Lesson 4: Creation

Statement of Faith - Creation 1
We believe that the Triune God, according to His sovereign Will and for His own glory, created the heavens and the earth without the use of pre-existent material.

• Transcendent, non-contingent being
• Creation ex nihilo (out of/from nothing)
• God is the ultimate creator of all that exists
• All creation has a purpose
• (Gen. 2:4; Prov. 16:4; Acts 17:24; Col. 1:16-17)

Statement of Faith - Creation 2
All living things, we believe, came into being by a direct creative act of God and not by an evolutionary or random process, and thus have an existence distinct from Him and yet always dependent on Him.

• Take-Away's Regardless of View
• Creation ex nihilo
• God is the first cause
• All occurrences of emergence or creation due to God's command or ordinance
• Everything is sustained by Him
• Design (teleology) as one of his witnesses in creation

What is a Day?
Hebrew:

ימ- Yom

Meanings:

1. Daylight hours ("daytime")
2. Solar day (24-hours)
3. Era (indefinite period of time)

Examples:

1. "During the day, the sun is hot."
2. "Two days from now, I'll be in Dallas."
3. "In George Washington's day…"

Two Views on Age of Earth Young Earth

• Days of Creation essentially 24-hour days
• Age of earth no more than 10,000 years old.
• No death of any kind before fall of man.

Old Earth

• Days of Creation as Eras or other mechanism to allow for older earth/universe.
• Gap theories; non-consecutive 24-hour days; (Einsteinian) relativistic days; progressive creationism; theistic evolution.

Views on Creation

Features	YEC	Prog	NC	Rel	Gap	Frame	TE	ID
24-hour Days?	Y	N	Y	Y/N	Y	N	N	N
Earth Age (years)	6-10K	4.5 Billion	Billions	Billions	?	Billions	Billions	Billions
Sequential Days?	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	?	?
Death before Fall?	N	Y	Y	Y	?	Y	Y	Y
Scientifically Testable?	N	Y	?	?	N	?	Y?	Y?
Macro-Evolution?	N	N	N	Y	N	?	Y	Y

Notes:

• YEC = Young Earth Creationism
• Prog = Progressive Creationism
• NC = Non-Contiguous (Creation days are solar days, book-ended by long age spans)
• Rel = Relativistic (invokes Relativistic time dilation for both solar day and era time-frames)
• Frame = Framework (creation narrative is about the "what" and not "when")
  
• TE = Theistic Evolution
• ID = Intelligent Design

Strengths of Young Earth View

• Arguably the best prima facie reading of the text.
• Deals with all death in one tight package.
• Reinforces the view that unregenerate man cannot understand the things of God (1 Cor. 2:14; 2 Cor. 4:4)
• Seen as a bulwark against chaotic evolutionary theory.

Strengths of Old Earth View

• Addresses textual issues dealing with plant fruition (day 3), POV in purpose of observable celestial objects (day 4), etc.
• Coherently deals with design of predatory animals, their behavior, and ecological balance requiring life cycle.
• Separates primary judgment of spiritual death of mankind in Adam from secondary effect of physical death (Genesis 3:22).
• More aligned with testable scientific viewpoints.

"Decision Tree" for Young Earth

• If Earth actually appears young (but critics claim otherwise...), then either:
  
• Scientists are in a conspiracy to deny the truth

• Implication: We should only trust Christian doctors, scientists, engineers, etc. as secular schools cannot be trusted to tell the truth in any dependable sense.

• Scientists have their eyes blinded (Satanic conspiracy)

• Implication: The Noetic effects of the fall are so profound, we cannot trust the minds God gave us. God has only (partially?) shielded the minds of the elect.

• if Earth Actually Appears Old, then either:
  
• God purposed to deceive the unregenerate

• Implication: What are the purposes of deception allowed/commanded by God in scripture?

• We must receive special revelation (Bible) to understand the truth of nature

• Implication: How does this cohere with Paul's argument of the witness of nature in Romans 1:20

"Ponderables" for Old Earth

• To what extent are you varying from standard exegesis?
• Must interpretations of Genesis account involve "special pleading"?

• What have the "fathers" of the faith believed?

• Is the appeal more to natural reasoning or revealed truth?

• Is "Death" over-compartmentalized?

• What dangers lie in separating physical & spiritual death?

• Is physical death an inevitable or contingent effect of the fall?