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Christians read and understand the Bible in different ways.

Many Catholics believe that God brought the universe into being from nothing. This is sometimes referred to as ex nihilo. Some believe that it was created from matter that already existed. This is sometimes referred to as ex materia.

Some Christians believe that the Bible stories, including the Genesis account, should be taken literally, believing that they describe exactly how the universe and human beings were created.

This view is not one that is promoted by the Catholic Church. The Church teaches that the Bible accounts and stories have to be understood in the context of the time that they were written. The authors of the biblical books had limited knowledge of science and the world, so the Genesis account was their way of trying to explain what they believed.

The Church interprets the Genesis account alongside science and reason to try and understand the key message – that God is responsible for the creation of the world. Science may be able to explain how the universe was created, but the Church teaches that religion explains the reason it was created.