Genesis 1-2: SCIENCE & CREATION, do they work together?
When someone in the 21st century opens the Bible to Genesis chapter 1 and reads the universe was created in just six days, it is easy to simply write it all off as bologna and slam it shut. I almost did that. This is due to a lack of understanding of how to read the creation story.
There is also a huge divide between seculars and Christian surrounding evolution and creation, dinosaurs and other fossil evidence, as well as the teachings of the Church. There are major hurdles to overcome, but the first hurdle to jump over is working to understand what the Bible actually means.
How to understand the wording
In order to understand the Creation account in Genesis, we have to understand how to read and interpret the writing.
While reading through the Bible, it is important to remember that it was written by ancient people, for ancient people, in an ancient world, with an ancient language. We are modern people, in a modern world, with modern language. The two are not the same. This is important because we are not accustomed to reading ancient texts. Although the Bible is translated into English, which is a very literal language, it is not justified to expect to read the Bible and understand it as though it is written in plain English.
The Bible was originally written in Hebrew and Greek, which are more organic, flexible, and deep languages, whereas English and Latin-based languages are very precise languages. This means that writings in Latin-based languages are very direct and the author uses precise language to get their point across, something we are accustomed to in the modern world, whereas texts the were originally written in Hebrew or Greek have deeper implications in the words used, words that can be result in cumbersome English translations if translated directly.
As Catholics, we believe the Bible is to be read as literally true, meaning that the message of the author is literally true, a true message from the author (Alar 2022). But we don’t read as literalists, which would result in us viewing it as a scientific text. For example, we do not cut off our hands due to sin despite what is written in Matthew 18:8-9; this is because we understand the literal nature of the message being conveyed but we do not take the words literally.
Summary of Creation
For a summary, the Creation account in Genesis is written in chapters 1 and 2. Chapter 1 has a broad view of the creation of the cosmos. The writing notes that God created the universe with six days of work followed by a seventh day of rest. In those six days, God created the heavens and the earth, light, the waters, land, plants, the sun and moon, animals of the sea, birds of the air, and beasts of the land, concluding creation with humans made in God’s image and likeness. Throughout this account, God calls everything good. “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).
Genesis 2 offers another account of the creation story with closer look into the creation of humans and the animals. “The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7). We read that man was created in the garden of Eden. God creates the animals and then at last creates woman from the rib of the man.
Reading it from the secular perspective which views creation with a scientific lens causes for people to scratch their heads wondering how anyone can believe this.
How to understand creation in Genesis 1
So, when we read that the universe was created in six days, many people wonder how anyone can believe this writing. The Bible, particularly the Creation account, is both real and symbolic. Referring to Tim Staples at Catholic Answers, the Creation account is real and holds the truth in describing events that actually took place, but symbolic because it does not recount an exact scientific and historical rendering of the events that took place. This means that these events actually happened – light was created and separated from darkness, water was created, the sky was created, the oceans and lands were created, plants, stars, animals, and humans were created – however the book of Genesis does not state how they were created, aside from the fact that God created them.
The Scriptures teach the truths revealed by God for our salvation, meaning scientific understanding is not necessary for our salvation (CCC 337). The typical belief is that God himself created the visible world in a succession of six “days” of divine work concluded by a seventh day of rest. The reason for the listing of days is to promote the rest of the Sabbath (The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, 58). Another point to consider is the Bible is not even trying to claim it as twenty-four-hour days because the sun was not even created until the fourth day, so the first three days did not have any sorts of earthly hours.
The context of the writing
Genesis 1 also includes corrections of pagan mythology. Much of the pagan mythology for creation was very brutal, filled with violence and sexual sin. In contrast, the Creation account in Genesis is filled with love and goodness.
Genesis 1 is believed to be written by the Priestly tradition around 550BC while the Israelites were under exile in Babylon. The Babylonian creation story is summarized as Marduk defeated Tiamat, the chaos monster, and made the heavens ansd earth from her body while using the blood to make humans. Clearly this has no scientific basis but the Babylonians believed that humanity and the material universe were created out of chaos and violence.
The Genesis account shows we were made out of love from God not some sort of violence or other sin. We were made in God’s image rather than some accident from sin or for slave labor for the gods.
