into being.

True or False?While some myths lose their credibility

over time, other continue to maintain followers who accept them

as valid.

*hint-Think about the argument between the Creation Story of the Bible and the theory of Evolution!

True or False?For example, historian David Christian calls

the theory of evolution the creation myth of the present time!

By doing this he isn’t saying evolution is a lie, he is simply trying to say the

evolution is the theory that modern people commonly accept as explaining how the world we know it today was

formed.

So…is the Big Bang Theory a Myth?!

Although the Big Bang Theory uses the most advanced scientific knowledge available to

explain the origins of the Universe… KNOWLEDGE DOES NOT STAND STILL!

So…is the Big Bang Theory a Myth?!

As new knowledge becomes available, theories built on old knowledge becomes outdated.

Confused yet?

What if…What if tomorrow you heard on the

news that the stars and planets of the universe have always existed but that a nuclear reaction took place 13,000,000,000 years ago

(which scientists mistakenly thought was the Big Bang) and this nuclear reaction simply created an illusion

of a new beginning!

Would you accept this as true? Why or why not?

Your Own Beginnings…Take a minute to write 3 SENTENCES (no more

no less) describing your own personal beginnings.

Your Own Beginnings…Now share these stories with two people

sitting near you.

Discuss whether or not what you wrote down is important to you and why.

Remember the Summer Packet?

What about the creation myths in the summer packet…why do you think the events in each of those myths (Yoruba,

Babylonian, and Genesis) were included? What do they tell you about the people

at that time?