What do you do when a skeptic brings up the topic of the Biblical age of the earth? Do you quickly change the subject, or perhaps just argue that it doesn’t matter, as long as you believe in Jesus? Well, there are better answers available to the informed Christian. This post addresses two questions regarding the Genesis account of creation.
If God is omnipotent (all-powerful), why did he take six days to create everything? Why not speak everything into existence all at once?
Before addressing it, I need to point out that though this question is interesting, it does not directly relate to the question of whether God does or does not exist. However, these sorts of questions are often thrown at Christians in an attempt to sidetrack the conversation from more relevant topics. Why doesn’t it relate? Because it says nothing about whether belief in God is logically valid or rational. We don’t call a person irrational who could have painted a picture in one week, but instead takes a month to do so. Neither would we require an explanation for his actions. It is the right of the creator of a piece of art to take as long as he likes. That said, there are reasons for the six days of creation that are alluded to in Scripture. One I have already touched upon. The universe is not merely the result of cold, cause and effect processes, but it is the handiwork of a creative, personal Being. It seems to me then that God took his time as an expression of his creative nature. However, it is also evident within Scripture that God’s time-frame of creation was a template for the children of Israel to work six days of the week and rest on the Sabbath day. (Exodus 20:8-11) This Sabbath in turn was meant to be a foreshadowing of the spiritual rest that is found in Christ. (Hebrews 4:1-11) So, as you can see, there are very good reasons for God’s creative methodology.
How is it that the bible explains the earth to be 6,000 to 8,000 years old when we know that dinosaur bones are at least 65 million years old? The ‘missing link’ fossil ‘Ida’ found recently is estimated to be at least 47 million years old.
The issue of the age of the earth is currently a hot topic for evangelical Christianity. Much has been written on the subject by qualified authors, so I will not attempt a super technical response. I would like to admonish fellow Christians to not be bullied into adopting an old-earth compromise such as the gap theory, (millions of years hidden between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2) or theistic evolution. These poor interpretations of Scripture introduce a multitude of irreconcilable inconsistencies into the Christian worldview. I know that many Christians see the literal six days of creation as an increasingly indefensible position in light of “modern scientific findings.” So, how can an educated, rational person disregard what so many scientists claim to be true? The answer is simple.
I recognize that this debate is not primarily a scientific debate at all! It is a philosophical debate.
Scientists who believe the Genesis account of creation are not blindly ignoring information that does not fit their viewpoint. They are looking at the exact same data, but they are looking at it from the perspective of a different philosophy or worldview. It does not take much effort to see that the modern scientific world is dominated by materialism (the belief that the physical world is all that is real) This domination is so powerful that if a scientist dares to propose a non-materialistic origin to the universe he or she is often ostracized and persecuted as if she were teaching that the world is flat.(something that is demonstrably false) Because the dominate materialistic theory regarding the origin of the universe involves a billions of years timeframe, current artifact dating methods include this bias. The problem is that these assumptions often cannot be proven or disproven independently by the scientific method. That is why the issue is one of worldview, and not the same as, for example, proving that the earth is a sphere. Finally, it is important to note that Christians who hold to a biblical young earth are not just ignoring the obvious while claiming that everyone who disagrees with us is biased. These biases are real and demonstrable. Unfortunately, it is incredibly difficult to find alternative views regarding the age of the universe, because the established scientific system appears to only permit investigation that supports the dominate philosophy. Answers in Genesis is a great organization that has what is in my opinion the best widely available information which is free online and addresses every aspect of old-earth theories. You may love them or hate them, but they include research and sources for all their information that can be evaluated by anyone who dares set aside their biases.
These questions are found here:
Earth image by DonkeyHotey, via Flikr under CC license
Dinosaur image by Mariana Ruiz Villarreal LadyofHats (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons


Recent Comments