When did the creation take place?
December 10, 2010 at 2:40 pm
(This post was last modified: December 10, 2010 at 3:15 pm by theophilus.)
It is a widely held belief that the Bible teaches that God created the entire universe about 6,000 years ago. But is this really what it teaches? There are a lot of common misconceptions about the Bible's teaching because few people study the Bible carefully to see what it does say.
The first two chapters of Genesis describe God's work of creation. It can be divided into three parts. The first verse simply contains a statement that God created the heavens and the earth. It gives no details about the steps involved or how long it took. Genesis 1:2 to 2:3 gives a detailed description of one part of this creation, the world we live in. It took six days and was followed by a day of rest. Man was created on the sixth day and the rest of chapter two is a detailed description of his creation.
The six days in which the our world was created begins with the statement
It begins with our planet already existing. It is described as being in darkness and covered by water. The six days do not describe the actual creation of our earth but its transformation from a chaotic condition into one which supports life. We are not told whether the earth was just created or had existed for some time.
The six days only describe what happened on earth and tell us nothing about the rest of the universe. The sun was already in existence on the first day because the earth began receiving light from it then. But we don't know whether the sun was created on the first day or whether it existed before that but there was some barrier which kept its light from reaching the earth.
Genesis 1:14 seems to contradict this.
It sounds as if this is when God created the sun, moon, and stars. But since the sun already existed this couldn't be the case. A more likely explanation is that until this time the earth was covered by clouds which prevented these bodies from being seem from the earth and this cloud cover was now removed.
Since the six days involve only the earth and not the rest of the universe the Bible tells us nothing about how old the entire universe is. It is possible that the entire universe was created during the same six day period as the earth, but it is also possible that the work of creation began long before the six days. There is no way we can determine from the Bible how old the universe is.
The next thing to consider is, how long ago did the six day creation take place? The traditional date of about 4,000 BC is arrived at by studying the genealogies in the Bible to determine how much time has elapsed. But this method assumes that the genealogies are complete and every generation is included. But a careful study shows that this might not be the case.
First Chronicles 6:1-3 says,
This says that Amram was the father of Moses and Kohath was his grandfather. But according to Genesis 46:11 Kohath was alive when the Israelites moved to Egypt and Exodus 12:41 shows that the were in Egypt 430 years. It is clear from this that not every generation is included in Biblical genealogies. The purpose of the genealogies was to show who a person's ancestors were, not how long ago they had lived. If the genalogies aren't always complete then the creation was at least 6,000 years ago but could have been much earlier.
The first two chapters of Genesis describe God's work of creation. It can be divided into three parts. The first verse simply contains a statement that God created the heavens and the earth. It gives no details about the steps involved or how long it took. Genesis 1:2 to 2:3 gives a detailed description of one part of this creation, the world we live in. It took six days and was followed by a day of rest. Man was created on the sixth day and the rest of chapter two is a detailed description of his creation.
The six days in which the our world was created begins with the statement
Quote:The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
It begins with our planet already existing. It is described as being in darkness and covered by water. The six days do not describe the actual creation of our earth but its transformation from a chaotic condition into one which supports life. We are not told whether the earth was just created or had existed for some time.
The six days only describe what happened on earth and tell us nothing about the rest of the universe. The sun was already in existence on the first day because the earth began receiving light from it then. But we don't know whether the sun was created on the first day or whether it existed before that but there was some barrier which kept its light from reaching the earth.
Genesis 1:14 seems to contradict this.
Quote:And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.
It sounds as if this is when God created the sun, moon, and stars. But since the sun already existed this couldn't be the case. A more likely explanation is that until this time the earth was covered by clouds which prevented these bodies from being seem from the earth and this cloud cover was now removed.
Since the six days involve only the earth and not the rest of the universe the Bible tells us nothing about how old the entire universe is. It is possible that the entire universe was created during the same six day period as the earth, but it is also possible that the work of creation began long before the six days. There is no way we can determine from the Bible how old the universe is.
The next thing to consider is, how long ago did the six day creation take place? The traditional date of about 4,000 BC is arrived at by studying the genealogies in the Bible to determine how much time has elapsed. But this method assumes that the genealogies are complete and every generation is included. But a careful study shows that this might not be the case.
First Chronicles 6:1-3 says,
Quote:The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam.
This says that Amram was the father of Moses and Kohath was his grandfather. But according to Genesis 46:11 Kohath was alive when the Israelites moved to Egypt and Exodus 12:41 shows that the were in Egypt 430 years. It is clear from this that not every generation is included in Biblical genealogies. The purpose of the genealogies was to show who a person's ancestors were, not how long ago they had lived. If the genalogies aren't always complete then the creation was at least 6,000 years ago but could have been much earlier.
His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Romans 1:20 ESV
Romans 1:20 ESV
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