Jim wrote: THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS IN GEN 1 IS ACCURATE.
Of course, many Bible critics will disagree with that statement. They say
that the first chapter of Genesis tells us that God caused light to appear
and cycles of day and night to begin on earth long before He created the sun,
moon and stars. They say that it tells us plants flourished on the earth
without the benefit of sunlight, and before there were insects to pollinate
them. They also say that Genesis chapter one tells us that God created birds
before He created land animals.
There are, of course, ways in which we may understand Genesis one so that it
does not conflict with "the sequence of events" as science now tells us they
occurred. However, according to Paul, they all involve "interpretations which
even laymen can see are contrived." The only way I can see that Genesis one
can be understood as being "scientifically accurate" is to understand its
"days" as being long overlapping "ages." With this in mind, I'll offer the
following interpretation. However, as I do so, I am certainly aware of Paul's
criticism of all such interpretations. He wrote that they "give the text
idiosyncratic meanings which would have surprised the original author and
readers." In my opinion, this may or may not be a valid criticism. For I'm
sure many here will agree that when several portions of scripture are finally
properly understood (Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation come to mind) their
actual meanings, "would have [also] surprised the original author and
readers."
To begin with, to properly understand the Bible's first chapter, I am
convinced we must
accept the fact that its author did not intend for us to understand the
"days" he there
referred to as being literal 24 hour days. I have found that once we do this
all apparent
discrepancies between Genesis chapter one and the findings of modern science
concerning the history of the universe, the earth and life on earth can be
reconciled.
A basic understanding of the original language in which Genesis was written
supports this conclusion. Genesis was written in the ancient Hebrew language.
The word "day" in that language was "Yom." It is widely acknowledged by
scholars of the ancient Hebrew language that "Yom" was not just used by
ancient Hebrews to refer to a 24 hour period of time. In fact, they tell us
"Yom" had "several meanings." And they inform us that one of its meanings was
"a period of time of unspecified duration." (see Vines Expository
Dictionary of Biblical Words, 1985, pg. 54)
Today we often use the word "day" to refer to a period of time much longer
than 24
hours. For instance, we might say, "In my father's day they did things
differently." Or we might refer to "the day of the dinosaurs." That the
author of Genesis chapter one also at times used the Hebrew word for "day" to
refer to a period of time longer than a mere 24 hours is in fact made quite
clear from that chapter's own context. For even though in Genesis chapter one
he wrote that God had created "the heavens and the earth" in six "days," only
a few verses later he wrote of "the day (singular) that the Lord made earth
and heaven." (Gen. 2:4 ) So, from what Bible scholars tell us, and from the
context of Genesis itself, we have good reasons to believe that the author of
Genesis may have used the Hebrew word for "day" to refer to a very long
period of time such as an "age" or an "era."
Next, if we remember that "days" which are actually ages or eras, can and do
often overlap, we will have very little trouble seeing that the Genesis story
of creation does not contradict modern science. For instance, today we are
living in what modern historians have called "the industrial age." But after
that age began, and while it continued, they tell us "the space age" began.
Then after "the space age" began, and while it and "the industrial age"
continued, they tell us "the computer age" began.
It is my belief that the writer of Genesis chapter one used the word "day"
just as we
often do, to refer to an age or era. And I believe that he there referred to
ages or eras
which overlapped, just as historians often do today. I will here show that
when we understand Genesis chapter one in this way, the history of our
universe and of our earth there recorded fully agrees with the findings of
modern science.
The time frames which will here be referred to are as given in The History Of
Life On Earth - An Illustrated Chronicle Of An Evolving Planet, by William
K.Hartman & Ron Miller, 1997
Genesis 1:1-5, "Day" One.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was
formless and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the
Spirit of God was moving 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.
I believe this age, which may be called "the age of matter and light," began
about 15 billion years ago with the Big Bang and continued up to the time God
created mankind. During this time God created all of the physical heavens
including our earth. Shortly after earth reached its present size light first
pierced its black soot filled skies and, from the perspective of earth's
surface, cycles of day and night began. Since new stars continued to form and
new days and nights continued to occur all during this 15 billion year time
period, I believe this 1st "day" / age of creation continued to run all the
way up until the time God created His last totally new and different
creation, human beings.
Genesis 1:6-8, "Day" Two.
And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water
from water." So God made the expanse and separated the water under the
expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse "sky."
And there was evening, and there was morning, the second day.
I believe this age, which may be called "the age of water and sky," began
about 4.4 billion years ago. At that time earth's ancient atmosphere was up
to 70 times as dense as it is today. The young hot earth was filling its
primitive atmosphere with water vapor at a prodigious rate. Yet the earth and
its atmosphere were too hot to allow condensation to take place. But then, as
the earths surface and atmosphere cooled enough to permit the due point to be
reached, rain finally began to fall. It then fell continually for thousands
of years to produce a global ocean. When the rains finally stopped clear
skies at long last appeared above this global ocean. And above these clear
skies appeared an unbroken global cloud cover. God had separated the waters
which had filled earth's primordial atmosphere, waters which first existed in
the form of heavy steam and then as an apparently never-ending global rain.
God had separated earth's waters with a "sky," by forming clouds above this
sky and seas below this sky. This situation, a clear sky separating the
continually forming clouds from the continually forming seas, would continue
up until the time God created mankind. So, I believe, this 2nd "day" / age of
creation also continued up until that time.
