The Big Bang Theory of God
How did they feed the animals on Noah’s ark?
I can’t help it. I have questions. I love a good story as much as the next person, but when something doesn’t make sense, it bothers me and the story of Noah’s ark always left me with some doozies. Like this one. How did they feed the animals on Noah’s ark? Most of us believe Noah and his family (and all the animals) were on the ark for 40 days and 40 nights, but according to the Bible it was actually about 370 days in total.[1] That is a LONG time to be trapped on a boat full of every animal known to humanity. The smell must have been horrible. But I have more questions. Did they really have enough space for two of every animal? How did they deal with the problem of genetic inbreeding? How did Noah and his family stop the animals from eating each other? Who “cleaned up” after them? It’s these kinds of questions that drive a wedge between science and religion. We have grown to believe the two are somehow incompatible. That to believe in one means a person couldn’t logically believe in the other. That unless people who believe in the Biblical story of creation can answer these questions, then it must not be true. Well, I think I found an answer to at least one of those questions and it came from the TV show, The Big Bang Theory. Sheldon’s mother, Mary is in town to see her son get an award for a scientific paper he wrote. Mary (a devout Christian) tells her son (a self-avowed atheist) that she couldn’t quite understand what it was he was trying to explain, and he told her, “It describes a new model of the universe that conceptualizes it as an ‘N’-dimensional super fluid.” And she responds, “Interesting. You can believe that, but God filling an ark with animals two-by-two is nonsense.” Sheldon’s derision is almost palpable as he asks, “What did they feed the lions mother?” And Mary, sharp as a tack responds, “The floating bodies of drowned sinners.” Score one for Mary.
The debate between creation and evolution has gone on ever since Darwin.
And it’s still one that goes on today. You might find it surprising to know that most people believe God had a hand in creation. Seventy-eight percent of people believe God has a hand in the creation of human beings. 78%! And of that 78%, over half believe God created human beings as fully formed people free of evolution. According to a Gallup poll cited in Adam Hamilton’s book Making Sense of the Bible the numbers break down like this: 46% of Americans believe people were created by God without evolution, 32% believe human beings evolved by God’s guiding hand, and only 15% believe that evolution alone accounts for the development of humanity.[2] But even though most people believe God had a hand in human development, we have a number of different theories on how that came to be. On one end of the spectrum, Young Earth Creationists believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible and date the Earth as only 6,000 years old. They use the genealogies in the Bible to help come up with that number. On the other side are those who believe in theistic evolution. And as the name implies, they believe that evolution is a tool that God used to develop human beings. This group generally accepts the scientific theory that the Earth is about 4.57 billion years old and that humanity evolved over the last 2 million years.[3] For them, evolution and Scripture are in harmony with one another, and what we read in the Bible isn’t inaccurate but just wasn’t made to be taken literally in how we understand time and creation.
But why is there this divide in the first place?
Today it seems as if this rift has been around forever, but that hasn’t always been the case. The church has always been a supporter of knowledge and had in the past been unafraid of education. They were among the first to support the university system. They often funded and founded colleges and universities around the world. Some of the most famous schools in our country where many noted scientists, doctors, mathematicians, and scholars have come from were established by the church. In fact, some of the greatest scientists in the world have been Christian – Copernicus, Galileo, Pascal, Newton, Faraday, Pasteur, and Kelvin just to name a few.[4] Today, Francis Collins, “a renowned geneticist and former director of the Human Genome Project,” even developed an organization he calls the BioLogos Foundation to bridge the gap between science and religion and to help people realize that neither one is a threat to the other.[5] So where is this debate largely coming from? From Christians more than anyone else.
For Christians, this isn’t just a matter of historical accuracy, but a test of their faith.
