🌍 Genesis 1: six days
'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth' (Genesis 1:1). God creates by speaking, in order, over six days: from light on day one to land animals and finally humans on day six. On the seventh day God rests.
Christian Beliefs about the Universe and Human Beings » Creation, Stewardship and Imago Dei
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 1, 1.1 (Christianity)
- What Christians believe about God as creator in Genesis 1 and 2
- How Christians read these chapters in different ways, and how they respond to science
- Why Christians believe they are stewards of the Earth, and how they act on it
- What Imago Dei means, why humans are seen as unique, and what this means for animals
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Unlock This CourseGod the creator: Genesis 1 and 2
How Did the Universe Begin? Religious and Scientific Views set out the big ideas. The Christian Bible opens with Genesis, and its first two chapters each give an account of creation.
Key terms:
- Genesis: the first book of the Bible. The name means 'beginning' or 'origin'.
- Creation ex nihilo: the belief that God made the universe 'out of nothing', using no materials that were already there.
- Literalist: a Christian who reads the Bible's words as plain fact, exactly as written.
- Imago Dei: Latin for 'image of God'. The belief that humans are made in God's image.
🌱 Genesis 2: the garden
God forms the first man, Adam, from the dust of the ground and breathes life into him. God plants the Garden of Eden, brings the animals to Adam to be named, and makes the first woman, Eve, from Adam's side.
From these chapters Christians draw four beliefs:
- God alone is the creator. Most Christians believe God created ex nihilo.
- Creation is good. 'God saw all that he had made, and it was very good' (Genesis 1:31).
- Creation has a purpose. It was made on purpose and shows what God is like.
- Humans have a special place. They come last in Genesis 1 and at the centre of Genesis 2.
Applying scripture: how should Genesis be read?
All Christians treat Genesis as scripture (holy writing), but they do not all read it in the same way.
📖 Literal readings
Literalists believe Genesis describes what happened. Remember that this view is called creationism. Young Earth creationists believe God made the world in six days of 24 hours, a few thousand years ago, and that each kind of living thing was made separately. They reject evolution and a universe billions of years old, because the Bible is God's word and so cannot be wrong.
🔬 Non-literal readings
Many Christians read Genesis as a story that carries truth through symbols. Its message is who made the world and why, not how or how long it took. The two accounts give events in a different order, which suggests they were never meant as a scientific record. These Christians can accept the Big Bang as the way God began the universe, and evolution as the way God brought about life (theistic evolution).
The Catholic Church, the Church of England and many other churches accept that the Big Bang and evolution can fit with belief in God as creator. The Big Bang theory itself was first put forward by Georges Lemaître, a Belgian scientist who was also a Catholic priest. Literal views are most common in some Evangelical churches (Protestant churches that stress the authority of the Bible).
Stewardship: looking after God's world
Caring for the Planet and Animal Rights explained stewardship and dominion. Christians base both ideas on Genesis.
👑 Genesis 1:28: dominion
God tells the first humans to 'fill the earth and subdue it' and to rule over the fish, the birds and every living creature. A few Christians have taken this to mean the Earth is there for humans to use as they wish. Most say this misreads it. A ruler who stands in for God must rule as God would, with care.
🌳 Genesis 2:15: care
'The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.' Christians take this to mean that Adam is a gardener, not an owner. Psalm 24, one of the Bible's songs of praise, adds: 'The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it.' So Christians believe humans are tenants who must answer to God for how they treat his world.
Christians exercise stewardship in many ways:
- Daily life: wasting less and using less energy.
- Church life: the Eco Church scheme helps churches in England and Wales to care for the environment in their buildings, land and worship.
- Charities: A Rocha is a Christian charity that protects wildlife and natural places.
- Speaking out: in 2015 Pope Francis wrote a letter called Laudato Si', addressed to every person on the planet, not only Catholics. It calls the Earth 'our common home' and urges action on pollution and climate change.
