It has been said that discovery of the “Big Bang” converted more astrophysicists into theists than any other scientific breakthrough in history.  Why? It seems that this cataclysmic event marked the beginning of time and space.  Physicists, like Stephen Hawking, have proposed the ability to track the birth and expansion of our universe back to a miniscule fraction of a second (10^-43 seconds to be exact) from time zero.  This is the remarkable kind of revelation that can stop you in your tracks to ask: What was before the bang?  Where was time, and where were the three dimensions of space?  How could they not exist?  And if they didn’t exist before this event, where did they come from?  It is incredible to consider that all the mass and energy presently in the universe emanated from a single point at the core of this explosion in the nothingness of space, and moreover, that this point was about the size of the period bringing this sentence to a close.  Common scientific theory has taught us that for every effect there is a cause, and in order to have mass or substance, there must be fundamental building parts.  But the greatest physicists of our day come to an abrupt dead-end micro-seconds after the big event, and there appears to be nothing behind the curtain of time and space.  It seems that only one rational explanation remains – a powerful entity operating outside the bounds of our time and space, and capable of creating something (our universe) out of nothing (ex nihilo).  Modern science brings us within one tenth of a millionth, of a millionth, of a millionth, of a millionth, of a millionth, of a millionth, of a millionth of a second (10^-43) but no closer to the beginning of time, space and creation.  Mind boggling, isn’t it?

Astrophysicist Robert Jastrow closes his book God and the Astronomers with the following conclusion:
“At this moment it seems as though science will never be able to raise the curtain on the mystery of creation.  For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream.  He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is able to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.”

Perhaps astrophysicists dedicating their lives to studying the origins of the universe will find God at the culmination of their climb, but what about biologists?  It seems that the mechanism through which God created modern man elicits more discord and suspicion than universal creation itself.  In this case, there is “behind the curtain” evidence of the history of life on earth.  But our interpretations of this evidence, when compared to accounts from Genesis, are varied and seasoned with probability theory.

The principal mission of the Center for Faith and Science International (CFSI) is to assist students, educators and the general public in understanding the “how” of God’s creation process, as dually revealed in His Word and in the observable universe around us.  CFSI seeks to broker a free and respectful exchange of ideas regarding faith and science, so that established scientific truths may be applied to various theories of the earth's origins in a manner that fosters reconciliation between religious belief and scientific discovery.

Four of the most highly regarded perspectives on God’s process for creating and developing life on earth are:  Creation Science, Evolutionary Creation, Intelligent Design and Progressive Creation.  All four theories point to an omnipotent Creator as the cause and author of all life.  The proponents of these perspectives simply differ on interpretations of His script.

Creation Science: Proponents of Creation Science believe that supernatural creation of the material universe by God, as described in the creation narrative of Genesis, is consistent and compatible with the available scientific evidence.  They are advocates of “young earth creationism,” an assessment that the earth is approximately 6,000 years old.   Many creation scientists devote their attention to documenting and demonstrating how the findings of science are inconsistent with naturalistic and evolutionary theories.  Recommended web sites for more information on this perspective include:  www.creationscience.com, www.icr.org, and www.answersingenesis.org.

Evolutionary Creation: Evolutionary Creation, also known as Theistic Evolution, holds that Darwinian evolution, natural selection and common descent are supported by anthropological and biological evidence, and God ordained or guided evolutionary change for the development of all life on earth.  Defenders of this perspective employ a non-literal interpretation of Genesis and support the notion that God has and continues to reveal himself through both His word (Scripture) and His world (Natural Science).  Recommended web sites for more information on this perspective include:  www.biologos.org and www.theisticevolution.org.

Intelligent Design (ID): This perspective asserts that certain complex features of the universe and all living things within it are best explained by an intelligent cause, not a random, undirected process such as natural selection.  ID proponents argue that this “cause” (which remains unnamed) is empirically detectable by methods of science, thus the theory is largely focused on what is designed rather than the questions of who, when, why, and how.  Recommended web sites for more information on this perspective include:   www.intelligentdesign.org and www.intelligentdesignnetwork.org.

Progressive Creationism: Progressive creationists accept naturalistic theories about the history of the universe – including the big bang, an earth that is millions of years old, and a local Genesis flood – and believe that God deliberately created new forms of life gradually over long periods of time, as suggested in the geological record.  Those who hold this perspective argue that biblical and scientific evidence point to periodic divine interventions to explain sudden appearances of new plant and animal life forms.  Gaps in the fossil record, for example, are best explained by God intervening and developing new species or genera outside the realm of science.  Recommended web sites for more information on this perspective include:  www.reasons.org, www.answersincreation.org, and www.godandscience.org.

The Center for Faith and Science is committed to assisting educators, students and the general public in better understanding these four perspectives as to “how He did it.”  The common thread is the fact that all of these perspectives recognize a master Creator and Designer as the author of the universe and all life within it.  The key message is simply that each one of us was purposefully created, and our task is to discover and fulfill the individual purpose for which we have been created.