We all want to know where we came from or why we are here. We might ask, "What is our place in the cosmos?" or "How do my beliefs about creation impact my value and purpose in life?" The question of Origins is one of the big worldview questions that many have pondered. Are we products of chance and/or blind processes, or were we made for a higher purpose?
Many religions and philosophies have attempted to answer this question, with varying success, but what does Christianity have to say about creation? Which view has the best explanation and how well does it conform to reality?
First, A Cautionary Tale
The Bible teaches that All Truth is God's Truth, so whatever conclusions and understandings we come to must align with all the information that God has made available to us, either through His Word or His World. It must all be coherent and consistent.
So, given all the evidence, we are looking for the best explanation for understanding the Creation accounts in the Bible.
We should consider all sources of information available to us.
And we need to be humble and not claim to have it all figured out, especially at the expense of alienating others. Remember, we’re all on the same team.
We are called to make disciples of all people groups (nerds and intellectuals too).
This has not always been the case. Let's look at an incorrect view of reality, Geocentrism, and how the Church really blew it centuries ago. Because of a certain biblical interpretation, the Church held that the earth was the center of the universe and solar system through the 16th century. Consider this gauntlet thrown down:
This fool Copernicus wishes to reverse the entire science of astronomy [by claiming that the Earth spins on its axis and that the Earth revolves around the Sun]; but sacred Scripture tells us that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still and not the earth. [Note: sun & moon both stopped!] Here the Moderator of Scripture, the Holy Ghost Himself, endorses the daily movement of the sun and the moon. After all, God could just as well have written: ‘And the earth stopped turning, so that the sun appeared to stand still, and the moon seemed to stay …’ Martin Luther
In addition, there are several verses in the Bible that appear to strongly support this interpretation:
- Ps 19:4-6 In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, 5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.
- Ps 50:1 - The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets
- Joshua 10:12-13 - On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel: "O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon. So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on their enemies as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.
- Ps 93:1 The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
- Ecc 1:5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises
Supporters of this view said that the Bible’s authority is weakened by any other view, and anyone who suggests that the Earth is not the center of the universe has abandoned the clear teaching of God’s Word. [Sound familiar?] Modern Christians don’t generally interpret the Bible as teaching this, so how come? Did the Bible change or was there outside information that helped to correct a faulty interpretation of scripture?
Today we understand that these are viewpoint dependent descriptions, which persist today when we talk about "the sunrise". We all know, by now, that it really is not moving around the earth. The lesson to be learned here is that anyone can make incorrect dogmatic statements, especially if they are not humble enough to reconsider their interpretations in the light of new evidence. Unfortunately, this has been a common theme throughout the history of humanity.
Considerations While Thinking about Creation
Point of View – God’s perspective vs. man’s
Who’s days are these meant to be? – their length and nature
The order of events and does it matter?
Death/Sin – timing and scope, The Fall, The Flood
What does the text actually say vs. what we’ve assumed that it said?
What was meant by the creation being “very good”?
Perspectives on Creation
There are three broad categories of creation views:
The Bible addresses only spiritual issues and science addresses completely different topics, so they don’t conflict. (Non-overlapping magisteria – Stephen Jay Gould)
The Bible is the only source of truth and must be used to understand science because of the Fall of Man. (Biblicism)
The Bible and Science, when properly understood, will not contradict each other. (Concordism - Soft, Hard, or Moderate)
Views of the Creation Accounts
Historically, the views on the creation accounts, specifically the length and nature of the creation days, has been a topic of much speculation. Until recently, the church has never used this as a test of orthodoxy, nor did any early church council or creed demand any particular view of the creation days. In the past Christians have charitably disagreed about the nature of the creation accounts and have not divided over them. This really is NOT a salvation issue, but it could have an impact on our witness to others.
As believers in Jesus Christ and the God of the Bible we can agree on many things:
God is the Creator and Designer of the universe, Earth, and all life
The Bible is God's inspired, authoritative, and direct revelation to us
God's World also tells us some truths about God and His (very good) creation
So why the controversy today? Are we again making the same mistakes of not reconsidering our interpretations in light of new evidence?
15 Creation Views held by Christians committed to the inspiration, authority, and inerrancy of Scripture
Calendar-day/24 hour-day: creation days consist of six consecutive 24-hour periods that are historical and chronological.
Day-age/Progressive Creation: creation days are six consecutive long ages that are historical, sequential, finite, and chronological.
Framework: the creation week is a metaphor/literary device to narrate God’s actions in creation with the days to be understood as topical rather than sequential and the durations as unspecified.
Analogical-days: God’s creation days are analogous to, but not necessarily identical to, human days, that is, broadly consecutive but of unspecified length. They are both like and unlike human days.
