Age of the Earth
Patrick Zukeran
Pacific Apologetics Center
Bible Institute of Hawaii
Patrick Zukeran
Pacificapologetics.org
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Hon. HI 96789
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Age of the Earth
Patrick Zukeran
Pacific Apologetics Center
Bible Institute of Hawaii
YOUNG EARTH CREATIONISM
Young Earth Creation
Definition
• Definition: Young-earth creationism teaches
that God supernaturally created the universe
and life on earth in six literal 24 hour days
nearly 6,000–12,000 years ago.
Young Earth Creation
Definition
• Based on a straightforward literal reading of
the Genesis creation account.
• The days in Genesis 1-2 are literal 24 hour
days.
• God created the universe with the appearance
of age.
• Pain, suffering and death are the results of the
Fall in Genesis 3.
• The surface of the earth was radically
rearranged by Noah’s Flood.
Young Earth Creation
Genesis Creation Account
• YEC interprets Gen. 1-3 literally.
• Gen. 1-3 is a historical account
– Genesis 1-11 has the same characteristics of a
historical narrative as in Gen. 12-50, Exodus,
Numbers, Joshua, etc…..
– Jesus and the Apostles treat Genesis 1-11 as
historical.
Jesus and Genesis
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Adam and Eve (Mt. 19:4-5)
Cain and Abel (Lk. 11:51)
Noah and the Ark (Mt. 24:39)
Sodom and Gomorrah (Mt. 10:15)
• Mosaic Authorship of Pentateuch (Lk. 24:44)
Apostles and Genesis
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•
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•
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•
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Adam (1 Cor. 15:22, 1 Tim. 2:13)
Eve (2 Cor. 11:3, 1 Tim. 2:13)
The Serpent (2 Cor. 11:3)
The Fall (2 Cor. 11:3)
Enoch (Jude 14)
Cain and Abel (Heb. 11:4)
Noah and the Flood (2 Peter 2:5)
Young Earth Creation
Genesis Creation Account
• YEC interprets Gen. 1-3 literally..
• Gen. 1-3 is a historical account
• “Day” (yom) in the context of Gen. 1-3 refers to
a literal 24 hour day.
– When used with a number (one day, second day, etc…)
it signifies a regular day.
– The phrase “evening and morning” signifies a literal
day.
– 1:14 is used in relation to the movement of the
heavenly bodies.
Young Earth Creation
Genesis Creation Account
• YEC interprets Gen. 1-3 literally..
• Gen. 1-3 is a historical account
• “Day” (yom) in the context of Gen. 1-3 refers
to a literal 24 hour day.
• God created things with apparent age.
– Adam and Eve were created fully mature
– Plants and animals were created fully mature
– Jesus miracles (water to wine) confirm instant
maturity.
Young Earth Creation
Genesis Creation Account
• YEC interprets Gen. 1-3 literally..
• Gen. 1-3 is a historical account
• “Day” (yom) in the context of Gen. 1-3 refers
to a literal 24 hour day.
• God created things with apparent age.
• Exodus 20:8-11 refer to a 7 day week. .
Exodus 20
• Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord
your God.… For in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in
them, and rested on the seventh day.
Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day
and made it holy.
– Exodus 20:8-11
Young Earth Creation
Genesis Creation Account
• YEC interprets Gen. 1-3 literally..
• Gen. 1-3 is a historical account
• “Day” (yom) in the context of Gen. 1-3 refers
to a literal 24 hour day.
• God created things with apparent age.
• Exodus 20:8-11 refer to a 7 day week.
• Genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11.
Young Earth Creation
Genesis Creation Account
• YEC interprets Gen. 1-3 literally..
• Gen. 1-3 is a historical account
• “Day” (yom) in the context of Gen. 1-3 refers to a
literal 24 hour day.
• God created things with apparent age.
• Exodus 20”8-11 refer to a 7 day week.
• Genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11.
• Global flood was responsible for producing most
(but not all) the geological rock layers and
fossils.
Young Earth Creation
Darwinian Evolutionary Theory
• Reject Darwin’s theory as an
explanation for the origin and
diversity of life.
• Macro-evolution (formation of new
organs or body parts creating a
new species) : NO
• Micro-evolution (changes within a
species): Yes
Young Earth Creationism
Critique
• Strengths
– Most common reading of the text
– Emphasizes literal reading of Genesis and God’s
active hand in creation.
– Explains the origins of pain, suffering and death
entering creation.
