Was the World Created in Six Days?

Recommend (3) Comments (24)

The first AiG post wanders around quite a bit. Their first claim is the logical equivalent of a dog chasing its tail; the Bible is true because the Bibles says it is true, and we know that is so because the Bible is true...

But, there is a biblical sword to slice open this infinite loop. First we can ask if this argument that the Bible is the only source than is to be considered when approaching biblical interpretation is corroborated by the Bible? And we find that it is not. There are in fact dozens of extra-biblical sources that are named in the Bible, and the reader is directed to these sources for further information and guidance. Just two examples are;   “T he Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah," 1 Kings 14:29, and “T he Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel,” 2 Kings 13:8. Certainly, the Bible does reference itself, for example in Deuteronomy 31:26 the writing of a book by Moses is described, “Take this "Book of the Law," and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD (YHWH) your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.”   Intriguingly, this is the only book directly, and repeatedly referred to as authored by Moses, s ee also Deuteronomy 31:24. Elsewhere it is referred to as "The Law of Moses" e.g. in 1 Kings 2:3, and "Book of the Law of Moses" Joshua 23:6, "Book of the law of the LORD" 2 Chronicles 17:9.

But the most interesting example for the current discussion is from 1 Kings 11:41, “And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, [are] they not written in the "Book of the Acts of Solomon?" Here this extra-biblical book is not only referenced as a source for the Bible’s content, and as a source to be used for additional knowledge, but is presented as the truth authority for this portion of the Bible.

The entire creationist argument is based on their particular biblical interpretations, specifically their attempt to force Genesis into a materialist straight jacket. What does the Bible teach on this? Young Earth Creationists happily ignore that in 1 Timothy 1:4 and Titus 3:9, Paul advises us to ignore "Jewish fables and endless genealogies." The genealogies of Gen 10, Chr 1-9, Mt 1, and Lk 3 are one of the key ways creationists 'proved' the Earth to be about 6,000 years old.   Again, in Titus 1:14, Paul tells us to ignore Jewish fables. But most damning, and I hope not literally, is 2 Corinthans 3:6 "He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

The major reason why people doubt that the days of creation are 24-hour literal days usually has nothing to do with what the Bible says, but comes from outside influences. For example, many believe that because scientists have supposedly proved the earth to be billions of years old, then the days of creation cannot be ordinary days.

The Bible gives a second reason that the young earth creationist interpretation is wrong. The Bible teaches that the universe is the creation of God, and that the creation is a truthful witness. Consider, Psalm19:

1. The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

2. Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge. (New American Standard Bible translation)

Even clearer is Psalm 85:11 which reads, “Truth springs from the earth; and righteousness looks down from heaven” (NASB). The Hebrew word translated as truth, emet, basically means “certainty and dependability.”

If the young earth creationist’s dogma is correct, then these verses are false. The demonstration that the creation was not a mere few thousands of years ago is manifest in the heavens (Genesis 1:8, and Pss. 19:1), and in the earth, (Gen 1:10, and Pss. 85:11). We are promised by the Bible that the heavens and earth are honest, dependable testaments to the creation. This physical revelation is unambiguous that the origin of the universe took place some 13.7 billion years ago, and the origin of the solar system happened about 4.5 billion years ago. (The statistical certainty is less than five percent from either number.)

Let’s consider the consequence if these verses are untrue, and that the earth and universe are not “emet,” neither certain nor dependable. Then there is another critical promise in the Bible found in Romans 1:18-22 that is challenged. Young Earth Creationism is not only incompetent scientifically, it is incompetent in Scripture.