Millennial Age (Justin Martyr, Irenaeus): each day (hebrew yom) was 1000 years long
Figurative Day (Augustine, Origen) the 'days' of creation offer spiritual truths, not chronological or historical truths
Relativity Day (Derek Humphreys) each yom is 24 hours from a cosmic view, but long ages from an Earth-bound perspective
Gap Theory (Scofield, Donald Grey Barnhouse) a chaotic gap between Gen. 1:1 and 1:2, with verse 3 and following describing a RE-creation
A variation of above (by Ralph Winter) - Satan's fall occurred at the Cambrian explosion (he sees this as the first instance of predation, which he sees as evil)
Hesitation Theory (Gorman Gray, William L. Stokes) creation of the universe occurred an indefinite period of time before the six days, in which the earth was completed
Intermittent Days (Robert C. Newman) each yom is a literal day, but they are separated by unspecified lengths of time
Revelation Days (P.J. Wiseman, Bernard Ramm) 6 literal days over which God revealed to Moses how He created
Fiat Day God's commands took place over six literal days, but their fulfillment took place over unspecified time periods
Cosmogonic View (Karl Barth) the point of the creation account is a refutation of Canaanite cosmogenies
Edenic Creation (John Sailhamer) the referent of the creation account is the Garden of Eden, not the universe and Earth
Functional Cosmic Temple (John H. Walton) the creation account is not about material creation but about bringing function to creation
Note: the first four views were explicitly deemed acceptable in the 1990s by the Presbyterian church, and others, as they affirm a high regard for the inspiration, authority, and inerrancy of Scripture. While Christians may hold divergent positions on issues not essential to salvation, the best understandings must integrate and make sense of all the texts and verses given throughout the Bible.
These views could be classified differently, and it is not exhaustive, but the point is that the YEC 24-hour view is just one of many ways of faithfully interpreting Genesis 1, and not the only understanding of "what the Bible teaches" about Creation. All but that view and the Relativity Day view allow for, or involve, an age of creation greater than a few thousand years.
We also should note that these interpretations are not all mutually exclusive. For example, one could find day-age creationism to do justice to Scripture and the evidence from creation itself, but believe that both the analogical days and the Framework Hypothesis have some good points too. Personally, I reject the view that the Genesis 1 account contains little or no scientific content. But I accept that there is an intentional literary framework imposed by the Holy Spirit on the account, which is nonetheless historically and scientifically accurate.
Why the Big Debate and Conflicts?
In the early 1700s, the Bishop Ussher chronology was included in many editions of the KJV, which said that creation happened in 4004 BC based on his genealogy calculations and six 24-hour days. Since then many Christians have dogmatically believed that God created the entire universe, the earth, and humanity about 6000 years ago. Since the early 1800s, discoveries in astronomy and science have pointed to older ages and natural processes being involved. This view appeared to be incompatible with modern discoveries and the battle was begun. But was it always this way?
The Biblical Source Material
We need to start with what God's Word says about it.
Genesis - "In the Beginning"
Gen 1:1-2 – In the Beginning
Gen 1:3-5 - Day 1
Gen 1:6-8 – Day 2
Gen 1:9-13 – Day 3
Gen 1:14-19 – Day 4
Gen 1:20-23 – Day 5
Gen 1:24-31 – Day 6
Gen 2:1-3 – Day 7
Gen 2:4-25 – Focus on Creation of Mankind in the Garden
Gen 3:1-24 – The Fall of Man
Gen 4-11 – Early history, The Flood, Tower of Babel
Other Biblical Creation Info to Consider
Job 9 Creator’s transcendent creation power
Job 34-38 Physical creation’s intricacy and complexity
Job 39-42 Soulish creation’s intricacy and complexity
Psalm 8 Creation’s appeal to humility
Psalm 19 Creation’s “speech”
Psalm 33 God’s control and sovereignty over nature
Psalm 65 Creator’s authority and optimal provision
Psalm 104 Elaboration of physical creation events
Psalm 139 Creation of individual humans
Psalms 147–148 Testimony of the Creator’s power, wisdom, and care in nature
Proverbs 8 Creator’s existence before creation
Ecclesiastes 1–3 Constancy of physical laws
Ecclesiastes 8–12 Limits to human control of nature
Isaiah 40–51 Origin and development of the universe
Romans 1–8 Purposes of the creation
1 Corinthians 15 Life after life
2 Corinthians 4 Creator’s glory in and beyond creation
Colossians 1 Creation’s extent
Hebrews 1 Cosmic creation’s temporality; role of angels in creation
Hebrews 4 Role of God’s rest in creation
2 Peter 3 Creation’s end
Revelation 20–22 The new creation
God’s Revelation, in Two Books
Traditionally, Christians have held that God has revealed Himself to us in two volumes:
We need to fairly consider both books when we study creation views. We need to be very careful to not confuse the authority of the revelation with the assertion of our interpretations.
