THE CREATION STORY & THE NECESSITY FOR HUMILITY

Introduction

     When approaching the Genesis story, one would do well to do so with humility. Teachers over the many years have done an exceptional job offering appropriate and helpful analogies that would help us understand the text of Genesis, however still, there will almost certainly be a tilt toward a particular view with regards the creation story; and we need to be aware of that. As the student, we listen to the teachings of the text with humility and approach the text itself with the fear the Lord. What the book of Genesis is not, is poetry. It is prose. While the themes expressed and events therein are extraordinary, it is still considered to be a literary medium distinguished from that of poetry with a much closer correspondence to the patterns of everyday speech. In other words, the ordinary language that people use in speaking or writing; that is prose. In addition to that, the book of Genesis, or the bible for that matter, is not a textbook filled with technical and scientific explanations, particularly as it offers the story of creation. This has proven to be one of the many hurdles—informed primarily by evolutionists—for so many on the topic of believing the bible. However, many have endeavored to bridge the gap of science and religion, and as a result, science with a degree of faith, and conversely, science without any faith at all, out of it has come a few noteworthy approaches in handling the text of Genesis, specifically the creation story from chapter one through to eleven. It is for this reason that I remind the reader of the necessity for humility. For if there would be none, our actions toward the other would almost certainly begin to tilt toward things other than love for a neighbour.

When The Text Is Right, Sometimes We Are Still Wrong

     I will spend little time on laying out the five points that science without faith, or more specifically, the evolutionists make with respect to the creation story. It cannot be excluded altogether however, as it serves as a kind of measuring stick when observing how far some—on the opposite side of the coin—in science with varying degrees of faith have gone in their attempts to bridge what they believe to be a chasm between science and faith. I recognise that while I offer these old theories for consideration anew, still I would tilt toward a particular view myself, and so I must echo again the necessity for humility as the reader considers the writers words. And I beckon you, as you approach the text of Genesis in your own explorations, that you would do so with nothing less than the fear of the Lord. Alas, not every idea that a Christian offers is correct. While the text in Genesis is always right (I say as a Believer), it certainly does not mean that what we say the text is saying is correct. At various, notable points in history, Christians have misunderstood or misapplied the Bible’s teaching in various ways. These embarrassing mistakes ought to remind us all of the necessity for humility.

For example:

The most famous and embarrassing case Dr. David Feddes writes, was when church officials opposed Galileo for saying that the earth orbits around the sun. The Bible itself doesn’t even deal with that question, but some important people took a verse out of context and persecuted Galileo. Another instance, but one that would hopefully challenge those that put all of their stock in science, was the story of the beloved brontosaurus. Brontosaurus models found their way into museums for millions to view. There were books printed for educational purposes, on the brontosaurus. Generations of cartoon watching children have seen the brontosaur featured in The Flintstones. In 1989 the U.S. Post Office chose four major dinosaurs to feature on stamps, and one was the brontosaur. The brontosaur has enjoyed an impressive career as a big-time celebrity says Feddes, but there’s just one small problem: it never existed!

The Evolution Axiom

     To be clear, evolution in and of itself, by definition is not, or should not, be a disagreeable term or a process to be afraid of. The meaning of evolution is the process of developing by gradual changes. Someone in the arts might discuss their evolution as a musician, for example. In biology, evolution refers to a genetic change in species or populations over time. Evolution usually refers to a process that produces a better or more complex form. However, the evolutionists go beyond these definitions and offer evolution as a word for a grand scheme and explanation to the origin of every form of life and explicitly state that this scheme is apart from the God of the Bible. As we start to move from evolution as an explanation for creation and observe varying Christian views on creation, here are five main claims that evolutionists state with regards a grand evolutionary scheme: 

• The universe is very ancient.
• Simple life forms produced complex life forms.
• All life forms have common ancestry.
• A chance process produced all things.
• Life emerged from dead matter by physics and chemistry without God.

     The first point is that the universe is ancient. Perchance even billions of years old. The next point suggests that over time life and all its forms has progressed from relatively simple forms of life to fairly complex forms of life. The claim is that eventually there were fish, then reptiles, then birds, then mammals, and then finally, the most complex of all life-forms, the human. The following point states, of these life forms that have evolved over time from simple to more complex forms, is that they have common ancestry; life originated at one place on earth, and all living things today are descended from those original life forms. The fourth point claims that this development over the generations is due to entirely natural processes, such as random genetic mutation and survival of the fittest. And the final point (of these five listed), the claim is that life itself originally developed from non-living matter by virtue of the ordinary laws of physics and chemistry, without any special creative activity or involvement of God. These five claims, when taken together, form the grand evolutionary picture which is offered as an explanation to creation.

