NSCI 110 Origins of the Cosmos Dr. Howell April 4, 2019 OPTION #2 In Pope Francis’s statement that God is not a magician with a magic wand and that the big bang theory and the theory of evolution compliment, rather than contradict the scriptures is absurd. In the beginning God created the heaven and Earth (Gen 1:1). When we get to verse 3 of Genesis it states, “And God said let there be light.” If using the 1st law of Hermeneutics when interpreting this verse it means just that. When science looks at a distant star, and see that they all are racing away from us (red shift) they tell us that the Universe is expanding. The word Universe is not a Hebrew word. This may be true but I can’t see mixing science with religion. This world has to have a designer and matter does not create itself from what I was taught. The mis-conception as far as I’m concerned is that it is perceived that the Ancients did not understand the Cosmos which I also believe is incorrect.