We also see creation as God’s creation and not the creation of some other gods that God had to compete with. The sun and moon are referred to as “the greater light” and the “lesser light” to avoid using the Hebrew words for sun and moon which were deified by the pagan near-eastern religions (The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, 59). We also see the term “sea monsters” (1:21) because the monsters of the sea were deified by those same pagans, but God created them and so did not have to fight with them, as other creation stores note their gods battling each other (The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, 59). So, we see the inspired author of Genesis 1 used their writing to show the sun and moon are not actually gods to be worshipped and the sea monsters are no match for their own creator, so they are also not to be worshipped.
The truths in Genesis 1 teach us that God ultimately creates everything as “very good” (1:31) something which is in contrast to the pagan religions and the future gnostics as well as other heresies. This is more than just a creation story filled with happy feelings; these are actually the truths of humanity given to us by God through the inspired authors of the Scriptures. As for how I reached that conclusion, I suggest referring to my post about what the Bible is and how to read it.
Wrapping up Genesis 1
To conclude on Genesis 1, we believe that God created everything good in a sequence of events that inspired authors chose to record as six days of work with a seventh day of rest which aids promoting the Sabbath instituted by God in the Ten Commandments in Exodus. We believe that God created mankind in the image and likeness of God as the pinnacle of Creation with dominion over the animals. Please note this does not mean we believe in a scorched earth mentality, we are to live in harmony with animals and the rest of creation just as God lives in harmony with His creation.
Throughout the creation account in Genesis 1, we see many corrections of other false mythology. These are not simply subjective corrections to make us feel better, but are instead corrections from God Himself given through the inspired authors as God revealed Himself to humanity. Again, for more information on this I suggest reading my post on what the Bible is and how to read it.
Creation of humans
As we move from Genesis chapter 1 into chapter 2, we see a more detailed account of the creation of man. God created man when “the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7). Interestingly, this isn’t necessarily wrong on a scientific level. We humans are made from the dust of the earth. Plants and animals come from the dust of the earth. Plants are the nutrition for animals to build themselves, so they ultimately come from the dust of the earth, meaning we do too.
We also see that God breathed into man’s nostrils to give him the breath of life so that man “became a living being”. This is the factor that differentiates us from the rest of creation. God has given us our spirit, an immortal spirit.
The Lord God then created woman. After casting a deep sleep on the man, God “took one of [the man’s] ribs and closed up its place with flesh;and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2:21-22). If this is the case, why do men have a full symmetrical ribcage? Also, it is wild to picture this happening. Again, this is not a scientific book yet it contains profound truths. As Adam said of Eve,
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”(Genesis 2:23)
Woman was created as a complement of man in the likeness of man. The rib shows she is created from the substance of the first man. The fact the rib came from the side rather than a bone from the head or the feet shows she is equal to man (The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, 59). Because “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27).
This brings us to another profound truth in the creation of man. Genesis 1:26 reads ‘Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”’. The keywords here are God said, let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness. This shows that God is a communion of Persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One may object and argue that the Jewish people were actually polytheists. This is quickly shown as false because God is referred to with singular pronouns, not plural. Whereas throughout the Bible, polytheist deities spoke of together are referred to with pronouns describing plurality, a group of gods. If the Hebrews worshipped multiple gods, their language would reflect this, instead their language is clearly monotheistic. The next argument is the “royal we.” In older eras of royalty, the kings and queens may refer to themselves as “we” rather than “I”. The issue with this objection is that the Hebrew language does not offer a “royal we”. A third objection is that God was speaking with the angels to utilize “we”. The issue with this is, God created man in His image and likeness, not the image and likeness of the angels, as shown in verse 27 that we are made in the image of God, not God and the angels. A fourth objection is that the Christians modified the translation to reflect the communion of Persons within the Holy Trinity, however Jewish translations use the same language in this verse as the Christian translations. So this leaves us with the conclusion that the inspired authors used language from the Holy Spirit that unknowingly expressed the communion of Persons within the Holy Trinity, that is, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, something that was not understood until we received the Full Revelation of Faith through Our Lord Jesus Christ.
How is this related to humanity? Because God created mankind in His image and likeness, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27). This means that humanity, created as male and female, are in the image and likeness of God, who is a communion of Persons, and that separately we are made in the image and likeness of God, equal in rank, but we are made for each other, so that we may become a communion of persons, a one flesh union, in the image and likeness of God, the Holy Trinity, a communion of Persons.