The debate about the authenticity of the creationist point of view has more at stake than bragging rights about who’s right. It’s about trusting in the Word of God. And as science continues to uncover more about the origins of the world, there are Christians who fear hearing these new ideas. They are afraid the evidence being presented will contradict the beliefs they’ve held their entire lives, and they forcefully push back against it. But as we will see, perhaps the premise we have started out with is faulty at its root. In Genesis 2, we read a more personal story about God’s active hand in creation and how he formed the world. Then he flooded the earth with water to create the land and the sea and after that created us. And in that passage, it wasn’t until he created man that he finished the rest of creation. After he molded man out of the earth, God created trees and flowers and rivers and animals and even involved man in the naming of the animals. And only then did God create woman. But within the Bible itself there rests a contradiction to this narrative. In the chapter right before this one, the Bible has a distinctly different account of creation.
6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. – Genesis 1:6-13
That was only the third day of creation.
Do you remember when humanity was created? The sixth day. It wasn’t until the end of the week that God created both male and female in his image. Before that he created the heavens and the earth, the land and the water, the plants and the animals. In this version of creation, humanity was the last thing to have been created – but in the very next chapter we find out that man was created not long after the earth was formed and BEFORE all the plants and animals. Both of them can’t be right. These two stories directly contradict one another, and they are right there at the very beginning of the Bible! Either humanity was created before or after the plants and animals, but it can’t be both. And don’t get me started on talking snakes. When you really examine these stories, it becomes harder and harder to defend a literal point of view. But maybe we don’t need to. Maybe we should focus on what God is trying to tell us instead of worrying about the details.
One of my favorite movies of the year was The Six Triple Eight.
It’s a film based on the true story of the first and only all-Black and all-female battalion stationed in Europe during World War II. I highly recommend it. It is a story of faith and grit and perseverance that will move you to tears and give you hope in the human condition. You’ll watch it and think, “I can’t believe this is true!” But it is. Now, is everything true? Is every last detail as it actually happened when Captain Charity Adams was in charge of the Six Triple Eight? Of course not. You all know how it is. “Based on a true story” means only that. Some parts are highlighted, some parts are deleted, and some parts are changed to make the story cohesive. But did you walk away from it with a better understanding of the monumental accomplishment these women performed? Yes, you did. Did you get a better idea of the racism and sexism and poor living conditions they had to suffer through and overcome just to serve their country? Yes, you did. Did the fact that not everything was exactly the way it happened in real life detract from the film? Not at all. Now, if you sat there with a fine-tooth comb and picked it apart, you’d find those inconsistencies. But if you’re focusing on the nitty gritty, you’re missing the point. You’re losing the forest for the trees. The Bible is many things, but it’s not a history book. Paul shares with us very clearly what it is supposed to be, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope (Romans 15:4).” Don’t lose the forest for the trees. Use your eyes and ears to understand what God is trying to tell you.
Long ago, I came to the conclusion it just doesn’t matter how the Earth was created.
I believe God is the ultimate creator and I believe he created the Earth and everything in it. How he did it? I don’t care. Because it’s not important. If he chose to do it through evolution, great! If he spontaneously created everything all at once, great! How God did it doesn’t change my faith in him, and I hope it doesn’t change yours either. The Bible is our own understanding of the story of God and the bottom line is this. Love God, love one another. If we could hold on to those truths and stop arguing about the rest, we could possibly become the kind of people God keeps hoping we will be someday. Remember, it isn’t about history. It’s about His story.
[1] Some say 371 but close enough. https://www.gotquestions.org/how-long-was-Noah-on-the-ark.html This site says around 450 days: https://ncse.ngo/yes-noahs-flood-may-have-happened-not-over-whole-earth Regardless, it was a really long time!
[2] Adam Hamilton, Making Sense of the Bible, p. 188.
[3] Notes on Young Earth Creationists and evolution come from Hamilton’s boo
[4] https://carm.org/is-christianity-anti-science
[5] http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1895284,00.html Also, https://biologos.org/
Craig's Corner 
Absolutely loved this post! Your thoughtful exploration of the intersection between faith and science is both refreshing and insightful. I appreciate how you encourage us to look beyond the details and focus on the deeper message of hope, love, and understanding. Your writing makes complex topics accessible and truly invites meaningful reflection. Thank you for sharing your perspective and reminding us that it’s not about the “how,” but about the “why” and “who.” Keep up the amazing work!