[color=dark gold]In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless, void and empty, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit or Wind of God hovered over the face of the waters. [/color]Genesis 1:1-2 gives an overview of the beginning of Gods creation of the universe. Verses 3-31 complete the story of creation, which the Bible sets out as occurring on six days. Did God create the universe in a total of 144 hours of our time, or are other interpretations more likely? Judging from the discussions of this and related questions on various threads on both the CF and other Christian message boards I have seen thus far, there seem to be at least five major theories that have been advanced:
1. There are those who ignore what the Bible says, or who disbelieve it or discount it. They point out that scientific measurements place the age of the universe as being between 10-20 billion years of age, with the most likely time being about 15-16 billion years of our time. They say that there is no way to reconcile the Bible to the factual evidence, and therefore they choose to ignore at least this portion of the Bible, dismissing it as a fable or a story Moses merely inserted to answer questions from an unenlightened people wandering in the wilderness. Since they tend not to be Christians or Jews and generally do not recognize the Bible as being the word of God, any biblical evidence to the contrary is generally brushed aside and discounted, or is used to support their claim that the Bible cannot really be trusted as being true.
2. At the other extreme are those who believe the Bible means six consecutive 24-hour periods of time (i.e., 144 hours total), and they choose to ignore, disbelieve or discount the scientific evidence to the contrary, often stating that the appearance of a universe billions of light years across is merely an illusion (much as the fossils and rock strata that appear to be millions or billions of years old were merely aged by God to give them the appearance of being ancient), and that God is deceiving us in order to test our faith. Under this theory, the important thing is to not let ones faith waiver in the face of contrary scientific evidence but rather to stand true to Gods word and ones faith.
2A. [color=dark red]One offshoot of this theory is interpreting the scriptures [Psalms 90:4 and 2Peter 3:8] that tell us that With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day as meaning that each day of Genesis should be treated as a thousand years. Under this variation, creation took 6,000 years instead of six days.[/color]
2B. Another variation off this theory is the Gap theory (also known as the Interval and Restitution theory, the Divine Judgment theory, and the Recreation theory) which was more popular about 50-80 years ago than it is now. It is largely based upon the fact that Hebrew tends to be more general and less specific than English or Greek. Thus, Hebrew words can often have a wider range of meanings. In the first part of Genesis 1:2 ["and the earth it was formless, void and empty"], the verb hayethah (which is generally translated "it was") can also be translated as "it became." Proponents of the Gap Theory therefore claim that Genesis 1:2 should be translated to read "and the earth became formless, void and empty" rather than using the more common translation of the phrase. This theory uses passages (primarily in Isaiah and Ezekiel) regarding the fall of Satan or Lucifer to bolster the theory that the world was created in Gen. 1:1 but became formless and void because of Satan's fall, and then creation continued in verse two.
Then there are those who attempt to reconcile scientific evidence with biblical evidence. Persons who adhere to one of these theories tend to believe that since God is responsible for both the biblical revelation and the natural world, the words of the Bible are true and at the same time are consistent with the facts of nature. In other words, they tend to think that Gods character and attributes are expressed through both channels, and neither negates nor contradicts the other. Theories 3-5 are the primary explanations I have found thus far that attempt to reconcile science and the Bible:
3. Since the Bible does not specifically say that the six days are consecutive, there are those who assert that each day is the time God spoke the next period of creation into existencebut there is an undetermined period of time (possibly lasting billions of years) between each day. In other words, adherents of this theory say there were six days of creation (each of which could be 24 hoursor 1,000 yearsor some other period of time) separated by other periods of time. Some who follow this theory also point to the staccato pattern revealed in the fossil record, which indicates that there were periods of time when new forms of life suddenly burst onto the scene.
4. There are those who point out that the Hebrew word for day is yom, which can mean either a 24-hour period of time or an indefinite period of time. Thus, those who follow this theory say that each day was of an indefinite period of time (even millions or billions of years) and Christians shouldnt get caught up in insisting that the Bible means something here that it probably does not mean.
5. The fifth theory is a more recent one that has been advanced by physicist and Hebrew Bible scholar Dr. Gerald L. Schroeder. He has proposed that the six days are in fact six consecutive 24-hour periods of time measured at the speed of outward thrust using Einstein's theory (or law) of relativity and a universal time-clock based on cosmic background radiation and the wavelength of light beginning about the time God initiated creation (what science now calls the Big Bang). Because of time dilation, 144 hours measured at a speed calculated by using such a universal time-clock would be equal to about 15.75 billion Earth-years looking back toward the time of creation.
What do you think? Do any of these five theories make sense to you? Why or why not? Or do you have a different belief or theory? If so, share it and your reasons here. Thank you.