Though we truly are made from dust, the truths provided by Scripture are deeper than any scientific finding. God created man and woman in His image and likeness, equal to each, made for each other. Man and woman are made equal but different. We are complements to each other to make the whole. We are equal in rank but different in role. This is why “a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).
Evolution and humanity
Did Adam and Eve exist? Yes, they are not just symbolic. When did they exist? That is for each of us to decide what to believe. There are a few trains of thought people use when trying to understand that Adam and Eve existed and everyone else descended from them. I am not necessarily advocating these beliefs, but I am simply sharing them. Additionally, this is not exhaustive, there are undoubtedly more out there.
- Fundamentalists: This group reads the Bible in a literalist lens. They believe the earth is 6000 years old and reads the creation story as a verbatim account of how God created the world. They also believe Adam was literally molded like clay from dust and Eve was literally made from a rib pulled from Adam’s side. They believe Adam and Eve were created around 4000BC and all of humanity was born thereafter
- Humanoid theory: Adam and Eve existed alongside other humans, however Adam and Eve are the only ones who received the immortal spirit from God while the others had a mortal soul that died when the body died. This theory holds that the humanoids died off and their numbers were replaced with the offspring of Adam and Eve
- Theistic Evolution: This holds that Adam and Eve were created by God through evolutionary means to develop their human bodies. God then breathed their souls into them to give them life and to create them in the image and likeness of God. We all then descended from Adam and Eve. The time of their creation is considered unknown but can be estimated through scientific means.
People will say science asserts certain theories, but this does not contradict anything in Scripture. First, certain members of the scientific community place some theories over others, while other members of their community orders theories differently. These are all theories, not yet accepted as scientific fact. Second, we need to remember the newest mantra of science for the past few years, science changes etc. So, all this is perfectly applicable despite whatever certain scientists may say, because there are other scientists who will disagree with them in addition to the fact the science will change in the future.
Objections
There are some objections held by non-Christians regarding the Biblical Creation story.
Evolution and scientific theories: Why would God, who can create everything out of nothing, utilize such long processes such as the big bang possibly and evolution? These processes seem like they take a very long time for us, but God is outside of time and eternal. “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3:8). Such a long time is nothing for the eternal God.
Incest: How can we all be born from Adam and Eve if incest leads to deformities and disease? Also, the Levitical law outlaws incest (see Leviticus 18:6-18). So then why would God permit this and how did this happen without deformities etc? Theologians hold that one major aspect for this goes back to sin. Adam and Eve were created before sin had entered the world. They were in a pure state of holiness, that is before the Fall (which will be discussed in a coming post). After the Fall, they were in a fractured state known as original sin. And so, they had fallen from the state of grace.
Despite this, Adam and Eve were still in a rather pure state of being. They were the first generation created in the image and likeness of God, therefore they were closest in resemblance to God despite their now fractured state. As time has gone on and people have continued to sin, we humans have become more and more fractured by the accumulation of generational sins. If we in the modern generation were to engage in incest, or even in 1400BC (approximately when Levitical law was introduced), our descendants would assuredly have all sorts of issues. But because Adam and Eve were so much closer to a state of purity than we are, their descendants did not inherit malformations from incestual relationships. Additionally, Rabbinic tradition holds that Adam and Eve had up to 25 sets of twins, enough descendants to diversify the genome and dilute incestual relations to the point it was no longer incest (Nash). By the third generation, there would be no need for an exception to incest because marriage between first cousins is not considered incest according to Torah law (Posner).
It is also important to understand the relations were limited to the given generation. It was not permitted to engage in relations with previous or younger generations. Their descendants still had to adhere to Genesis 2:24, “a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Breaking the one flesh union to engage in other relations would be a violation of this instruction. So, the people were still to be loyally married helping to preserve the genomes that developed.
To summarize, Adam’s and Eve’s children were permitted to populate the earth through incestual means within the generation due to their level of purity. With time, that level of purity had been compromised requiring the implementation of the Levitical law banning incest.
Contradictions: Some people argue that Genesis 1:24-30 contradicts with Genesis 2 because the creation account of Genesis 1 notes that the animals were created before man and Genesis 2 states that the animals were created after man. This does not really amount to a contradiction because the creation accounts are not meant to be read as a literal or scientific description, instead utilizing symbolic means to explain theological truths about God and creation (CCC 337). Genesis 1 is believed to have been written by the Priestly tradition around 550BC whereas Genesis 2 is believed to have come from the Yahwist tradition around 950BC (New Catholic Bible, 5-6). This means that two different traditions in two different time periods were inspired in two different ways to express different aspects of the truths contained in creation. One may object to this due to Genesis 2:1-4, however we must note that chapter breaks were added much later than the original writing, therefore they do not inherently denote the original writings from the various others.
