The age of the earth is one of the most debated topics of religious discussion. Quite surprisingly, the debate also exists with the Christian community. While most conservative Christians hold to a literal six day creation account, there are those who believe that the six “days” of creation are not to be taken as literal twenty-four hours days, but rather ages of time. Careful examination of the original Hebrew language as well as inconsistencies between the Genesis account and the evolutionary theory attest that the earth was indeed created in six literal days. The intended use of the Hebrew yom, is highly debated amongst scholars. Theistic evolutionists make the argument that “With such a wide usage of the word Yom for many different time periods, it cannot be claimed that Yom in the Old Testament only represents a 24-hour period”. (Greg Neyman) While it is true that the word yom cannot only be used to represent a 24 hour period, a careful study of the text shows that it was the intention of the author, Moses, to represent a 24 hour time period. Had Moses intended to describe a 24 hour time period, he would phrased it exactly the way that he did. However, if the intentions of Moses were …show more content…
Richard Niessan argues that “if each day were indeed a billion years, as theistic evolutionists require, then half of that day (500 million years) would have been dark…How then would the plants, insects, and animals have survived through each 500 million year stretch of darkness? Clearly a 24-hour day is called for.” (Niessan) The fact that the day is divided into two halves further supports the notion that the earth was indeed literally created in a 24 hour period rather than six ages. Had Moses intended for readers to ascertain otherwise, he most definitely would not have consistently included the divisions of each
... defines the scriptural meaning of the word “day” and explores its usage throughout the Scriptures to provide evidence for a literal six day creation. MacArthur dispels the notion that each day was a long period of time, an idea held by old-earth creationist, through scriptural insight that “whenever the word [day] is modified by a number the clear reference is to a normal solar day” (40). To MacArthur the word day marks “clearly defined boundaries” instead of indeterminate span of time (39). MacArthur beautifully challenges his readers to see that the purpose of Scriptural account of creation is to reveal an infinitely powerful God, who created everything perfectly in a short period of time (41).
When Moses wrote the Book of Genesis he quoted God as saying, “I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth” (Genesis
The Documentary Theory holds that the Pentateuch was composed or compiled from several different documents or traditions written by several different authors. These original documents were argued to favor different styles and names for God, and thus were written by different authors. One document might favor “Elohim,” while another might favor “YHWH.” These sources are generally argued to be source J, E, P, and D. Genesis, however, only shows traces of J, E, and P. Some have even further subdivided the four primary sources. However, this theory fails to adequately explain the origin of the Pentateuch. Religious documents of the ancient Near East were not complied in this way, nor are variations in style and word choice conclusive. Dating the different documents is extremely difficult and far too subjective to prove the Documentary Theory.1
""Don't Call Us Young-earth Creationists . . ."" Answers in Genesis. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2014.
In both texts the sun had a significant impact on their existence. In Genesis, God created light and darkness and called it day and night. Before he created light, it is stated in Genesis that “the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon
9Then Moses said to Aaron, "Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, 'Come near before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling. '" 10And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. 11And the LORD said to Moses, 12"I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, 'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God. '”13In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness
Humans have asked questions about their origin and their purpose on earth for eons. The Bible tells humans that God created them and explains their purpose. However, since the Renaissance, humanism answers questions about origins by naturalistic means and science has been redefined in the process. Most institutions of higher education and many individuals have adopted the naturalistic theory of evolution to explain human origin without considering its effects on faith. In contrast to prevailing thought at Goshen College, a literal six-day creation is foundational to the Gospel message. Combining evolution and Christianity makes one’s faith less logical and opens one’s science to new quandaries.
Due to the compromised worldview, the interpretation of Genesis 1 can greatly vary among Christians. Some people literally interpret Genesis 1, while other people have slightly different opinion toward it. First interviewee was a Japanese seminary student who is in the same organization with me. When I asked her about the length of a day in Genesis 1, she said that it is 6 days because she literally believes Genesis 1. Also, she thinks that the Earth should be about 6000 years according to her prior knowledge. Then she said that there is no common ancestor because she believes that God created apes and human separately. Consequently, she believes that Adam and Eve were real people. Second interviewee was my dad who is a pastor with a strong belief and firm criteria towards every thing related to Bible. My father’s answer was basically same. He believes that Adam and Eve actually existed, and man and apes are separate beings according to the Bible. However, He showed a slightly different perspective toward the age of Earth. He doubted the young earth theory because Moses’ reference of Genesis 1 should be an indir...
From the beginning of the book of Genesis in the Holy Bible, it is evident that the identity of Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the West hails from Biblical narratives. Genesis and its two accounts of creation are an essential starting point for Jewish, Christian, and Islamic beliefs. It provides a foundation for devotees of these religions to worship their God as the ultimate creator of the heavens and earth, day and night, sun and moon, all the animals and vegetation that inhabits the world, and human beings. For Jews and Christians, God created the world in six days, taking rest on the seventh day.
In the scripture, God formed the universe in six days. This is evident by the words that are used. For example, in the scripture, Moses uses the word “Yom” to mean day. This word is also used at other occasions in the Bible and it literally means the twenty-four-hour day. This thus gives an assurance that
In Genesis I, God creates an orderly natural universe. He separates and categorizes everything he creates. For instance, he separates the seventh day from all the others. This suggests that everything in the universe has its proper place and will follow its regular path. In addition, the cosmos is purposeful and unified. What is created each day depends upon what was previously created. Those things created on the fourth through sixth days are dependant on those things created on the first through third days. For instance, air, water, birds, and fish are dependant on light, sun, moon, and stars, and land, vegetation, animals, and mankind are dependant among air, water, birds, and fish as well as light, sun, moon and stars. This suggests God created things in the world to fit together in an orderly and hierarchical fashion. Things are creat...
We pick back up in Jonah at the point where the sailors have, by Jonah’s instruction, thrown him overboard to calm the storm. Verse seventeen provides readers information on where Jonah actually is after he is thrown into the water and for how long he is there. So we are looking at three days and three nights in terms of time passing once we get to Jonah 2.10. We are
First, let us analyze the particulars of the Christian Genesis story as to begin formulating the basis of comparison and contrast. We shall look at the two parts of Genesis, the first discussing the formulation of earth and its inner particulars, in concert with the first few verses associated with the second part of Genesis, which touches on the creation of the first man and woman:
The Sabbath The Sabbath in simple form is the seventh day in a Hebrew week,
Genesis 1 is titled “The Beginning” discussing how the earth was formed. The very first paragraph discusses God creating the heavens and the earth. This includes the whole frame and furniture of the universe. As Christians, their duty is to keep heaven in their eyes and the earth under their feet. The earth was made empty and formless. God decided the earth was so shapeless that he needed to create light and darkness to separate day from night. God saw that the light was good and would call the light “day”, and the darkness would represent “night”. Light was seen as the great beauty and blessing of the universe. The light was made purely by the word of God’s power. God saw the light as good, exactly how he designed it. Light was fit to answer the end for which he designed it. He had simply said, let there be light and it was done, there was light. This is how the separation of day and night was created by God, never allowing them to be joined together.