The Christian Axiom

     Now, as a believer and follower of Christ, regardless of position or view by understanding of creation, these are five non-negotiable points that must be taken seriously: 

• The Genesis story is true. Though not a textbook with scientific details, true, nonetheless.
• God’s powerful Word created all things, and rules and reigns over all things.
• The world that we live in is purposefully designed.
• God created the heavens and the earth.
• Humans are the image and the representation of God.

     First, the Genesis story is true, even though it's not a textbook about scientific details. Second, Genesis makes it very clear that God, by His Word, brought all things into being and continues to govern them. Third, the world is purposefully designed. God is in charge, and he has a plan for this world. It's not just random chaos. Fourth, heaven and earth are God's temple. For further explanation on that point, Genesis describes creation as a garden. The original readers of Genesis would immediately understand this to be a place of worship, a place where the divine comes to dwell. For Ancient Near Eastern peoples, gardens were temples. For them the language of Genesis 1-2 would be the language of building a temple. So a major point of the creation story is that heaven and earth together are God's dwelling place, God's temple. A fifth important point of Genesis is that humans are created to image God. This means humans were meant to resemble God, to be like him in some important ways. It also means humans were meant to represent God, to rule creation on God's behalf. People are to be good stewards and caretakers of the things God has made. These are five major facts of the creation story that all believers—irrespective of position or view by understanding—ought to be able to agree upon.

Varying Christian Theories: The Creation Story 

     One of many points that all Christians should agree on—despite a difference of approach in the details—is that creation is not just a tall tale, and that God is the Creator of all things. For clarity, some Christians are convinced that the earth is billions of years old and don’t believe that creation occurred in six 24-hour days. This Christian would state that science does not support this view and would offer for consideration that the Bible does not teach it this way either. Other Christians take the stand that the Bible teaches creation in six ordinary days and are not persuaded by scientific claims about the earth being billions of years old. The necessity for humility is because all Christians would agree that God is the Creator, however many differ on the best way to unite a sound understanding of the Bible with sound science, and as a result would hold different theories. In other words, there is unity in Christian dogma with doctrinal differences. It is at this point that we delve into the five varying Christian approaches to the creation story. Again, the aim in laying out such differences is not in this case to divide, instead, is a bid to highlight and celebrate what it is we do agree on but reminding the believer of the necessity of humility because of the differences that exist. 

They are:

• Evolutionary creation (Theistic Evolution)
• Functional creation
• Progressive creation
• The gap theory
• Six-day creation

Evolutionary Creation (Theistic Evolution)

     Evolutionary creation is also known as theistic evolution. According to this theory, the Bible is right when it speaks of God as the Creator and Sustainer of all things, but it sides with mainstream science’s claims regards the development of the universe over billions of years and the evolution of all forms of life (including humans) from a common ancestry. This theory would state that evolution is God's method of creating and that creation is not sudden or miraculous, rather that it is a seamless, continuous process which happens in accordance with observable laws of nature. Evolutionary creation tries to keep science and Scripture separate. It says that each has its own proper place and boundary and should not interfere with the other i.e.:. to learn about physical processes and the formative history of things, we should listen to science. But to know the deepest truths about ultimate origins, governance, and purposes, one should turn to Scripture. According to evolutionary creation, the six-day sequence in Genesis 1 is a literary framework, not a literal chronology and so, the claim made is that there is no value in consulting the Bible about the age of the earth; that’s a question for science. 

Functional Creation

     Functional creation holds that all material things and processes alike find their origin in God, however this theory states that this is not the focus of the text of Genesis. Functional Creation would say that this portion of scripture in the Bible is primarily about God’s assigning of order and function with little to do with the detail of origin. It’s approach to the six days before the seventh rest day, is that these were the days that God used to ready the earth for humanity’s inhabitancy and His. Functional creation looks to understand the text of Genesis in its historical context of ancient Near Eastern literature, rather than trying to read modern science back into the biblical text. Functional creationists profess to focus on the religious and functional purpose of Genesis, without making any claims for or against any scientific theory.

Progressive Creation (Day-Age Theory)

     Unlike theistic evolutionists, progressive creationists see the six-day story of Genesis as a historical overview of six real periods of time lasting far longer than 24 hours each and are presented in accurate sequence. In defense of this this idea, the Day-Age Theory would cite Psalm 90:4 or Peter 3:8, stating that for God a thousand years are like a day or a few hours, continuing to say that God measures time differently. And so, this theory reasons that the six creation days may actually refer to long periods of time, each one lasting millions or even billions of years. 

     This theory holds the belief that each new day marked a new period of creation in which God made something new which couldn't have developed from what was there previously. They believe this fits the biblical story and also explains the progression of radically new life forms appearing in the fossil record with little indication of transitional forms. Progressive creationists also believe that although God created the earth billions of years ago, he created humanity much more recently.

