The Bible says evolution didn't happen. God created the creatures in the sea first then the birds. This directly contradicts the evolutionary theory.
While everyone has a viewpoint, if we know God created this Universe (all that is), then I think we should not get too contentious about various Christian believer views about things not clearly specified in the text. I expect you already agree, but I'm going somewhere with this. We know God could do creation details in any manner He wants, and when God narrates (to Moses who is recieving this vision) "
let the Earth bring forth" we can very reasonably take this to mean what it sounds like or some other way, either, so long as we believe in God (because we are not omniscient and don't know all things anyway). To me, I think it means what it sounds like there, that He has made the Earth (and physics and chemistry -- nature) in such a way that His design does support life, and so I also think (my viewpoint) this means the Earth naturally brings forth life,
by His design.
But Moses, seeing this vision, wouldn't already know all about what he was seeing. He'd know nothing before the vision. So, God said these very short bits of narration to go with the vision(s).
Notice that
verse 11 is the first verse that mentions what we call a living thing, plants.
We know that plants have roots in the soil, and
bacteria are down there on the roots, etc., helping the plants.
So, when the text does
not say 'let the Earth bring forth bacteria' I think none of us would conclude there were no bacteria at that moment. Right?
So, my guess is He has the bacteria in place with the plants. But, this is trivial really. Right? I think no verse in the chapter discusses the bacteria that go with plants because it is trivial. Do you agree?
We must be cautious not to assign great importance to any viewpoint about details not in the text, because they are not in the text because they are comparitively less important. Well, even trivial in comparison.
So if someone thinks for instance that little or no time passed during verse 1, they should not demand others agree with them. They are free to imagine that. It's not in the text. If I think it was 9 or 10 billion years, that's not in the text. Both could be (either would fit). Neither is crucial for personal faith that saves, not at all. Faith that can save is based on Christ and His words to us (many places, like Acts 4:12, John 3:16). I know you, perhaps every person in the thread too, very likely agree with all of this, but I mention it anyway because in these discussions people sometimes will guess at what others believe. I want to be sure you know what I believe if I also tell you just some mere additional ideas.
In the
mainstream evolution theory roughly
bacteria happen first,
then plant like life (example: Phytoplankton which live on sunlight), likely moss like stuff on the shores, then land plants, etc.,
then various more significant sea creatures (invertebrates, etc.) and in time fish like creatures, etc., and
then more significant land creatures after those,
so it happens that mainstream evolution theory broadly (generally) lines up with the Genesis chapter 1 sequence (so long as one understands that plants can grow on a cloudy day when the sun, moon, and stars cannot yet be seen due to overcast skies, as still happens on Earth even today -- with plants growing under always-cloudy or overcast skies in some places).
But....this kind of mere science detail is....sorta beside the ultimate point and purpose of the scripture here..... Because really we should at least sometimes just read without any such theories in mind as we read (any ideas we are bringing, on any side of any debate, any version of creationism or whatever else, including mine and yours and Stanley's, etc) , but instead with a
pure reading,
with faith, not arguments, and truly
listen, and be awed or altered by this amazing and wonderful chapter.
If we do that and thus get the real thing, then later we can casually discuss mere ideas about other details not in the text without tension or anything at stake. Christians need to realize we don't know
all things about how God did all things, but only the some of the most amazing and crucial things. That Genesis chapter 1 appears in every detail as I can see it reading it very carefully to also fit mainstream science as I've extensively read through mainstream science from just curiosity, and
for some people that don't already know the gospel (not yet) this compatibility is helpful to deciding whether or not to try to read more in the Bible, even while not that important to others, but no believer should worry so long as they are doing Matthew 7:21-27.