Comparison of 4 Creation Views
Young Earth Creation (YEC)
Old Earth Creation (OEC)
Theistic Evolution (TE) / Evolutionary Creationism (EC)
Intelligent Design (ID)
These are four prominent views among Bible-believing Christians today. Clearly there are other views, some of which are based on non-Christian or materialistic worldviews, and others which have a view of scripture that denies its inspiration & authority, and/or casts doubt on the historicity of certain biblical accounts (as fables, etc.)
Science and Theology YEC | A "young" creation is the only proper reading of scripture. The record of nature is incorrectly interpreted by all scientists if it reveals an old Earth. God’s created the physical universe about 6-10K years ago | OEC | Scripture and the record of nature are both from God and must agree. The OEC interpretation of scripture agrees with most of science and numerous evidences of an old universe and earth. Generally challenges the scientific consensus on biological evolution and common descent. | TE/EC | Scripture is not meant to be scientific and therefore should be used only for spiritual guidance. Accepts the scientific consensus in both physical and biological sciences. | ID | An intelligent designer of the universe, and of life, can be inferred from the evidence in nature. Does not identify the designer directly. |
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Beginning of the Universe/Earth/Solar System YEC | God created the physical universe about 6-10K years ago. The earth was created in 6 literal, 24-hour days about 6000 years ago, based on biblical genealogies. On Creation Day 4, the sun, moon, and stars were created after the earth, land, and plants. | OEC | In the beginning God created the physical universe (space, energy, matter, and time) about 13.8 billion years ago. God used the Big Bang to create the entire physical universe. The extreme fine tuning of the Big Bang's physics clearly points to God so men are without excuse (Romans 1:20). During the six long creation days, God fashioned the Earth in preparation for man - the culmination of His creation. The frame of reference starting in Genesis 1:2 is the surface of the earth where the Spirit of God hovers. The sun and moon were not created after the earth (day 4). | TE/EC | Genesis 1 is not a science textbook. The sun existed before the earth exactly as the scientists tell us. God created the physical universe about 13.8 billion years ago. God engineered and fine-tuned the physics of the universe starting with the Big Bang. This highlights God's awesome power, wisdom, and great love for mankind. God then let creation unfold naturally and generally did not intervene again until the infusing of an evolved hominid with the “imago Dei", and later the incarnation of Jesus. | ID | No Position |
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Origin of Life / Adam and Eve YEC | In days 3, 5, and 6, God created the plants, sea creatures, birds, and animals in three 24-hour days. God created Adam as a new creation. Neanderthals and hominids were descendants of Adam. | OEC | In Genesis 1:2, the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the deep to create very complex single-celled organisms in a biologic instant very early in Earth's history. God used them to prepare the Earth for plants, sea creatures, birds, and animals, which He also created individually within the last 600 million years. God created Adam as a new creation. Neanderthals and hominids preceded Adam, but were separately created and were never human. | TE/EC | The origin of life is a mystery and God may have created life through direct intervention or He may have done it through natural processes. Although diverse regarding beliefs on this issue, they generally doubt the historicity of Adam and Eve, that Genesis 1-11 are historical narrative, and/or that the human race began with a single couple. Adam was a descendant of a hominid. All life is related through Common Descent. | ID | Life appears to have been designed. |
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Astronomy and Physical Sciences YEC | God created a mature universe with the appearance of age. Light was created in transit, or had instantaneous speed in one direction. The laws of physics changed at the fall of man. The speed of light must have been orders of magnitude faster in the past. God withdrew some of His sustaining power after Adam's fall. | OEC | Distant galaxies can be seen whose light had to travel 13+ billion years to be visible from earth. Since we are looking back in time, we can almost see back to the creation event. God would not create a false appearance of history, since He cannot lie. Jeremiah 33:25 states the laws of heaven and earth are fixed. If light were faster in the past, the sun would have vaporized the earth since E=mc^2. By looking back in time, we confirm the laws were fixed. | TE/EC | Same as OEC. The laws governing the natural world have not changed since creation. If light were faster in the past, life on Earth would have been impossible. When we look at stars, we are looking back in time. Stars confirm the laws were fixed. | ID | No Position on the age. Generally science is reliable. |
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Radiometric Dating YEC | Their R.A.T.E. study concludes radiometric dating methods are sound. However radioactive decay must have been a thousand or a million times faster in the past. This likely happened during Noah's flood. | OEC | There are over forty different radiometric dating techniques using different isotopes including carbon. Overlapping tree rings, ice cores, sediment layers, and volcanic eruptions verify radiometric dating assumptions. The Bible states the laws of heaven and earth are fixed. If radioactive decay was faster in the past, the earth would have melted. | TE/EC | Same as OEC | ID | No position, but generally holds that empirical science is reliable. |
