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Genesis 1 "Days": Six 24 Hour Days, or Six Ages?
Today Christians tend to gravitate toward one of two interpretations of the Genesis 1 creation account:
The view that the Lord created the entire universe, including all the stars, galaxies, and the earth and all of its life-forms, in six 24 days, is held by about half of Bible-believing Christians (according to recent polls). Yet this seems to run counter to scientific discoveries of the past several hundred years. Discoveries that provide hard evidence that the universe is approximately 13.7 billion years old, and the earth 4.5 billions years of age. This scientific evidence for an ancient earth and universe is overwhelming, and includes ....
The argument over this issue has divided Christians into
two camps, causing them to channel their energies into defending their
respective positives - instead of proclaiming the good news of the
gospel to a needy world.
Unfortunately, many Christians end up choosing the literal
"24 hour day" interpretation
and rejecting science, labeling Christians who entertain
scientific evidence as "those who have compromised with the world". This need not be, if in fact one examines the
evidence and the original wording of Genesis 1 carefully. Why Genesis 1 is Also Important For Those Searching How one reads and understands Genesis 1 is
critical for a number of very
The unwarranted emphasis by the Christian community on a literal "24 hour day" interpretation of Genesis is effectively keeping many from examining the claims of Christ. They figure if Christians interpret Genesis this way, why examine the rest of the Bible? This barrier to belief need not be - a careful examination of the facts demonstrates that the God who wrote the Bible is also the same God who created the laws of science, and that there is in fact no contradiction between Genesis 1 and true science. We shouldn't expect there to be, if the true God is the author of both. Let's look at what the essential
elements of the two views... A Summary of the Two Genesis Interpretations The "24 hour view" or the Calendar-Day interpretation:
The "Day-Age" Interpretation ...
Now let's examine the issue more
closely, starting with how the word "day" is used in Scripture. Can the Word "Day" (Yom) Only Mean a 24 Hour Period? A primary source of confusion for
how the word "yom" is to be translated comes from the
English translation of the Hebrew word used in Genesis 1
(and 2). The author of Genesis uses the word ""Yom", or Meanings of the Word "Day" ["Yom"] Can Vary The Hebrew word for "day" is "Yom", and is used in Hebrew, as in English, to mean several things:
Other examples in scripture of the same word Day or "Yom", Where the Same Word is Intended to Mean a Period of Time
Adam was told He Would Die "On the Day" He Ate the Fruit In the second chapter of Genesis, God gave one commandment which, in Adam's day, was all the law that existed: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." - Genesis 2:16, 17, K.J.V. Most of us have heard from people we trust that Adam died spiritually rather than physically in the day he sinned. But further examination shows us that Scripture teaches that Adam's sin brought physical death upon mankind and that Jesus had to die physically to atone for it. Because Adam's death was physical "in that day", so Christ's death had to be physical. There was no way for the Cross to be avoided. Whatever spiritual aspects might be involved, and regardless of their importance, other Scriptural references confirm the physical aspect of God's pronouncement.The correct way to interpret Genesis 2:17 is that Adam was to die a literal physical death "in the day he ate the fruit". It is an accepted rule of interpretation that the literal meaning of a word in scripture should be preferred over a spiritual, figurative or symbolic one whenever possible - especially when closely related scripture confirms the literal meaning.The problem is, Adam did not die physically until long after he sinned . Yet God's command places the execution of judgment within the same "day" as the act of disobedience. Might we be misunderstanding the word "day" if we assume that day to be 24 hours?7 The more logical conclusion is that "day" as used in this context meant a period of indefinite length.God's "Day" vs. Our 24 Hour Day: Not Necessarily the Same! Moses, thee same author of Genesis, wrote in Psalm 90:4:
Moses seems to be saying here that just as Gods ways are not our ways, and God's thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9), so too God's days are not our days. Peter, the Apostle of the Lord, wrote the in 2 Peter 3:8 to remind Christians that God marks time differently - and that God's "days" are not our days:
Genesis 2:4 Summarizes the Entire Span of Six Days as "a Day"! This verse follows Chapter 1, and is intended to be a summary of the events depicted in Genesis 1. The verse states
Notice that here the word "day" refers to all six creation days (and the creative process that rendered the universe beforehand).
Is it true that the church always believed in a creation account of 6 literal days of 24 hour periods? No. The fact is, many of the early church fathers took the position that God's "days" may not have been the same as our "days" at all. Here are some of the perspectives of early church "fathers" regarding Genesis 1:
Bottom line, many of the early church fathers interpreted Genesis 1 in a figurative sense, and subscribed to the notion that that the "days" referred to in Genesis 1 were probably not literal 24 hour days.
