Christianity and science
For many Christians there isn't a conflict between the religious ideas about creation expressed in Genesis and the findings of science.
Genesis is not there to give short, technical answers about how the universe began. It gives us the big answer that things exist because of God's will. One can perfectly well believe in the Big Bang, but believe in it as the will of God the creator.
Cosmology
Cosmology is the study of the universe, and humanity's place in it.
One of the theories put forward by cosmologists is the Big-Bang theory. This suggests that about 15 billion years ago there was a massive explosion. This was the point at which all matter in the universe began. Space and time began then too. Over time, the universe that we know, and human and animal life, emerged.
This theory is generally accepted by scientists as being the best theory they have to explain the origins of the universe.
If the Big-Bang theory is true, then it could mean that the universe 'just happened' and that it did not emerge as a result of the activity of a creator God.
Many Christians have no problem in accepting the Big-Bang theory. They see the cosmologists helping them to understand how God brought the world into being - the Big Bang could have been the mechanism God used. And there is nothing in the theory itself which proves that there is no such being as God.
Evolutionary biology
The idea that life might have evolved was first mentioned as early as the 4th century CE by St Augustine, who wrote that God probably only created very simple life forms and that these developed over time.
Today we associate evolutionary science with scientists such as Charles Darwin who wrote On the Origin of Species in 1859. He argued that life began with very simple cells and later developed into what we see today. He said that natural selection was one of the major mechanisms driving evolution.
Darwin upset many people with his views and even some respected scientists, such as Philip Gosse, argued that the fossils, which were discovered in the ground, had been placed there by God deliberately to fool people.
Some Christians found Darwin's theory a threat to their faith because it appeared to challenge the authority of the Bible. If the Bible was wrong on this matter, might it be wrong on other things too? These Christians preferred to maintain a 'literalist' or 'creationist' understanding of Genesis chapters 1 and 2.
Other Christians don't see any problem with their understanding of Genesis and the scientific theories, such as evolution. This goes for scientists who are also Christians, as well as Christians who are not scientists. If science and religion are asking different questions, then they see no contradiction.
Christians who don't see any problem with evolution see the Bible as an authoritative account of God's relationship with human beings and the wider universe. They see it all as part of God's plan, and that humans have specials rights and responsibilities as a result.
