Introduction:
Many Christians believe the Bible teaches that the universe came into existence within the past few thousand years. On the other hand, many scientists believe that the earth is much older than this. A great number of people, who respect the Bible but also acknowledge the force of the scientific arguments, are caught in the middle.
Much has already been written about "Biblical creationism" and the scientific evidence for and against it. Here we look instead at the witness of the Bible itself concerning this issue. Our conclusion is that so-called "Biblical" creationism is not conclusively supported by the Bible itself. Creationism rests on a traditional mode of interpreting the Scriptures which is not well supported by the Scriptures themselves,
taken as a whole.
We affirm that the Scriptures are inspired by God, and comprise God’s personal mesage to humanity: and that His intentions expressed in Scripture are entirely consistent with the point of view which prevails among scientists.
Our argument is based on six propositions, which we will demonstrate from the Scriptures themselves. All Scriptural quotations are from the King James version (Sorry, NIV fans!).
Proposition 1: The first sentence of Genesis, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" introduces the creation account in Genesis 1:2 -- 2:3, and does NOT refer to a separate event prior to Genesis 1:2.
Scriptural support:
(a) Genesis 2:1-4 says, "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and
sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God [created] and made. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth, when they were [created], in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens."
This Scripture indicates that the entirety of Genesis Chapter 1 is the account of the creation of the earth and the heavens. Genesis 1:1 is the introduction of this account, and not a reference to a prior creative act.
(b) Mark 10:6, "From the beginning of the creation God made them male and female."
This shows that ’the beginning of the creation’
includes Genesis 1:27. ’The beginning of the creation’ is not thought of in Scripture as a point in time prior to the events described in Genesis 1.
(c) 1 Peter 3:4 " ... All things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation."
Peter certainly means that things continue
unchanged since the creation was finished. Thus the entire creative process described in Genesis chapter 1 is referred to as ’the beginning of the creation’.
(d) There are other places in Genesis where similar introductory sentences appear. For instance, Genesis chapter 18 begins as follows:
"And the LORD appeared unto (Abraham) in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day..."
The Lord’s appearance is described in the remainder of the chapter, and is not a prior event. Similarly, the account of Abraham offering up Isaac in Genesis 22 begins as follows:
"And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. …"
Here also the temptation of Abraham is subsequent, not prior.
KEY POINT: The meaning of Genesis 1:1 is not: "In the beginning God first created the heaven and the earth. This earth which He created was without form and void." Rather the meaning is: "In the beginning God created the heaven and earth, as we shall now describe. When He began His creation, the earth was without form, and void..."
Proposition 2: The creation in Genesis 1 is not a creation "ex nihilo" (from nothing), but rather a creative forming from existing materials.
Scriptural support:
(a) Genesis 1:2 "And the earth was without form, and void: and darkness was upon the face of the deep, ..."
God created the world starting from a ’formless and void’ earth, not from nothing.
(b) Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
Genesis 2:7 "And the LORD God [formed] man of the dust of the ground, ..."
Genesis 2:22 "and the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made He a woman..."
Here we see that God created man from dust, not from nothing. God created woman from the man’s rib, not from nothing. In the same way, God created the heavens and the earth from a formless and void earth, not from nothingness.
(c) Psalm 51:10 "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me".
Here ’create’ is used in parallel with ’renew’, and
means to ’re-form’. It doesn’t mean, "make something from nothing".
(d) Heb. 11:3 "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."
Thus, the worlds were not spoken into being from empty space: rather, they were framed (made perfect, joined
together, repaired, arranged, prepared) by His word.
(e) 2 Peter 3:12-13: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up ... Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness".
Rev. 21:1 "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy
city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven , prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."
The creation of the new heavens and new earth parallel the creation of this present world. In God’s new creation, He will not start all over again from nothing, but rather will destroy and re-create. In the same way, our glorified bodies will be raised from the dust, not called into being from nothingness.
Proposition 3: Genesis 1 only describes the beginning of this present world, not the beginning of time.
Scriptural support:
The Bible speaks of many events which took place before the creation of the world, e.g.
(a) Prov. 8:22-23 "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was."
(b) Ephesians 1:4 "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love."
(c) Titus 1:2 "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began."
(d) 1 Peter 1:19-20 "... With the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you."
