GENESIS 1:1—How Can the Universe Have a "Beginning" If Modern Science Says Energy Is Eternal?

The opening statement of Scripture, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, UASV), asserts that the universe had a beginning. This claim stands in contrast to various scientific and philosophical theories that suggest energy is eternal, operating on the principle of the First Law of Thermodynamics, which states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed but only transformed. This raises a common challenge: How can the Bible declare a beginning for the universe when science appears to maintain that energy, a fundamental component of the universe, is eternal?

Addressing this question requires careful distinction between the claims of Scripture and the definitions within physics, as well as an accurate understanding of what both the Bible and science actually affirm. This article will explore the biblical teaching regarding the beginning of the universe, evaluate the scientific claims about energy, and demonstrate that these views are not contradictory when rightly understood.

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The Biblical Assertion of a Beginning (Genesis 1:1)

Genesis 1:1 is one of the most theologically significant and philosophically profound statements ever penned. It reads, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The Hebrew phrase בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים (bereʾšît bārā ʾĕlōhîm) expresses two key points: there was a definite "beginning" to the universe, and this beginning was brought about by the creative act of God.

The verb בָּרָא (bārāʾ), translated as "created," is used exclusively of divine activity in the Hebrew Bible. It does not describe human craftsmanship or reshaping of preexisting materials but is reserved for God's creative actions. This verb’s usage here suggests an absolute beginning of the material cosmos.

The phrase “the heavens and the earth” is a merism—a figure of speech using two extremes to indicate totality. In this context, it refers to the entire physical universe. Thus, Genesis 1:1 affirms the origin of all matter, energy, space, and time by the act of a personal Creator, Jehovah.

The Bible does not specify the precise date of this event but simply affirms its reality. While the subsequent creation "days" or epochs describe the preparation of the earth for habitation, Genesis 1:1 refers to the initial act of bringing the universe itself into existence. Therefore, this "beginning" precedes the six creative periods described later.

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Scientific Claims About Energy: Is Energy Eternal?

The modern scientific principle often cited in discussions about the eternity of energy is the First Law of Thermodynamics, which states that the total energy of an isolated system remains constant—it is conserved. Energy may transform between forms (kinetic, potential, thermal, etc.), but it is not created or annihilated within that system.

However, the application of this law assumes the preexistence of the universe and its physical laws. The First Law describes the behavior of energy within the system of the cosmos. It does not address whether energy itself was eternally existent before the universe, nor does it offer an explanation for the origin of the universe or of the laws governing energy conservation.

Notably, many physicists and cosmologists acknowledge that the known laws of physics, including the First Law of Thermodynamics, apply only after the origin point known as the Big Bang singularity. Prior to this initial singularity—if such a concept even meaningfully applies—the laws of physics as currently understood break down. This is widely recognized in the standard cosmological model.

Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose demonstrated through singularity theorems (1970) that general relativity predicts the breakdown of spacetime at the Big Bang. This supports the view that the universe, including space, time, matter, and energy, had a definite beginning. Theoretical physicist Alexander Vilenkin has similarly argued, “All the evidence we have says that the universe had a beginning.”

Energy conservation applies within the created universe, not outside of or before its existence. The First Law cannot logically deny the possibility of a beginning for energy because the law itself assumes an already existing physical system. Thus, energy’s apparent “eternality” is a property within the framework of the universe, not outside it.

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Modern Cosmology and the Concept of a Beginning

Big Bang cosmology remains the dominant model for explaining the universe’s origin. According to this theory, the universe expanded from an extremely hot and dense singularity approximately 13.8 billion years ago. Time, space, matter, and energy all began at this singularity.

Though some speculative models such as oscillating universes or quantum fluctuation theories have been proposed to avoid an absolute beginning, none have gained definitive empirical support. In fact, the Borde-Guth-Vilenkin theorem (2003) states that any universe which has, on average, been expanding throughout its history cannot be past-eternal but must have a beginning.

