Question

Thanks for your recent message from Genesis 1 [Dominion Over the Animals]. I would appreciate the opportunity to discuss an alternative reconciliation of “6 day creation” and “old earth / big bang theory”. While I fully believe that Genesis 1 took precisely 6 days of a morning and evening each, that might not necessarily have been 144 hours (24 x 6).

I speculate that at some point midway during the creation week, one rotation of the earth on its axis lasted 1000 years. Instead of the current rotation speed at the equator of 1040 mph (25,000 / 24), that works out to 15 feet per hour, or slower by a factor of over 350,000.

With this Biblical clue from 2nd Peter 3:8, the first rotation of widely dispersed particles of the “formless and void earth” could have taken 10+ billions years. Note that a “galactic day” of the Milky Way’s rotation about its axis is currently estimated to last 200+ million earth years.

Another clue? Gen 2:7-25 is an expanded description of the latter part of the 6th day, from Adam created from dust, to his marriage with Eve. To me, those 19 verses appear to take much, much longer than 24 hours. Months? Years?

So what? I realize that for the vast majority of Christians, the controversy of “old earth” vs. “new earth” really doesn’t matter, at least on a day to day basis. However, as a former skeptic, it did matter to me that the first page of God’s Holy Bible had all the credibility of a “fairy tale” for ignorant, superstitious, gullible, and uneducated fools.

Answer

Thank you for listening and considering the sermon. While the sermon was not focused on the issue of six-day creationism versus millions-of-years evolutionism, the issue did come up briefly.

So you are suggesting, if I am not mistaken, that the first “day” of Genesis 1:5 was potentially 10+ billions of years long. In other words, it literally took 10+ billions of years for the formless “earth” to turn around once on its axis. Then after that, you suggest that midway during the creation “week” the earth slowed down to about 1,000 years per rotation. And this is more or less based on II Peter 3:8, “But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Do I have it correct so far? If so, it seems to me that you believe in some form of what we call “theistic evolution,” perhaps the Framework Hypothesis or Gap Theory or Progressive Creationism, all of which teach that Genesis 1 does not mean literal 24-hour days, but that there is room for the millions of years demanded by modern science.

While I’m certainly open to discuss this with you, my opinion on the issue is quite settled that the Bible teaches to any honest reader that God created the whole universe in six, 24-hour days. Is it possible that days were longer then than they are now? What biblical grounds do we have for saying so, besides the verse that says with God one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day? That is not a ground for making the days of Genesis 1 more than 24-hour days. Peter is simply pointing out that God is above time itself, unrestricted by days and years, infinitely exalted above the created cosmos. Therefore, we need not worry if the second coming of Christ seems delayed (II Pet. 3:3-7). Peter is certainly not trying to say anything about the true length of the creation days, either consciously or unconsciously. Therefore, we do not have any honest grounds for changing the days of Genesis 1 into millions or billions of years. If we do that, we are succumbing to the claims and theories of modern science, which I admit are extremely persuasive to human reason, but are for all that still only scientifically unproven theories.

Here are two videos which are compelling from a six-day creationist perspective:

• Evolution Vs. God Movie
• Bill Nye Debates Ken Ham

I hope you will take the time to watch these and digest them. The more creation science I learn, the more amazed I become at the weakness of the claims of modern science, even though they are universally accepted. Evolutionism is not science, but a religion, a way to explain the origin of life by leaving God out of the picture.

You can find more answers to questions about creationism at Institute for Creation Research and Answers in Genesis.

Hearing that you are a former skeptic, I would like to say “praise the Lord!” that He has worked the gift of faith in your heart. You speak of your former attitude toward “ignorant, superstitious, gullible, and uneducated fools.” I hope that is indeed your former attitude and not your current one. The Scripture is clear everywhere that those who have such an attitude toward simple believers are not believers themselves. Jesus prayed, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes” (Matt. 11:25). And He said this, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3. And Paul wrote, “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea and things which are not, to bring to nought the things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence” (I Cor. 1:26-29). So for me, I have no problem associating myself with the so-called ignorant and uneducated fools. I hope you are willing to associate yourself with us too.

Rev. Holstege