– Flood catastrophism explains some anomalies in
the fossil and geological records.
Young Earth Creationism
Critique
• Weaknesses
– When did Satan Fall?
– 6th Day problem
– Flood catastrophism does not explain all the
evidence of an old earth
– Scientific evidence does favor an old universe and
earth
– When does apparent age become deception?
YEC Websites
THEISTIC EVOLUTION
Theistic Evolution
Definition
• “The belief that God used the process of
evolution to create living things, including
humans.”
• Ted Davis, “Science the Bible and Theistic Evolution:
Part 1,” Biologos Forum, biologos.org
Theistic Evolution
Definition
• The Bible is NOT a reliable source of scientific
knowledge about the origin of the earth and the
universe.
• The Bible IS a reliable source of knowledge about
God and spiritual things.
• Scientific evidence is irrelevant to the Bible
• The Genesis creation account is intended to
refute pantheism and polytheism, not to tell us
how God actually created the world.
• The Bible tells us THAT God created, not HOW
God created.
Theistic Evolution
Genesis Creation Account
• Genesis 1-3 is interpreted as allegory
or myth.
• The Genesis creation account is a
“pre-scientific” account.
• The Genesis account was intended
to refute the worldviews of
pantheism and polytheism.
• The intent was not to tell us how
God created but that He did create
and is ruler over creation.
Theistic Evolution
Genesis Creation Account
• Adam and Eve
– Genetic evidence shows that humans
descended from a group of several
thousand individuals who lived about
150,000 years ago.
– Cain after killing Abel was afraid that
others would kill him (Gen. 4:14).
– Where did the other people come
from?
Theistic Evolution
Genesis Creation Account
• Adam and Eve
– Genetic evidence shows that humans descended
from a group of several thousand individuals who
lived about 150,000 years ago.
– Cain after killing Abel was afraid that others would
kill him.
• Option 1 - Adam and Eve were a historical pair living
among many 10,000 years ago, chosen to represent the
rest of humanity before God.
• Option 2 - Genesis 2-4 is an allegory in which Adam and
Eve symbolize the large group of ancestors who lived
150,000 years ago.
Theistic Evolution
Darwinian Evolutionary Theory
• Accepts Evolution (Darwinian or variations of
the theory) as a valid explanation for the
origin and diversity of life.
• Macro-evolution: Yes
• Micro-evolution: Yes
Theistic Evolution
Critique
• Strengths
– Evolution is widely accepted in scientific world few conflicts with scientific community.
– Has few problems with the scientific evidence of
an old earth and universe.
– Acknowledges God’s role in all of the universe
through creating the natural laws.
– We must be cautious not to read the text through
modern lenses only but also through the lenses of
the culture it was written in.
Theistic Evolution
Critique
• Weaknesses
– Reduces Genesis creation account to myth or
allegory
– Darwinian Evolution seems to go against God’s
nature.
– Is often scientifically indistinguishable from
naturalism, and deism.
OLD EARTH CREATION
Old Earth Creation (Progressive)
Definition
• God supernaturally created the universe and
life upon the earth but over a long period of
time.
Old Earth Creation (Progressive)
Definition
• Genesis 1-3 is a literal account of God’s creation.
• God miraculously created the universe from
nothing (ex nihilo).
• God created life from non-life, and progressively
intervened in history to supernaturally create
new species of life.
• After God created the “heavens and the earth,”
He created life over six successive “days,” which
in Hebrew may be literally interpreted as six
distinct periods of time.
Old Earth Creation (Progressive)
Definition
• God miraculously created Adam and Eve,
humanity’s historical parents.
• Earth’s geologic features formed over long
ages through both gradual and catastrophic
processes.
• The age of the earth has no bearing on the
creation of life and an old earth does not
equate with Darwinian evolution.
Old Earth Creation (Progressive)
Definition
• Different forms of Old Earth Creationism
– Gap Theory or New Gap Theory
– Day Age Theory
– Intermittent Day Theory
– Framework Hypothesis
Old Earth Creation (Progressive)
Genesis Creation Account
• Genesis 1:1 Creation out of nothing (Bara)
Old Earth Creation (Progressive)
Genesis Creation Account
• “The earth was without form and void, and
darkness was over the face of the deep…”
– Genesis 1:2
• “…without form and void…” (tohu wabohu)
– Tohu Wabohu can indicate judgment (Jer. 4:23,
19:7)
– Is there a “Gap”? ?? Between verse 1 & 2?