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Death before the Fall YEC | All death, including animal death, occurred only after Adam sinned. A good God could not have created a world with millions of years of death, suffering and disease. All animals and people were vegetarian prior. | OEC | Romans 5:12 states that through Adam "death came to all men". Animals were already dying prior to that. Psalm 104:19-28 states God provides food for the carnivores and calls it good. Scripture does not refer to animal death as a result of sin. Sharks, eagles, and lions ate their normal prey before Adam. | TE/EC | Animals and hominids died prior to Adam's sin. However, since the first human was Adam, a hominid upon which God impressed the “imago Dei", no human death occurred before Adam’s sin. | ID | No position. Carnivores do appear to be designed for their roles. |
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The Flood YEC | Noah's flood was global and responsible for most of the geological features and the entire fossil record. During the flood, the single world supercontinent broke up and formed the mountains and continents we have today via catastrophic plate tectonics. Magnetic reversals bands on the ocean floor were caused by the heating and cooling of magma during this flood/tectonic event. | OEC | Noah's flood was local (worldwide, but not global) but wiped out all mankind and all animals which mankind had corrupted. Polar bears, kangaroos, and koala bears did not need to be wiped out. Geology also shows incremental processes of sedimentation, uplift, and erosion. There are too many fossils and too much biomass to have existed all at one time. Plate tectonics, which takes millions of years (Day 3?), are part of God's design. | TE/EC | Data from various scientific disciplines clearly show the flood could not have been global. The local flood probably destroyed all of mankind save those on the ark. The lessons from the flood are primarily theological. Some EC may deny this is truly a historical event. Continental drift takes millions of years to happen. | ID | ?? |
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Macroevolution YEC | Microevolution occurs within species. After Adam sinned, changes in the teeth, claws, and digestive systems caused herbivores to become carnivores by normal variation of the information already present in their DNA . The species on Noah's ark included, for example, one bear type and one horse type, from which all bears and horses, zebras, etc., are descended by natural variation. | OEC | Microevolution occurs within species. God intervened many times on earth to create life and renew the face of the earth (Psalm 104:30). God also intervened to compensate for the sun's changing luminosity and for the changing characteristics of the earth. The speciation required by the YEC model after the flood is orders of magnitude greater than any proposed evolutionary models and would have been seen in history if it happened. | TE/EC | All life micro and macro evolved from a common ancestor. The Cambrian explosion and the Permian extinction repopulation were due to an unexplained natural event. Common descent explains the presence of all life on earth; God's intervention is not required. | ID | Generally denies the ability of macroevolution to create true design. |
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Dinosaurs YEC | Dinosaurs co-existed with man and maybe fifty dinosaur kinds were with Noah on the ark as young babies. They went extinct after the flood due to changes in habitat. T-Rex was a herbivore before the fall. The behemoth and Leviathan mentioned in Job 40-41 were dinosaurs. Soft tissue in bones proves that they can't be millions of years old. | OEC | Dinosaurs roamed the earth around 65 to 250 million years ago and went extinct according to God's plan. The fossil record shows hundreds of dinosaur species... too many to be living all at one time. The behemoth and leviathan in Job 40-41 may have been the hippopotamus and crocodile, both of which are responsible for more deaths in some parts of Africa than all other large animals combined. | TE/EC | Dinosaurs roamed the earth around 65 to 250 million years ago and went extinct. The fossil record shows hundreds of dinosaur species... too many to be living all at one time. Dinosaurs later evolved into birds. | ID | Skeptical of the power of evolution to create large scale changes, such as dinosaurs into birds. |
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In conclusion, St. Augustine had this warning:
Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and moon, the cycles of the years and seasons, about the kinds of animals, shrubs, stones, and so forth, and this knowledge he holds to as being certain from reason and experience. Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn. The shame is not so much that an ignorant individual is derided, but that people outside the household of the faith think our sacred writers held such opinions, and, to the great loss of those for whose salvation we toil, the writers of our Scripture are criticized and rejected as unlearned men....
Reckless and incompetent expounders of Holy Scripture bring untold trouble and sorrow on their wiser brethren when they are caught in one of their mischievous false opinions and are taken to task by these who are not bound by the authority of our sacred books. For then, to defend their utterly foolish and obviously untrue statements, they will try to call upon Holy Scripture for proof and even recite from memory many passages which they think support their position, although they understand neither what they say nor the things about which they make assertion. The Literal Meaning of Genesis (415 AD)