     Progressive creation has much to be said for it. It affirms basic biblical truths. It recognizes that Genesis 1 teaches historical facts, not just poetry. It affirms miraculous acts of God corresponding to each of the six days. It affirms the special creation of Adam and Eve. It accepts what Scripture says and tries to deal responsibly with scientific information. Many hold this view. But progressive creation has a difficulties that isn’t easily dismissed. Interpreting the six creation days as longer periods of time while holding that idea up the rest of the language that Genesis uses, it seemed it may be a forced meaning. It is hard to argue that for the eternal God, extremely long periods of time may well seem no longer than a day. The Hebrew word for day, yôm, can occasionally mean an indefinite period of time. But that does not seem to fit the context of Genesis 1. There the Bible numbers each day and marks it with evening and morning: “And there was evening and there was morning—the first day… And there was evening and there was morning—the second day…” and so forth, through the sixth day. Elsewhere in the Bible, whenever yôm, the Hebrew word for day, is used with a number, it always means an ordinary, 24-hour day. Likewise, whenever yôm is used in connection with evening and morning, it always means an ordinary 24-hour day. So when Genesis gives each creation day a number and marks each day with evening and morning, it seems to be indicating days of ordinary length. It seems to be a stretch, then, to say that yôm in Genesis 1 means a long age.

The Gap Theory

     The fourth theory of creation is the gap theory. A lesser-known name for this theory (apparently) is "the ruin-reconstruction theory." It takes Genesis pretty much as it is written, except that it places between the first and second verses of Genesis 1 an extraordinary time gap to make up for the billions of years of earth age according to some. Verse 1 says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," and verse 2 says, "Now the earth was formless and empty." The approach of this theory suggests that verse 1 describes the creation of a good world, which eventually fell into disorder, perhaps due to the rebellion of Satan. After millions, or perhaps billions, of years, nothing remained of the earth but a formless, empty ruin. Then, says the gap theory, God chose to reconstruct the world. He created something new on the ruins of the old, and he did this during the six creation days described in Genesis 1. This theory stands on the idea that earth itself is ancient, but the six creation days were six 24-hour days which occurred ten thousand years ago or less.This theory has considerable appeal because it holds firmly to the key truths of Scripture and at the same time seems to harmonize Scripture with some widely held scientific ideas. The main difficulty is that it might be imposing something that has no basis in the biblical story with its approach to the relationship between Genesis 1, verse 1 and 2.

Six Day Creation (Young-Earth Creation)

     Many Christians throughout history, and many still today, take tis stand with regards the creation story in Genesis. The belief is that God created the world in six days of ordinary length. Genesis 1 speaks of six days with a morning and an evening. Scripture later declares, "In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them" (Exodus 20:11). The main difficulty with six-day creation is that many scientifically educated people strong scientific evidence for a very old earth, thus making the six-day creation hard to believe particularly when the biblical text does not offer any scientific evidence toward young-earth claims. However, our interpretation of the Bible’s meaning should not be determined by what contemporary people find believable. The Bible reveals many things that does not fit current thinking. We must seek to understand and accept the original meaning of the biblical text, even when it doesn’t fit our assumptions and theories.

In Conclusion

     The Bible is not always easy to understand, and we know that Christians have made mistakes with their interpretations of the text over time. Science is not always easy to grasp, with data being severely misinterpreted from time-to-time underneath some of the bold scientific claims of the ages that are hostile to the existence of God. It certainly has not been easy (it seems) to find harmony between biblical interpretation and scientific theories, yet it does appear that there is a very real, complimentary relationship between science and faith, contrary to the aged debacle of science vs. faith. I harken back the call in my introduction of the necessity of humility. May we continue to explore with humility, choosing to believe that even those that hold very different views—in this case, with regard the creation story—are still made in the image of God and that despite the differences, might we agree that Jesus is indeed the King of Kings who has reconciled us to the Father, and that the invitation to make claim in this reconciliation is available to all; what then should follow, well, that is a different essay. 

     Whatever differences exist in Christians' theories of creation, may we never lose sight of five major facts about the creation story that all Christians should affirm:

•  The Genesis story is true. Though not a textbook with scientific details, true, nonetheless.
• God’s powerful Word created all things, and rules and reigns over all things.
• The world that we live in is purposefully designed.
• God created the heavens and the earth.
• Humans are the image and the representation of God.

"Clifford so beautifully unravels the finished work of the cross through this authentic and vulnerable glimpse into his own story and journey with the Lord. It leaves the reader hungry to receive the Fathers love and ready to lay down the things we were never meant to carry and be truly rescued. Honestly, this is one of the best books I have had the privilege of reading in my lifetime."

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