We also see Genesis 1 has a broader focus on the whole of creation while Genesis 2 is focused on the creation of man and his relationship to God, animals, and between humans. Genesis 1 shows man’s superiority to animals, as given by God, because man was created as the last work of God’s creation before God rested on the seventh day. Genesis 2 does not deviate from this because it shows that God created the animals to serve man, again placing man as the pinnacle of God’s creation. Instead, Genesis 2 focuses on the relationship of humanity with God, animals, and humans with each other in a more focused view.
Another aspect to consider are the various perspectives the inspired authors were given from the Holy Spirit. The inspired author of the Priestly tradition wrote about the order of creation whereas the author of the Yahwist tradition wrote about the proper ordered relationships of man towards God, animals, and each other. Both sets of authors observed creation, but saw a particular aspect from a different angle, and when the reader puts those two perspectives together, we are able to gain a fuller understanding of their accounts. Mankind is the pinnacle of God’s creation, made in God’s image he is inferior to God, shares equality with woman, and given dominion over the animals. In order to articulate the truths given by the Holy Spirit to the inspired authors, they recorded things from the perspective given to them in the order and sequence that were best for them to articulate those truths in writing. ***On a side note, this doesn’t mean that man has a God-given right to scorch the earth, but instead is placed as the pinnacle of creation with the authority to have dominion and subdue it, though while living in harmony with creation, just as God is in harmony with His creation.
What the Church teaches
We as Catholics believe that God created the world according to His wisdom, and that it is not a product of any sort of necessity, blind fate, or random chance, instead holding that the universe proceeds from God’s will because “he wanted to make his creatures share in his being, wisdom, and goodness” (CCC 295). The Catholic Church does not have a formal stance on what Catholics must believe in the order of Creation, only that we Catholics must believe that God created everything out of nothing, ex nihilo (CCC 296). We also must adhere to the Scriptural and Traditional Belief that Adam and Eve are our first parents and we all descended from them (ref to Romans 5:12). Aside from this, it is entirely up to us as individuals to believe in creationism or evolution. Catholics can agree with fundamentalists that the earth was created in 6 days 6000 years ago or they can believe in the big bang, or some other creation theory, and evolution. Ultimately, Christians have no obligation to believe in creationism. It is perfectly feasible for someone to maintain evolutionary beliefs while being in full conformity to Scripture and Tradition.
Bringing it all together
Reading the Bible while understanding the way it was written and meant to be understood, we can see that the universe was created by God out of nothing, ex nihilo, in a sequence of events that took place over time, not necessarily six days made up of twenty-four hours.
As for the development of dinosaurs, it is perfectly fair to consider that in creating the birds of the air, he created and utilized dinosaurs as a means of evolution, just like it is possible that God used evolution to create the body of man. That does not mean humans came solely from evolution; we are not made human until we are made in God’s image and likeness, that is, not until he breathes our souls into us, a soul which differentiates us from the rest of creation.
By understanding the truths contained in the creation story of the Bible, we can better understand how to read the Bible as well as understanding the truths of ourselves. We are more than meat bags made by random chance, instead we are actually created in God’s image out of pure love.
References
Alar, Fr Chris. 2022. “Divine Mercy.” YouTube. Accessed November 3, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu_fuzTYGyI.
1995. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Canada: Doubleday.
n.d. “Georges Lemaître, Father of the Big Bang.” American Museum of Natural History. Accessed November 3, 2025. https://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/curriculum-collections/cosmic-horizons-book/georges-lemaitre-big-bang.
Nash, Tom. n.d. “Why Incest in Genesis Was OK.” Catholic Answers. Accessed November 3, 2025. https://www.catholic.com/qa/why-incest-in-genesis-was-ok).
2020. New Catholic Bible. Totowa, NJ: Catholic Book Publishing Corp.
Posner, Menachem. n.d. “Whom did Cain and Abel marry?” Chabad.org. Accessed November 3, 2025. https://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/960277/jewish/Whom-did-Cain-and-Abel-marry.htm.
2024. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible. San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press.
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