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The Christian story of creation is found in Genesis, the first book of the Bible.

The book of Genesis begins by saying, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) so Christians believe that everything that exists was created by God.

Genesis sets out the story of creation as taking place over six days. On the seventh day it says God rested. It outlines what God created on each day and it says that God was pleased with what he made: “And God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:10)

• Day 1 - God created the “heavens and the earth” along with light which he separates from darkness. As a result, there was the first evening and morning.

• Day 2 - God separated the water on earth from the water in the air – the creation of the atmosphere and the sky.

• Day 3 - Genesis says that God separated the water on the earth from dry land and on the land he created the plants, trees and vegetation.

• Day 4 - God created the sun, moon and stars.

• Day 5 - God created sea creatures (fish etc) and the birds of the air.

• Day 6 - God created human beings.

• Day 7 - God rested.

Some people believe that Genesis is a myth.

• The word myth, when used about Biblical texts, refers to when a writer is using imagery to convey or explain something that is hard to understand.

• When Genesis is referred to as a myth it means that the story is explaining what happened in a way that humans can understand, but is not to be taken as direct facts. Rather these are pictures that people can more easily understand to explain the process of things coming into the world.

• For example, the days of creation might not be literal 24-hour days and the order should not be taken as fact.

Other people take a literal view of the creation story and believe that it sets out the facts of what happened.

• People who take this view believe that the world was created in six days of 24 hours and that on the seventh day God rested.

• People who take a literal view of the Christian story believe that God is more powerful than humans can understand and so could easily create the world in six days, just as Genesis records.

Genesis says that human beings are, “created in the image of God.”

This means that humans are uniquely created and separated from the animal world.

As a result of being made in the image of God, Christians believe that humans have a special ability to relate to God in a way that animals cannot. This enables them to have a relationship with God that no other creature can.

In Genesis, God commands humans to “…reign over and govern the Earth…” (Genesis 1:26-28) This means that humans were given the task and responsibility to look after the place that God had created for them.

They were to be stewards of the world and its resources.

Christians accept there is no absolute proof that God did or did not create the universe.

As a result, Christians for centuries have looked at what evidence does exist to point to God as the creator of the world.

The design argument says that our world is too intricate and well designed to be a fluke. It must have a creator. William Paley used the image of an old wind-up watch to explain the design argument.

He said that if you found a wind-up watch and examined the springs and cogs you would have to conclude that someone designed and created it.

In the same way, he said that when you look at the world and how things work together (e.g. plants take in carbon dioxide and give out oxygen while humans do the opposite; therefore, each relying on the other) people would have to conclude there is a designer and creator.

The Cosmologic Argument says that the world is a result of cause and effect. Thomas Aquinas said that by looking at the world people can see things moving.

Things are unable to move by themselves so something or someone must put them into motion. For example, if I push you (cause), you fall over (effect). Aquinas argued that this same principle applied to the world. Something or someone had to start it, and he believed that starting point was God.

C.S. Lewis argued that human morality points to a creator. Lewis argued that people intuitively know what is right and wrong.

He said that people must get that sense of morality from somewhere.

While it is true that people get a sense of morality from their upbringing, parents, friends, teachers etc Lewis believed that a sense of morality had to originally be given from someone or something. He believed that to be the creator God.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks to people believing that God created the world is the idea that a perfect God would create an imperfect world.

Humans know from experience that evil and suffering exist in the world and so the question is, did God create evil and suffering when he created the world?

For centuries it has been debated that either God is not powerful enough to stop suffering or that he does not care enough to want to stop it.

Both result in him not being the all loving, all powerful God that Christianity claims him to be.

A solution to the problem is the belief in free will. Christians believe that God created humans with free will.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan to disobey God and they used their freewill to disobey his command.

Christians believe evil and suffering became a reality in the world because of Adam and Eve’s choice.

Although God does not want human beings to suffer, he must allow free will so that people can choose to believe in him or not. This ability to choose means people can choose to do evil as well as good.