Genesis 1: 9-13, "Day" Three.
And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let
dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the dry ground "land," and the
gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good. Then God
said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the
land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And
it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants
bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it
according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was
evening, and there was morning, the third day.
I believe this age, which may be called "the age of land and vegetation,"
began 4.3 billion years ago. At that time land masses began to rise from
earth's global ocean. However, not until about 450 million years ago did
vegetation begin to cover the land. That the land and the vegetation growing
from it were referred to by the author of Genesis chapter one as one creative
time period, seems easy to understand. For with their roots in the soil the
plants which cover the land are truly one with the land. Since various types
of vegetation continued to develop up to the time of mankind's creation, I
believe this 3rd creative "day" / age of creation also continued up until the
time of man's creation.
Genesis 1:14-19, "Day" Four.
And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the
day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and
years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the
earth." And it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to
govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the
stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to
govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God
saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the
fourth day.
I believe this age, which may be called "the age of star gazing," began 4.2
billion years ago. Even though earth's thick steamy atmosphere had cleared by
condensing into rain nearly 200 million years earlier, from earth's surface
the sun, moon and stars remained hidden from view, blocked by earth's thick
unbroken cloud cover. Scientists tell us that from earth's surface an
observer would have first been able to see these heavenly bodies about 4.2
billion years ago. For it was then that the clouds first began to break up in
some areas. However, the dense largely CO2 atmosphere which then existed
produced very hazy skies over most of earth's surface would have allowed only
an unclear view of the sun, moon and stars from earth's surface. A fully
transparent atmosphere did not develop for another 3.5 billion years, until
plant life had fully changed earth's atmosphere replacing hazy CO2 with clear
oxygen. I believe this 4th creative "day" / age continued up until the
creation of man, since only then could the sun, moon and stars begin being
used by man "as signs" "to mark seasons and days and years." (Gen. 1:14)
It is important here to note that it is the Hebrew verb "Asa" which Gen. 1:16
uses in
reference to the sun, moon, and stars being "made" by God on the fourth
"day." And
Hebrew lexicons tell us that "Asa" does not connote "the absolute newness of
the object" that has been made, as does the Hebrew verb "Bara" used elsewhere
in Genesis chapter one. Rather, we are told that "Asa" primarily connotes
"the fashioning of" preexisting materials. This being so, I believe the
writer of Genesis was telling us that God caused the preexisting sun, moon
and stars to first become visible from earth's surface during this fourth
creative period of time. (see Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, by
Harris, Archer & Waltke, 1980, Vol.2, pg. 701)
Genesis 1: 20-23, "Day" Five.
And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly
above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great
creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water
teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.
And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and
increase in number and fill the water of the seas, and let birds increase on
the earth." And there was evening, and there was morning, the fifth day.
I believe this age, which may be called "the age of life in the sea and in
the air," began 3.9 billion years ago. At that time the first one-celled
organisms appeared in earth's oceans. The first birds, however, did not
appear on earth until another 3.7 billion years had passed. That sea
creatures and birds are spoken of in Genesis chapter one as having come into
existence during the same time period may simply have been a somewhat
arbitrary decision on the part of the author to discuss all "non-land-bound"
creatures before discussing all "land-bound" creatures. Since new types of
sea creatures and birds continued to appear on earth up until the time God
created man, I believe this 5th creative "day" / age continued to run up
until that time also.
Genesis 1: 24-31, "Day" Six.
And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their
kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals,
each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals
according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the
creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw
that it was good. Then God said, "Let Us make man in our image, in our
likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air
and over every living creature that moves on the ground." So God created man
in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he
created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in
number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the
birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole
earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for
food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all
the creatures that move on the ground, everything that has the breath of life
in it, I give every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw all that he
had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning,
the sixth day.
I believe this age, which may be called "the age of land creatures and man,"
began about 430 million years ago. At that time insects became the first
animals to colonize land. During this 6th "day" of creation many species of
animals appeared on the earth and later fell into extinction, including the
dinosaurs. Finally God "created" man. I believe He did so by putting into
highly evolved primates moral consciences and an awareness of the possible
existence of a Creator. I believe God also then gave His new creations
eternal spirits.
Before saying that the Genesis account of creation contradicts science we
should also
remember that Genesis uses the Hebrew word for "create," Bara, only in
describing God's bringing into existence the heavens and earth, life in the
sea and mankind. All other kinds of life, vegetation and animals, Genesis
tells us, were not directly "created" by God but were "produced" by "the
land." (Gen. 1:11,12, 24) And, as I mentioned earlier, Hebrew lexicons tell
us that "Bara," Hebrew for "create," refers to "the initiation" of something,
while the Hebrew words translated as "produced" refer to "the fashioning of,"
or the changing shape of, preexisting materials. These things being so, I
believe Genesis chapter one not only allows for the possibility that God used
evolutionary processes to bring about all life on earth, but actually teaches
us that He did so.
I believe that the foregoing demonstrates that Genesis chapter one does not
contradict the findings of modern science. Other similar understandings of
Genesis' first chapter have also been put forward which fully agree with the
findings of modern science. I am convinced that the only things pertaining to
the Bible's first chapter that are truly at odds with scientific realities
are some peoples' misunderstandings of the information that is there
presented.
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