This conclusion remains one of the strongest scientific affirmations that the universe, as we know it, did indeed have a beginning—corroborating what Genesis 1:1 declared thousands of years ago.

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Does Science Support an Eternal Universe?

While certain quantum mechanical models, such as the Hartle-Hawking "no-boundary proposal," suggest ways of imagining the universe without a definite "before," these remain mathematical constructs and do not imply a physically eternal past. They also do not erase the need for an initial cause or explanation for the existence of the universe's physical laws.

Quantum fluctuation models often assume the existence of a pre-existing quantum vacuum state. But this vacuum is not "nothing" in the philosophical or biblical sense—it is still governed by laws, fluctuations, and a mathematical structure. This raises the question: where did these laws and the quantum vacuum itself come from? The Bible’s answer is that Jehovah, the Creator, is the source not only of matter and energy but of the laws that govern them (Isaiah 40:26; Jeremiah 10:12).

Science, when properly interpreted, does not refute a beginning. Rather, the dominant consensus of modern cosmology supports the idea that the universe, and thus energy as part of that universe, had a point of origin.

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The Biblical Concept of Creation “Ex Nihilo” (Out of Nothing)

Although Genesis 1:1 does not explicitly use the philosophical term ex nihilo (from nothing), the concept is consistent with the biblical portrayal of God’s creative activity. Other passages clarify this idea. Hebrews 11:3 states, “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”

This passage indicates that the material universe was not fashioned from preexisting matter but came into existence through God's command. Jehovah did not reshape eternal matter or energy; He brought it into being by His will and power.

The assertion of creatio ex nihilo aligns with the conclusion of contemporary cosmology that the universe had an absolute beginning, consistent with Genesis 1:1.

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The Nature of Jehovah as the Eternal Source of Energy and Matter

Jehovah alone is described as eternal and uncreated in Scripture. Psalm 90:2 affirms, “Before the mountains were brought forth or you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.” This distinguishes the Creator from His creation. Energy and matter are contingent realities—they exist because Jehovah chose to bring them into existence.

Jehovah’s creative work is described as the product of His "vast dynamic energy" (Isaiah 40:26), yet this does not equate God’s nature with energy itself. Jehovah is spirit (John 4:24), not material, and not subject to the limitations of created energy or matter. His power to create extends beyond the laws He established within the universe.

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Scientific Theories Do Not Eliminate the Need for a Creator

Even if some speculative theories could propose a mechanism by which a universe could spontaneously "pop" into existence via quantum fluctuations, such theories cannot explain why there is a quantum vacuum or why there are physical laws at all. Explanation of existence cannot be reduced to mechanisms alone. Mechanisms require an explanation for their own existence.

As physicist Paul Davies noted, “The laws [of physics] may have no existence at all, except in the mind of God.” The existence of physical laws points beyond the material realm to a transcendent source.

Genesis 1:1, in this respect, remains a philosophically and scientifically robust assertion: the universe had a beginning, and that beginning was the result of the will and power of the eternal Creator.

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Conclusion: Compatibility Between Genesis 1:1 and Scientific Understanding

The claim of Genesis 1:1 that the universe had a beginning is neither scientifically naïve nor philosophically outdated. Rather, it aligns with the best conclusions of modern cosmology, which affirm that time, space, matter, and energy had an origin. The assertion that "energy is eternal" applies only within the framework of the existing universe, not beyond it or before its beginning.

Far from being in conflict, Scripture and science, when rightly interpreted, converge on the fundamental truth that the universe had a definite origin, a truth declared by Moses under divine inspiration thousands of years before modern cosmology came to the same conclusion.

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About the Author

EDWARD D. ANDREWS (AS in Criminal Justice, BS in Religion, MA in Biblical Studies, and MDiv in Theology) is CEO and President of Christian Publishing House. He has authored over 220 books. In addition, Andrews is the Chief Translator of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV).