In the begining God created the heavens and the earth. (NIV)
How many times have you started with those words and then decided to quit. Well this web page also stops there so not to worry. Any worldview worth its salt has to start off in the begining. Scientist even realize the need for a begining, and thus tried to think one up called the "big bang".

Before continuing what does it mean to believe in that statement "In the begining..."?

God
The emphasis is on God. The first name given to God (in Hebrew) is Elohim. This name was used to emphasize his power.

Created
The Hebrew word "Bara" is used to create things. People can make things or shape things but there has to be something to shape. (I arrange bits on my hard drive by writing programs or buying programs, but I had to buy the hard drive space to write in the first place.)

Heaven
Shaymayim means Heaven or Heavens depending on what words are used with it. This is not the stars in heaven (that was the 4th day and beyond the scope of this page). It would more correspond to our word space, (When some think of the universe as space-time.)

Earth
the word "erets" would more correspond to our word matter. The world didn't have form till the fourth day. So it would match up that there was matter, then God arranged it later.

In the Begining
Bereshith is the start of time.