EDWARD D. ANDREWS (AS in Criminal Justice, BS in Religion, MA in Biblical Studies, and MDiv in Theology) is CEO and President of Christian Publishing House. He has authored ninety-two books. Andrews is the Chief Translator of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV).
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”—Genesis 1:1.
When Was “the Beginning”?
The Genesis creation account begins with the simple, powerful statement: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) More and more Bible scholars are agreeing that this statement describes an action, which is separate from the creative days described in Genesis 1:3 onward. The implication is seriously profound. According to the Bible’s own beginning words, the billions of universes, our universe, as well as our planet, Earth, all of this was in existence for (many billions of years) an explicitly unknown time before the creative days even began.
Many geologists have estimated that the earth itself is 4 billion years old, and astronomers have calculated that the universe is at least 15 billion years old. Do these discoveries, or their possible future adjustments, contradict Genesis 1:1? No. The Bible in no way specifies the actual age of “the heavens and the earth.” Not all modern science is in opposition to the Biblical text. Moreover, the creation days were creation periods.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE REALLY SAY?
The Bible tells us that God created the heavens(universes) and the earth in some indefinite period of time long ago, in the beginning, just as Genesis 1:1 says. Modern day science has much evidence that is beyond doubt to the rational mind, which shows that our universe had a beginning. Science dates that beginning to be some 14 billion years ago.
The Bible gives us a description of six creations days (Heb. yôm). However, there is nothing in the Bible account that would even suggest that these were six literal creation 24-hour days. (Genesis 1:31) In fact, the Hebrew term for day (yôm) is used for many different lengths of time in the Scriptures. For example, the Bible uses the Hebrew term for day (yôm) when it is referring to the entire creation period, “in the day that Jehovah[4] God made earth and heaven.” (Genesis 2:4) Another example would be where the Bible uses the Hebrew term for day (yôm) when it is referring to the 12 hours of daylight, “And God began calling the light Day.” (Genesis 1:5) Clearly, these creation “days,” which were referred to with the word “day” lasted many thousands of years.—Psalm 90:4.
WHY DOES IT EVEN MATTER?
The false ideas of Young Earth creationists such as Ken Ham and Doug Phillips, who believe that the universe(s) was created from specific acts of divine creation in six literal 24-hour days. These Young Earth creationists have led to many untold numbers of persons dismissing the Bible altogether, as well as many Christians coming to the conclusion that the Bible contains errors and mistakes, which have led to doubt. On the other hand, if the Genesis creation account contains a credible, historical report or description of creation, we will not only save those who have begun to doubt, pulling them back from the fire but also we will save many unbelievers who possess logical, rational, reasonable minds, who see to possess “sound wisdom.”—Proverbs 3:21.
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Did God Use Evolution In His Creation of life on Earth?
“And God said: ‘Let the earth bring forth living souls according to their kinds, livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.’”—Genesis 1:24.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE REALLY SAY?
The Bible and the fossil records inform us that God did not create life in some simple form and then over billions of years he allowed it to evolve into more complex forms. Rather, the Bible states what the physical evidence shows, God created basic “kinds” of complex plants and animals, which then reproduced “each according to its kind.” (Genesis 1:11, 21, 24) From the time that Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden of Eden some six thousand years ago up until today, the earth has been filling with the same “kinds” of life that God created during that six creation days.—Psalm 89:11.
The Bible is not a science textbook but when it merely touches on a scientific subject matter, it is correct. If God had taken the time to get down into the details of every aspect of creation, the first two chapters of Genesis would have been thousands of pages that the early servants of God would not have understood. The intent of God was to simply give us a basic creation account that was also scientifically accurate if interpreted correctly. The Bible did not go into details of microevolution (evolutionary change or variation that might occur within a kind [species] over a short period), as animals inbred or adapted to their environments. Some see these micro changes or variations that come about through adaptation as full-fledged macroevolution, major evolutionary change. The evolution of going from one kind to another kind over long periods of time. No, there has been no new life or kind formed by these adaptations over the past six thousand years. The physical evidence that the basic kinds of creation have changed very little over the thousands of years they have been in existence.
WHY DOES IT EVEN MATTER?
When we think of the Bible’s authenticity, its credibility, its inspiration, its full inerrancy, its scientific accuracy as it describes the basic “kinds” of life, we find these things are strengthened and it lends credibility to other areas as well, such as history and prophecy.
From Where Did the Raw Material of the Universe Come?
12 I made the earth
and created man upon it;
it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
and I commanded all their army.—Isaiah 45:12.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE REALLY SAY?
The Almighty God is great in power or energy. In fact, he is all-powerful (Job 37:23) This is highly important and would not have been fully appreciated in Bible times but science has discovered that energy can be converted into matter. Isaiah the prophet was given a basic explanation as to the source of all of the stars.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their army by number,
calling them all by name,
by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power
not one is missing.—Isaiah 40:26.
Almighty God has given us his Word through inspired authors that he would use his infinite power to support and maintain his creation, for the Psalmist has the following to say in regards to the sun, moon, and stars,
3 Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you stars of light! 4 Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of Jehovah!
For he commanded and they were created. 6 And he established them forever and ever;
he gave a decree, and it will not pass away.—Psalm 148:3-6.
WHY DOES IT EVEN MATTER?
The astronomer, the grand old man of cosmology. Dr. Allan Sandage once said, “Science cannot answer the deepest questions. As soon as you ask why is there something instead of nothing, you have gone beyond science. I find it quite improbable that such order came out of chaos. There has to be some organizing principle. God to me is a mystery but is the explanation for the miracle of existence, why there is something instead of nothing.”—Bill McKibben, The Age of Missing Information (New York, NY: Random House, 2014).
Science is actually in harmony with the Bible if one’s interpretation is correct as to what the author meant by the words that he used. Moreover, many times the Bible answers questions that science has yet to discover or is beyond science, such as, what is God’s will and purpose for the heavens and the earth, as well as mankind.
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