The Doctrine of Creation

Do faith and science really contradict each other?

In this study of Genesis 1, Dr. Toby Holt begins where the Bible begins: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." This opening verse, he argues, is the starting point for all right theology and philosophy — it declares God's existence and His transcendence over everything He has made. There is a God, and you are not Him.

Dr. Holt challenges the assumed war between faith and science, showing it to be a false dichotomy foreign to much of history. He addresses evolution, the "big bang," and the apparent age of the universe, but keeps the main point central: a creation testifies to a Creator, and to surrender Genesis 1:1 is to drift toward the nihilism of a world that answers to no one.

Questions this study answers:

1. Why is Genesis 1:1 so foundational? Because it establishes God's existence and His authority over all creation — the premise on which all true thinking about the world must rest.

2. Are faith and science truly at odds? No. Dr. Holt shows the supposed conflict to be a false dichotomy; the created order itself points beyond itself to a Creator.

3. What is at stake in denying creation? A slide into nihilism — a world with no Creator, no design, and no ultimate accountability to God.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." — Genesis 1:1 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt is the President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Colorado Springs. He is known for clear, down-to-earth Bible teaching, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio. Listen and go deeper: This study is part of New Geneva Theological Seminary's teaching on systematic theology and the great doctrines of the Christian faith. Find more verse-by-verse teaching across the Bible at newgeneva.org. To support this teaching ministry, visit newgeneva.org/give.