• Gen 1:3 “Let there be….” (Asah)
Old Earth Creation (Progressive)
Genesis Creation Account
• Genesis 1:1 - Creation out of nothing (Bara)
• 1:2 - “The earth was without form and void,
and darkness was over the face of the deep…”
• Gen 1:3 - “Let there be….” (Asah)
Old Earth Creation (Progressive)
Genesis Creation Account
• “Days” in Gen. 1-3 used in several different
ways.
– “Day” (yom) can refer to an extended period of
time.
• Archer and Geisler also point out that no definite article
(“the”) appears with yôm on days one through five in
Genesis one.
• Archer says the absence of “the” implies a more vague
meaning than 24 hours—an indefinite but literal sense
of time or age.
Old Earth Creation (Progressive)
“Days” used in several different ways
• Genesis 2:4 “…in the day that God created the
heavens and the earth.”
• Psalm 90:4 “A thousand years in your sight are
like a day that has just gone by …(Moses)
• Hosea 6:2 “He will revive us after two days; He
will raise us up on the third day.”
• Isaiah 4:2, Zech. 14:6-8
Old Earth Creation (Progressive)
Genesis Creation Account
• The problem of the “6th day”
– Land animals created
– Garden of Eden created
– Adam created
– Adam tends Garden of Eden
– Adam studies and names the animals
– Adam feels lonely
– Adam’s response to seeing Eve “at last!”
(Happa’am)
Old Earth Creation (Progressive)
Genesis Creation Account
• The 7th day
– 7th day does not state, “evening and morning”
• Hebrews 4:1-11
Hebrews 4:1-11
• Therefore, since the promise of entering his
rest still stands, let us be careful that none of
you be found to have fallen short of it…. “On
the seventh day God rested from all his
works.”… Therefore since it still remains for
some to enter that rest, So then, there remains
a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for
whoever has entered God’s rest has also
rested from his works as God did from his.”
Old Earth Creation (Progressive)
Genesis Creation Account
• God’s eternal nature is compared to the age of
the earth
– Psalm 90 “Before the mountains were brought
forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the
world, from everlasting to everlasting you are
God.”
– Psalm 93:2-3 “Yes, the world is established; it shall
never be moved. Your throne is established from of
old; you are from everlasting.”
– Prov. 8, Eccl. 1:4, 7, 10, Micah 6:2
OEC and Darwin
• Old Earth creationists believe that Darwinian
evolution is unbiblical, biologically untenable,
and not supported by the fossil record.
• Reject the Darwinian concept of common
descent
• Macro-evolution: No
• Micro-evolution: Yes
Critique of Old Earth Creationism
• Strengths
– Takes the Genesis account literally
– Little problem with the scientific data of an old
universe and earth
• Recognizes the Big Bang as beginning of the universe
• Accepts data for old universe
Critique of Old Earth Creationism
• Weaknesses
– Implies pain, suffering, and death before the fall.
– Some difficulty explaining the sequence of events
in Genesis 1-2 with a large extent of time.
– There are gaps in the genealogical record but
100,000 years?
OEC Organization
GUIDELINES
General Guidelines
• Genesis creation account should be
interpreted literally
• The Relationship between general (creation)
and special (Bible) revelation
Special and General Revelation
• God’s word is without error.
• God also speaks through general revelation:
Creation and the Conscience. (Rom 1, Ps. 19)
– General revelation expounds the scriptures
– General revelation clarifies scriptures
– General revelation can correct our interpretation
of scripture
• The Bible is not wrong but our interpretation
can be.
Special and General Revelation
Conflicting Information
• When the Bible and general revelation conflict
we must re-examine both the data and our
interpretation of the Bible.
• If the Bible is clear, we must go with God’s
word.
• If general revelation is clear, then we do not
question the Bible but our interpretation of it.
• There are times our interpretation of the
scriptures needed correction.
General Guidelines
• Genesis creation account should be interpreted
literally
• The Relationship between general and special
revelation
• Carefully consider the Bible and the scientific
data, do not dismiss either too quickly
• Be honest to admit shortcomings of your view
• Walk with humility
• Be Gracious to one another
On essential unity,
On nonessentials liberty,
In all things charity
Colossians 3:12-14
• Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and
beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness,
humility, meekness, and patience, bearing
with one another and, if one has a complaint
against another, forgiving each other; as the
Lord has forgiven you, so you also must
forgive And above all these put on love, which
binds everything together in perfect harmony.