Proposition 4: Genesis 1 does not describe a ’beginning’ in the geological or astronomical
sense. Rather it recounts the beginning of the world of our everyday experience.
Whether or not a particular event is a "beginning" depends on the point of view of the one observing the event. What may be a beginning from one point of view may simply be a stage in a process according to another. Thus a beginning as far as common human experience is concerned may simply be a stage in a process as far as geological or astronomical time is concerned.
Since the Bible addresses all of humanity, it is concerned with the events and principles which affect common human experience -- not with cosmic events pertaining to the overall history of the universe.
Scriptural support:
(a) Genesis 1 consistently takes the viewpoint of someone living on the earth. For example, take Genesis 1:14: "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: ..."
It is not necessarily true that the sun and the moon were ’assembled from cosmic dust’ on the fourth day. Rather, it was on the fourth day that they first appeared in the ’heavens’ (as seen from the earth) as lights, one to rule the day, one to rule the night. Before the fourth day, it is possible for example that some obstruction (thick clouds, dust, etc.) prevented sunlight from reaching the earth directly. From the point of view of someone on earth, the fourth day marks a great new beginning: but from the point of view of the entire universe, the change is insignificant.
Genesis 1:31 says, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good".
What was created in Genesis 1 was a new,
harmonious, stable world order, not a new planet. This ’beginning’ described in Genesis could appear to a geologist studying the geological record as merely a minor, recent event in the planet earth’s long history.
(b) Exodus 12:2. "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you." God delivered the Hebrews from Egypt, marking the beginning of the people of Israel as a free nation. It was a new beginning for the Hebrews, but not to other nations. In the same way, Genesis 1 may describe a new beginning as far as human experience is concerned, but not necessarily as far as
astronomy or geology is concerned.
(c) 2 Cor 5:17 " ... If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
To the new believer, conversion is a completely new beginning, although his physical appearance is relatively unchanged. The unbeliever who witnesses a conversion might see some change in behavior, but fails to perceive the new creation which has taken place. In the same way, the new creation described in Genesis 1 may have had relatively minor astronomical and geological effects.
KEY POINT: "the heaven and the earth" as it is used in Genesis 1:1 is not synonymous with "the universe and planet Earth". Rather, it means, "the earth and sky of our daily experience".
Proposition 5: It is possible that another world (or worlds) existed before the ’beginning’ in Genesis 1.
Scriptural support:
(a) Genesis 6:13 "And God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth."
It is recorded in the Bible that God has destroyed and restored the earth. Is it not possible that
something similar happened to set the stage for Genesis 1?
(b) Jer. 4:23-27 "I [beheld] [the earth] and lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, an lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness , and all the cities therof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord, said, the whole land shall be desolate, yet will I not make a full end."
Here the Lord destroys the land, and the result
is a earth which is ’formless and void’, and heavens without light -- just as in Genesis 1:2! Is it not possible that the conditions of Genesis 1:2
were the aftermath of just such a destruction?
(c) 2 Peter 3:4-6, 13 "... By the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water; whereby the world (cosmos) that then was, being overflowed with water, perished, but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." Here Peter describes the Flood as a destruction (perishing) of a previously existing world, and the creation of a new one. Does this not add to the plausibility that he has destroyed the world before, perhaps even many times?
Proposition 6: Remnants or traces of a previous world or worlds (before Genesis 1) may still remain in the present world.
Scriptural support:
(a) John 20:27 "Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing."
After His resurrection Jesus had a recreated, spiritual body, but it still showed some marks left from His experience as a man. In the same way, there may be marks on the astronomical or geological record (e.g. fossils) left over from before the creation of this present world.
(b) 1 Corinthians 15:51-52: "Behold, I shew you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye, at the last trump;’ for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
When the present earth passes away and the new heavens and new earth appear, we will still exist, but we will be changed. In the same way, it is possible that e.g. fossils are the (transformed) remains of creatures who lived in a previous world.
(c) Jer. 4:23-27 (quoted above) The description "Formless and void" does not preclude the existence of traces left over from what has been
destroyed.
SUMMARY: Genesis 1 describes the introduction of a new, harmonious, perfect world order (which is the meaning of "cosmos"), not a new universe or a new planet. The events described were a starting point for humankind, but not an astronomical or geological beginning. So there is no conflict between Genesis and the modern theories of astronomy and geology.
