A word that denotes the commencement of anything with a point of origin.
The "heavens and the earth" had a beginning (Gen. 1:1); hence, they are not eternal. Material origins must be explained supernaturally since there is no known naturalistic explanation.
When the Universe experienced its beginning, the eternal Word (Jn. 1:1), identified as the pre-incarnate Christ (Jn. 1:14), was already existing (cf. Jn. 8:58). Christ, therefore, was not a created being, as Jehovah's Witnesses contend.
The human family has existed since "the beginning of the creation" (Mk. 10:6). Our origin occurred in the same week (Gen. 1; Ex. 20:11). This contradicts the evolutionary theory that humankind arrived upon the earth billions of years after the initial creation.
