Is "in the beginning...." wrong since energy has always existed.. and always will?

Answer 1

Yep. It violates the First Law of Thermodynamics.

Added: Wow...I just learned that the Laws of Thermodynamics aren't credible. That was quite a interesting thing to find out.

Answer 2

It means the beginning of the creative process that the rest of the passage refers to; it can also be translated "in beginning" meaning "when God started doing this". But you're right that energy has always existed and always will. Of course, some people will want to bicker instead of looking up what the original Hebrew said.

Answer 3

.....and how do you know that energy has always existed and always will? As far as my science classes recall energy comes as a result of a mass "exerting" energy to initiate it's energy on another mass. All energy is a summation of a series of processes,also.

By the way, The origianl text of that verse actually reads "GOD (YhWh), in the beginning.." so no. It is NOT WRONG. I would say good try but nah.

God Bless you and guide you into His Truth.

Answer 4

That is assuming energy has existed and always will... which I know of no credible scientific theory which claims that.

For example, Stephen Hawkings says in A Bried History of Time that none of the known physical principles existed until the instant of the Big Bang. This would include energy.

Magley... don't shoot the messenger. Write Stephen Hawkings a letter and tell him you know more about physics and the probable origin of the universe than he does. You may also want to skip your physics 101 class this morning and look up closed system and think about how that may apply to the beginning of the universe, especially as related to quantum mechanics.

Answer 5

I don't think you could unequivocally say the biblical creation myth would necessarily violate the physical laws of the universe. If you adhere to a big bang theory, you'd naturally assume a starting point as a singular object with no light, no space (by definition) and no time.

Genesis (as I read it) vaguely claims darkness and space (which implies at least two objects) already extant - so if I were to read it seeking a scientific basis... I'd probably assume the claimed biblical starting point was an entropy kick-start to a steady state.

Answer 6

So the energy that makes me walk and talk and laugh is the same one that came into existence during the big bang and just changed form?

Come off it.

Also, a simple person such as myself, can easily say that according to Islam, God uses His own energy to create things. So yes, its in accordance with science because the energy we see is actually His. and it has always existed.

Happy?

Answer 7

"In the begining..." is used as a metaphore for the benefit of finite beings who have difficulty rrelating to the concept of infinity. God is infinite, space is infinite, time is infinite, but we, man, have a beginning and an end. So, it is not wrong to use words and phrases which enable a reader to relate, as long as it creates no conflict with the overall theme and content of the message.

Answer 8

We know that energy does not "appear" or "dissapear" but only transforms... so it probably always existed, maybe just in a different form.

Big Bang was not a beggining either, it was just a transformation of the mattery

Answer 9

Energy and matter are the same thing in different forms. Neither energy nor matter existed prior to the Big Bang.

Answer 10

If you look at the orginal text, the Aramaic word for "beginning" is actually more accurately translated as "Once upon a time, in a make believe land...."