🌌 Made on purpose
Many religions teach that one God chose to make the universe. It had a beginning, and it exists because the creator wanted it to. Nothing is here by accident.
The Universe and Human Beings: Key Ideas » How Did the Universe Begin? Religious and Scientific Views
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 1, 1.1
- The different answers religions give about how the universe began and what it is for
- The scientific accounts: the Big Bang theory and evolution by natural selection
- Whether religion and science have to disagree
- Different views about the place of human beings in the universe
How this course and exam work
You sit two exam papers. Paper 1, Beliefs and values, covers big questions like the one in this lesson. Paper 2, The religious community, is all about one religion, and its paper code depends on that religion. You pick one religion out of six: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism or Sikhism. Each Paper 1 topic starts with a shared lesson like this one, read by everyone. It is followed by a lesson on the religion you picked.
The big question
Where did everything come from? And do human beings matter in it? Religions give answers. So does science. So do people with no religion. The exam wants you to know these answers and weigh them up fairly.
Key terms:
- Universe: everything that exists: all space, time, matter and energy.
- Creator: a God who made the universe on purpose.
- Big Bang theory: the scientific account that the universe began about 13.8 billion years ago and has been expanding ever since.
- Evolution: the gradual change of living things over a very long time, so that new species develop from earlier ones.
- Natural selection: the way evolution works. Living things best suited to their surroundings survive and pass on their features.
- Creationism: the belief that God made the universe and living things in the way scripture describes.
- Theistic evolution: the belief that God created through the Big Bang and evolution.
- Atheist: a person who does not believe in God or gods.
- Humanist: a non-religious person who uses reason, evidence and care for others to decide how to live.
Religious answers: how the universe began and what it is for
Religions do not all give the same kind of answer. There are two main kinds, and two ways of reading the stories that go with them.
🔄 No first beginning
Other religions teach that the universe moves in cycles. Worlds come into being, last for a huge length of time, end, and begin again. There is no first moment to explain.
Many religions tell a creation story. Believers read these in two ways. Some read them literally: the events happened just as the words say. Others read them as symbol: the story is not a science report, but it teaches deep truths, such as that the world is good and that life is a gift.
Religions also say what the universe is for. Believers in a creator often say it shows the creator's power and goodness, and that it is a home where people can come to know God and learn to live well. In religions that teach cycles, the world is often seen as the place where beings can make progress and at last find freedom from the cycle.
Here is a one-line taste of each religion. Your own religion's lesson will teach it properly.
- Buddhism: no creator God is taught, and the universe is seen as always changing, in cycles.
- Christianity: God created the universe and made human beings in his image.
- Hinduism: the universe is created, kept going and destroyed again and again in endless cycles.
- Islam: Allah created the heavens and the earth, and everything in them.
- Judaism: the Almighty created the world and saw that it was good.
- Sikhism: the one God created the universe and is present within it.
Scientific answers
Science gives its own account, based on evidence that can be tested. Many religious people accept it, as well as non-religious people.
💥 The Big Bang theory
About 13.8 billion years ago, the universe began from a tiny, very hot, very dense point. It has been expanding and cooling ever since. Over time, stars, galaxies and planets formed. The Earth formed about 4.6 billion years ago.
🐒 Evolution by natural selection
Charles Darwin set out this theory in 1859. Living things vary. Those best suited to where they live are more likely to survive and have young, who inherit their features. Over millions of years, this produced all the species alive today, including humans.
Many non-religious people, such as atheists and humanists, take these accounts as the full story. They believe the universe came about by natural processes and was not planned. So it has no purpose beyond the ones people give it. For a humanist, this is not gloomy. It means people are free to make their own lives meaningful, for example through kindness, learning and love.
Do religion and science have to conflict?
📖 Creationism
Some believers sincerely hold that their scripture gives the true account of how the universe and life began. Where science disagrees with it, they trust scripture, because they believe it comes from God.
🤝 Theistic evolution
Many believers accept both. They say the Big Bang and evolution are the methods God used to create. The creation story is read as symbol, so there is nothing to clash.
❓ How and why
Many people say science and religion answer different questions. Science asks how the universe began. Religion asks why there is a universe at all and what it means.
So conflict is only one option. It happens mostly when a creation story is read literally, or when someone believes science has left no room for God.
The place of human beings
👑 Special and set apart
Many religions teach that humans have a special place. Some say humans are the high point of creation, made to have a relationship with God. Others say a human life is a rare and precious chance to make spiritual progress. Either way, humans can think, choose right from wrong and ask why they are here.
🌍 One species among many
Science shows that humans evolved in the same way as every other species, on a small planet going round one of billions of stars. Many non-religious people conclude that humans are not set apart. Humanists add that human life is still valuable, because people can think, feel and care for each other.
Common mistakes
Do not write that 'religious people reject science'. Many accept the Big Bang and evolution. Do not write that every religion teaches a creator, because some teach a universe with no first beginning. And remember that the Big Bang theory is about the start of the universe, while evolution is about living things. Students often mix them up.
What comes next: the next shared lesson is Caring for the Planet and Animal Rights. After the shared lessons, your own religion's lesson on this topic teaches in detail what its followers believe about the universe and human beings.
Exam-style question
Paper 1 style question. Parts (a) and (b) test AO1. Parts (c) and (d) test AO1 and AO2.
(a) Identify three beliefs about the origin of the universe. [3 marks]
(b) Outline two beliefs about the place of human beings in the universe. [4 marks]
(c) Explain why some people believe that religious and scientific accounts of the origin of the universe do not conflict. [6 marks]
(d) 'The universe has no purpose.' Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks]
Model answer
(a) 1. It was made by a creator God (1). 2. It began with the Big Bang (1). 3. It had no first beginning and moves in cycles (1).
(b) Many religious people believe humans have a special place in the universe (1), because they alone can choose right from wrong and have a relationship with God (1). Many non-religious people believe humans are one species among many (1), because science shows they evolved by natural selection like every other living thing (1).
(c) Some people believe there is no conflict because science and religion answer different questions. Science explains how the universe began, while religion explains why it exists and what it means, so both can be true.
Others believe in theistic evolution. This means that God is the creator, and the Big Bang and evolution are the methods God used. For these believers, science simply shows how God works.
Many believers also read creation stories as symbol and not literally. This means the stories are not meant to give scientific facts, so a scientific account cannot contradict them. They teach truths, such as that the world is good.
(d) Plan. For: atheists say the universe came from natural processes with no planner, so no purpose is built in; humanists say people make their own purposes; the huge size and age of the universe may suggest it was not made for us; religions with no creator God do not teach that the universe was made for a reason.
Against: religions with a creator teach it was made on purpose; many religions that teach cycles still see life in the world as having a goal, which is freedom from the cycle; the 'how and why' view says science cannot rule purpose out.
Your religion: add teachings from your own religion, by name, on the side they fit.
Possible conclusion: judge each point as you go, then pick a side. For example: I disagree with the statement, because science explains how the universe began but cannot show that it has no purpose, and most religions teach that life in it has a purpose or goal.
Exam tip
In part (b), each belief needs a second half that develops it. Use 'because' to add the reason, as the model answer does. Two bare beliefs with no development score only 2 marks out of 4.
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