This is the third and last in a series concerning Theistic Evolution. The term Theistic Evolution is used here as an umbrella term for attempts, mostly by Christians, to combine evolution or millions and billions of years of earth history with the Bible. Although, some of the proponents claim to reject evolution, they open the door to it when they accept an ancient earth paradigm. That done, there is no need for God and certainly no need for salvation in one’s worldview.
Day-Age Theory
In a previous blog the Gap Theory and its biblical problems were presented. In this blog I will briefly discuss the Day-Age Theory. For reasons mentioned in the first article of this series, Anglican theologian George Faber, in the early 19th century, was the first to advocate the “Day-age” view that the days of creation were not literal but figurative (or allegorical). The days simply represented ages. But God’s Word is clear that He meant six literal days for the following six reasons. These reasons were stated in a previous blog but bear repetition.
Day Defined
First of all we know that sometimes the word for day (Hebrew yom) can mean a period of time such as the “day of the Lord.” But God’s Word defines the Creation days throughout Genesis chapter one starting in verse four and then five more times on each successive day. He uses the term “evening and morning” at the end of each day.
Usage with Numbers
Secondly, every time an ordinal number is used with yom, the Bible is referring to a literal 24-hour day. God says, “…the first day, …second day, …the third day, etc.” There are no exceptions to this in the Old Testament.
Hebrew Grammar Construction
Thirdly, the account of creation in chapters one and two of Genesis is a literal narrative form of Hebrew rather than a poetical or figurative form because of the verb-subject construct. The Hebrew literally says, “In the beginning created God the heavens and the earth.” It is an account of real historical events. The Framework Hypothesis, another compromise position, erroneously follows a figurative/allegorical reading of Genesis.
Work week Pattern
Fourthly, when we consider the passage where God gave the fourth commandment concerning the keeping of the Sabbath, it is obvious here that God intended to set a pattern for man’s work week by creating the universe in six literal 24-hour periods.
“Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work…For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:9-11
Comparison to other Time words
In addition to the above time statement, the Bible says in Genesis 1:14, when God created the sun and moon that He “let them be for signs and seasons and for days and years.” It wouldn’t make sense when comparing these terms of time (seasons, days and years) for the word He has been using for day (yom) all along to mean a billion years or anything other than a normal day.
Hebrew Scholarship
Finally, it should be noted that Hebrew scholars overwhelmingly agree that the language here indicates literal 24-hour days.
“Probably so far as I know, there is no professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any world-class university who dares not believe that the writer(s) of Gen. 1-11 intended to convey to their readers the ideas that creation took place in a series of six days which are the same as the days of 24 hours we now experience…”
Professor James Barr, Professor of Hebrew at the University of Oxford.
Even if one tries to stretch days into ages in Genesis 1, the order of events of the biblical creation week do not correspond to the evolutionary timeline [1].
Progressive Creation
Another position which combines evolution and the Bible is Progressive Creation. The basic premise is that over billions of years of evolution, God intervened at various stages to create something new that the naturalistic evolutionary process could not accomplish without Him. Hugh Ross is the most well known proponent of this theory. Jonathan Sarfati, PhD, has written a very extensive rebuttal to Ross’ position [2].
Summary
Any attempt to insert millions and billions of years or Evolution into Biblical history always places man’s ideas and theories above Scripture. A straightforward reading of the Bible gives us a young earth about 6,000 years old. We must not follow the dangerous path of King Saul, who was told by Samuel, the prophet of Ancient Israel,
“Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.”
1 Samuel 15:26
[1] https://answersingenesis.org/why-does-creation-matter/evolution-vs-creation-the-order-of-events-matters/
[2] Sarfati, Jonathan, PhD, Refuting Compromise, Master Books, Green Forest , AR, 2004
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