The role of the Trinity in creation
Christians believe that the TrinityThree persons in one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. was present at the creation of the world. God the Father is the creator, but GenesisThe first book of the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) describing the origins of humanity and humans’ relationship with God. 1 shows that the Holy SpiritThe third person of the Trinity. Active as God's presence and power in the world. also had a role: The Spirit of God was hovering over the water. And God said, ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light (Genesis 1:2–3).
The gospelThe teachings of Jesus and the apostles. of John also describes the role of the Son of God (Jesus), referring to him as the ‘Word’:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made.
Interpretations
There are various interpretationA specific understanding of what a text is saying; a view of the text. There is usually more than one possible interpretation. of the creation story. Different Christians have different beliefs, depending on their denominationA group within a religion. Christian denominations include, for example, Roman Catholic and Anglican denominations. and on their personal beliefs:
- Literal - Some Christians interpret the creation stories in Genesis literally. For these Christians, God dictated the Bible, the events it describes happened exactly as written and everything in it is completely true.
- Inspirational - Other Christians believe that the Bible was inspired by God but that the text was created by people. Because people make mistakes, there could be human errors in the text of the Bible. Therefore, the stories can be interpreted in many ways. For example, these Christians might question the duration of a ‘day’ in Genesis - in this context, could the word ‘day’ actually mean an era?
- Metaphorical - Some Christians believe that the stories are metaphorA comparison made without using 'like' or 'as', eg 'sea of troubles' and 'drowning in debt'. or symbolic descriptions. These Christians accept scientific theories about the origins of the universe, such as the Big BangThe scientific theory that describes the early development of the Universe. theory.
Question
According to the book of Genesis, what did God create first?
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).
