AboutBibleProphecy.comCreationism versus evolutionby G.R. KonigThe Bible claims that God created the world in six days. And I believe the Bible. But some Bible-believers claim that the world was created a mere 6,000 years ago rather than, say, billions of years ago. I don't believe them; this article explains why. But first a little background: We have this ongoing debate today involving creationism and evolution. The bottom line for evolutionists is that humans, the world, and the universe, can come into existence without divine intervention. On the other hand, a creationist often will argue that it's impossible for something to come from nothing and therefore there must be an original cause, a divine means by which matter was created from nothing. Ultimately, though, the bottom line for creationists is that God created the world, the universe; everything that is seen and unseen. Among the creationists is a subgroup of people who think that a literal reading of the Bible requires people to believe that the earth is a mere 4,000 to 6,000 years old. Basically, these folks believe that Adam and Eve were created on the Sixth Day and that, given the genealogies listed in Genesis and elsewhere in the Old Testament, the earth can be no more than four thousand to six thousand years old. There may be many fallacies in their thinking. This article seeks to address only one: When did the Six Days of Creation really take place? One way to find an answer to that question is to ask more questions: How old are the trees in my backyard? Answer: Three-years old (at the time that this article initially was written). Question: When were these trees created? Answer: Well, if you believe the Bible, these trees were created on the Third Day of Creation, along with all other forms of vegetation. So, the trees in my backyard were created a very long ago, if one believes the Bible, but they came into existence a mere three years ago. And that's the key point of this article – to remind people that there is a distinction between creation and existence. God created trees on the Third Day but that doesn't mean that all trees existed on the Third Day. In fact, it doesn't necessarily mean that any trees existed on the Third Day. The concept here isn't new. People have been claiming for at least a few centuries that a literal reading of the book of Genesis does not require a person to conclude that the world was completed in Six Days, only that it was created in Six Days. The oldest example that I have been able to find is from the work of an Englishmen named Hugh Capron, alternately referred to as H.E. Capron. Here's an abstract from an article on the Internet about Capron and his theory about the literal meaning of the Six Days of Creation, which comprise the first chapter of the first book (Genesis) of the Bible: Hugh Capron of England was a scientist whose analysis of Genesis One gave rise to a new scheme that is compatible with science. He portrays the record as teaching that the divine commands were not fulfilled instantaneously on the days on which they were issued, but instead were fulfilled over long periods of time. The work is in the commands, and the days relate to the commands, not to the fulfillments. It's an interesting article and you can find the rest of it here: www.ibri.org/DVD-1/RRs/RR027/27creation.html Maybe you will agree with Capron's theory, maybe not. Either way, it is important not to jump to conclusions. Just because something is created on a particular day doesn't mean that it was fully realized on that particular day, or that it came into existence on that particular day. Consider some other examples to show a distinction between the time at which something is created and the time at which it comes into existence or becomes fully realized: • Lawmakers create legislation. But there is often a delay as to when the legislation goes into effect. The U.S. Congress created the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986, which legalized the residency status of millions of immigrant Americans. The legislation was created in 1986, but several years passed before people were able to become U.S. citizens because of it. • At the moment of conception, a person's genetic composition is determined. But it will take years for some of those genes to become fully realized. For example, a man might be born with the gene for male-pattern baldness but decades will pass before he actually begins to go bald. • And for a final example: The Bible says that God created humans on the Sixth Day of Creation. But of course that doesn't mean that you were born on the Sixth Day of Creation. Again, there can be a difference between creation and existence. And we are living examples of this. Copyright ©2001-2008 George Konig and AboutBibleProphecy.com. All rights reserved. Questions? Comments? Criticisms? Email us at: abpquestions@yahoo.com |
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