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Creation - Pascha Cycle - "Genesis and the Fall"

Please make sure that you have read the main Creation page first.

Setting the Scene

Nothing has proved more problematic to some Christians in the last 150 years than the issues raised by the evolutionary account of the rise of homo sapiens in relation to the book of Genesis account of creation in chapters 1 and 2.  Some have tried to make the Bible into what it is not ... a science text book.  Some have abandoned Genesis altogether (along with much else).  Still others have tried to stretch ambiguous biblical references in order to reconcile the Scriptural account with contemporary science.

It is important to realise first of all that the Orthodox Christian faith does not stand or fall by any one scientific account of how the world came to be.  It matters not to our faith whether the Big Bang happened or not, whether humans evolved from apes or not, whether there is life elsewhere in the Universe or not.  All of these could be true without in any way changing how Orthodoxy understands God as Creator and the Cosmos as creation.  Any supposed conflict, therefore between our faith and science is a "phoney war" perpetuated by those with a faulty theology, atheist or theist alike.

Don't just take my word for this though; you need to do some research.  Here are some good places to start ... most are articles written by Fr. Gregory but with links to other articles written by scientists and theologians alike.

Resources

"Orthodoxy and Creationism" by Fr. Gregory

"Orthodoxy and Cosmology" by Fr. Gregory

"Orthodoxy and Creationism" by Fr. Deacon Andrei Kuraev

"Why We are Here" by Fr. Gregory

How does the Fall fit into all of this?  See here ...

"Ancestral Sin and Salvation" by Fr. Gregory

"The Universe Doesn't Care!" by Fr. Gregory

Practical

This is a section where I do encourage you to contact me direct.  Some of these issues are very difficult to get hold of.  I will be pleased to help where I can.  Contact me at orthodox@clara.net

Fr. Gregory

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