Imago Dei and the uniqueness of human beings
'So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them' (Genesis 1:27). Nothing else in creation is described in this way. Christians do not take it to mean that humans look like God. They explain it in several ways:
- Humans can reason and be creative.
- Humans can tell right from wrong and make moral choices.
- Humans can have a relationship with God, through prayer and worship.
- Humans represent God on Earth, which is why they are given dominion.
This is what makes human beings unique for Christians. Christians believe that because every person bears God's image, every person has equal worth and dignity, whatever their age, sex, race or ability.
Christians who accept evolution still hold this belief: humans share their physical origins with other animals, but God gave them a nature no other creature has.
What does this mean for animals?
✅ Humans come first
Only humans are made in God's image, so most Christians believe human life is worth more than animal life. Later in Genesis, after a great flood, God tells Noah, the man he saved from it, that animals may be eaten (Genesis 9:3). So most Christians eat meat, and many accept testing medicines on animals to save human lives.
🐾 Animals still matter
Christians believe animals are part of the creation God called good. Proverbs, a book of wise sayings, says (12:10), 'The righteous care for the needs of their animals.' Jesus said that not one sparrow is forgotten by God. So they see cruelty as a failure of stewardship.
The Catholic Church teaches that animals are God's creatures and that it is wrong to make them suffer or die needlessly, but that they may be used for food, clothing and careful medical research. Some Christians go further. They choose to be vegetarian, pointing out that in Genesis 1:29 God first gave humans plants for food, or they oppose factory farming and hunting for sport as cruel.
Common mistakes
Do not write that all Christians reject the Big Bang and evolution. Young Earth creationists do, but many Christians accept both. Do not write that Imago Dei means humans look like God. Do not say dominion lets Christians treat the Earth as they like: most read it as a duty of care.
Exam-style question
Paper 1 style. (a) and (b) test AO1; (c) and (d) test AO1 and AO2.
(a) Identify three ways in which religious believers can care for the planet. [3 marks]
(b) Choose one religion. Outline two teachings about the place of human beings in the universe in this religion. [4 marks]
(c) Choose one religion. Explain why there are different attitudes to scientific views about the origin of the universe in this religion. [6 marks]
(d) 'The world was made for human beings to use.' 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. Wasting less energy (1). 2. Supporting a conservation charity (1). 3. Speaking out about climate change (1).
(b) Christianity. Christians believe humans are made in the image of God (Imago Dei) (1), which means they are unique among creatures and can have a relationship with God (1). Christians believe humans are stewards of the Earth (1), because in Genesis 2:15 God put Adam in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it (1).
(c) Christianity. Christians disagree because they apply scripture in different ways. Literalist Christians believe the Bible is God's word and so cannot be wrong. Genesis 1 says God made the world in six days, so Young Earth creationists reject the Big Bang and evolution, which need billions of years.
Other Christians read Genesis in a non-literal way. They believe it teaches that God is the creator and that creation is good, not how creation happened. This means science and Genesis answer different questions, so there is no clash.
These Christians see the Big Bang as the way God began the universe and evolution as the way God brought about life. The Catholic Church and the Church of England accept this view.
(d) Plan. For: Genesis 1:28 tells humans to subdue the earth and rule over every creature; only humans are made in God's image, so they have a higher place than the rest of creation; some non-religious people say humans need the Earth's resources to live.
Against: Psalm 24 says the Earth belongs to God, not to people; Genesis 2:15 makes humans carers, so dominion means stewardship; God called creation 'very good', so it has value in itself; humanists say the world was not made for anyone, and future generations need it too.
Possible conclusion: judge each point as you go, then pick a side. For example: I mostly disagree. Christians may use the world to meet their needs, but it belongs to God, so 'use' can never mean 'use up'.
Exam tip
In part (d), deal with both halves of the statement: 'made for human beings' and 'to use'. Quote Genesis 1:28 on one side and Genesis 2:15 on the other.