In the beginning. Believers and non-believers both have heard the phrase thousands of times, used in thousands of different ways. In the beginning.
Of course, Christians have a very different view — a very different understanding of the precise meaning of “in the beginning.” That is — “In the beginning, God….”
But even many Christians can disagree on exactly when the beginning actually occurred. Why? Well…because we don’t know. And any time we don’t know, human nature seems to have a need to fill in those gaps with theory, understanding, or even guesswork.
Sometimes guesswork and theory can be utilized simply to support one’s predetermined beliefs. Other times, to combat or offer counterarguments to something that seems to contradict what we believe, such as Darwinian Evolution theory, for example. And so, it is — or seems to be — with the beginning of all things.
The question at hand is, how old is the earth? For how long have things — the universe, the earth, people, and other created creatures — been in existence?
Of course, we don’t know the answer precisely. No one does. But among believers, there seem to be multiple camps of belief on the matter.
There are approaches such as “evolutionary creationists” or “theistic evolutionists” — that God created the Earth, allowing for life to unfold by naturalistic methods — certainly have their followings, but the Young Earth Creationists (YEC) and Old Earth Creationists (OEC), are certainly the most prominent and most discussed.
A Young Earth?
Young Earth Creationism is the belief that the Book of Genesis describes God’s creation of the universe and all things in it in six literal days. Young Earth believers place the age of the earth at 6,000 or so years old, but no more than 10,000 years.
Young Earth Creationists rely on a direct, literal translation of the creation story in Genesis 1, including that God created all things in six consecutive 24-hour days.
In fact, they will often refer to themselves as biblical creationists —and they view Genesis as a direct, historical record of what actually occurred rather than seeing it as allegory, metaphor, mythology or parable.
Young Earthers interpret words such as day, evening, and morning as direct, plain terms meant to be taken literally.
Since the balance of the Book of Genesis is predominantly historical in nature, Young Earth believers would argue that Genesis 1-11 has precisely the same characteristics of historical narrative as found in Genesis 12-50, as well as the Books of Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, and other biblical historical accounts.
Genesis 1:1-5 is pretty clear on the first day of creation:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day.
God created the first living things — in the water and on the land — both animate and inanimate, instantly. These creations were fully formed and functioning, ready to “…be fruitful and increase in number” (vv. 22, 28). Obviously, he didn’t have to wait millions of years, He spoke, and creation happened immediately.
Part of this argument of YEC stems from the use and meaning of the Hebrew word yom in the Old Testament description of creation, referring to a literal day.
Further, the belief is that Exodus 20:8-11 categorically confirms the six literal day argument:
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
This verse uses the plural form of yom, six specific days. These verses, it is argued, would rule out any contrary arguments or theories.
The Lord could have used any other terms to describe the period but chose this specific word. Therefore, he created nothing before those six days.
YEC points to the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11, which give us the years from Adam to Abraham — estimated at some 2000 years, based on stated lifespans.
As most biblical scholars seem to agree, Abraham lived about 2000 BC, meaning that Adam to Jesus was a 4000-year period, and thus another 2000 or so years to the current day. The total? Six thousand years.
Young Vs. Old
Of course, secular and Christian skeptics alike often portray the YEC views as ignorant, unsophisticated, and unscientific. They are dismissed as religious zealots.
Much of this opinion stems from the fact that old-earth beliefs have been taught in schools and universities for generations and thus adopted by the media and the public, in general.
Most scientists, of course, have an old-earth viewpoint — perhaps attributable to the fact that this is all they have ever been taught. Thus, Old Earth is what the scientific community holds as truth.
Old Earth Creationists believe the world to be about 4.5 billion years old, based on a geologic timescale, carbon dating, radiometric dating, and other scientific measurements.
YEC would argue that these methods remain nothing more than scientific theories formulated to support a secular viewpoint attempting to support Darwinian evolutionary theory.
YEC do not find themselves at all obliged to be in accord with scientific models of the earth’s beginnings, often dismissing such models as stemming from a secular, even atheistic, perspective.
YEC does not deny the need for science to examine such evidence but includes Genesis as a critical component of that evidence and argues that overall, it is the interpretation of the evidence that makes the critical difference.
Young Earthers keep creation in biblical sequence — plants/trees, sun/moon, and animals/man. Old Earth Creationism generally rearranges the order listed in Genesis.
YEC argues, too, that Romans 5:12 says death did not exist prior to Adam.
Old Earth Creationists believe that Romans 5:12 refers to human death and insist that a great deal of death occurred before Adam appeared — billions of years before.
A Further Question
There is an additional question often asked by a small group of YEC advocates.
We know God is omniscient — all-powerful. Paul confirms for us that God is capable of far more than we can think or even imagine(Ephesians 3:20).
Inasmuch as God is capable of all things with a mere thought, in an instant, why did it take God six days to create all things when he could have created everything in a moment? Further, why would an all-powerful God need to rest?
The discussion behind this question goes to importance of numbers in the Bible, as well as the importance of the foreshadowing we so often see in the Old Testament.
According to biblical scholars, the number seven typically signifies completion — perfection. The perfection of God. It is often used to signify precisely that. Complete perfection.
On the contrary, the number six, being one shy of perfection — signifies imperfection. Lack of completion. More directly, the number six refers to the imperfections of man — his sin and weakness.
Some have relegated six as the number of Satan. As is well known, the number of the Antichrist makes such a reference — 666.
This then carries us back to Genesis. God took six days to create all things and ultimately created man on the sixth day yet rested on the seventh. We know all too well the words of David, echoed by Peter:
A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. (Psalms 90:4).
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day(2 Peter 3:8).
Could it be that God completed the creation of man on the sixth day and that mankind was not yet complete?
Could it be the six days of creation were to foreshadow the 6,000 years of mankind, after which would come the seventh day — the 1,000 years of the millennial period when all creation would rest?
The answer, of course, is that we don’t know.
Who Is Correct and Does it Matter?
To be sure, the difference between Old Earth beliefs and Young Earth beliefs is significant and complex. The bottom line, though, is these are beliefs, and as previously stated, we don’t know.
And whichever position a believer may take, that belief is by no means a test for their faith or salvation.
These things we do know, and on these, both YEC and OEC believers agree:
- God’s creation of the universe out of nothing (Creation ex nihilo).
- God’s creation of Adam out of the dust of the ground and the creation of Eve from Adam’s side.
- Complete rejection of Darwinian theories regarding random mutation and natural selection accounting for the complexity we know as life. We are created by our God.
- Rejection of the notion that God used the process of evolution to create man (God of the gaps theory).
It is on this foundation that we rest our faith. It is the knowledge that there are things too wonderful for us to understand. David sums it up for us:
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. (Psalms 39:6)
And perhaps…just perhaps, we aren’t supposed to understand. Perhaps we are just to trust in him.
For further reading:
Why Does it Have to Be Creation or Evolution?
What Is the Significance of ‘In the Beginning God Created the Heavens and the Earth’?
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