The Bible itself tells us that God revels Himself not only in His Written Word, but also in His creation that is all around us. In the book of Psalms, David writes...
Paul the Apostle also writes in Romans 1:20 that God has spoken to us through His creation, and that as a result, man is without excuse if he does not acknowledge Him:
In addition to His written Word, the Bible, God's creation testifies to each of us about His glory and majesty. A reasonable conclusion then is that God's revelation is two fold: general revelation about His existence, power, wisdom and care for His creation is available to all through the witness of nature; and special revelation through His written word (the Bible). God reveals Himself through both - scripture and His creation (as we should expect Him to). And because God is Truth, and does not lie, true science cannot by definition be in conflict with the truth as revealed in scripture. As pointed out so aptly by Dr. Hugh Ross in his book "Creation and Time":
Sound advice to anyone examining scripture or the facts of nature.
Those that espouse the 24 hour day interpretation fail to note that there are many passages throughout the Bible that refer to an "ancient" creation. Why would these passages exist in God's Word if the heavens and the earth were created recently, in just six 24 hour days? Some examples: Moses - the same author as Genesis - writes in Deut 33:13-15 about the "ancient mountains", and the "everlasting hills":
These expressions make sense given that Moses was writing about "days" in Genesis as six long periods of development. If was writing about six 24 days, why would he describe the mountains as "ancient" here? Psalm 102:25 talks about how God laid the foundations "of old":
2 Peter 3:5 states that "he heavens were of old":
A Look at the Six "Days" of Genesis: Two Views "Calendar-Day" adherents contend there is a contradiction between the order of events as portrayed in Genesis, and what science tell us. But is there? Lets look at the six "days" or periods of creation, see what the "young earth" and "old earth" views says, and how they fit with what science tells us today of its discoveries. Genesis: Day 1 What the Bible Says: Gen 1:1: "In
the beginning God
created [bara]
the heavens and the earth. Young Earth View: Interprets Gen 1:1 as a summary statement of the entire creation week. Gen 1:2 is the start of day 1, with the earth being created fully formed by God within the first 24 hours of creation. The problem with this contention is that the Hebrew used between verse 1 and 2 involves the use of a conjunction: "and". This is also used several times in verses 1-5, illustrating how that the activities involved are related and connected - not that verse 1 is a summary, while verse 2 starts with specifics. According to the young earth view of Gen 1:2, the earth was first alone in the universe, while the sun, moon and stars came later - on the fourth day! This of course is in conflict with established facts of science, which provide strong evidence that the earth was formed about 4.6 billion years ago, and the universe about 13.7 billion years ago. They interpret Gen 1:3 to mean that God "created" light in an instant to shine upon the earth, and that this was a special type of light that came from God - not the sun. The problem with this interpretation is that the words used with respect to light are "let there be" [hayah], not "create" [bara]. Thus the Hebrew words support the notion that the light pre-existed, and was not "created" at that moment. Gen 1:5 ends the 1st "day" with the first of a series of repetitive statements that conclude the activities of each successive "day": "And the evening and the morning were the nth day". Young earth proponents point to this phrase, which employs "evening" and "morning, and "day", as proof that the author was speaking of 24 hour days. The problems with this are several:
Old Earth View: Interprets Gen 1:1 to mean that in the beginning God created the entire universe of galaxies, stars, planets, including the earth - out of nothing between 10 and 20 billion years ago. This notion is supported by the meaning of the Hebrew words used. The word "bara" in the Hebrew means to do something totally and radically new. The Hebrew words for "heavens and earth" [hashamayim we ha 'erets] mean the entire cosmos - all of the stars, galaxies, and planets - including the earth. Where does science stand? Gen 1:1 is in fact supported by the "big bang" theory, one of the most accepted theories in science - which states that all time, space and matter did not always exist, but in fact had a "beginning" some 13.7 billion years ago, in an instant. Old earth creationists do not view Gen 1:1 as a "summary" of the "days" of creation, as young earth advocates do. Rather, they view Gen 1:1 as describing the creative activity that preceded the six "days" of creation. Gen 1:2 is viewed as continuing the process of creation, but with the focus on the earth. This interpretation is supported by the Hebrew "perfect" tense of the verb create (bara), and also by the use of the conjunction "and" that is employed between verses 1 and 2. Note also that the Bible does not say how God created, or how long it took to create - so God could have taken an instant, or could well have taken 13.7 billion years to create "the heavens and the earth" described in verse 1. The Bible does not preclude this, and recall that God is outside of space & time - so "one day with Him is as a thousand years".
Old earth proponents also maintain that there is a shift in perspective
between verses 1 and 2. During the initial
creation of "the heavens and the earth" in verse 1, the
perspective is a view from space; in Gen 2, the perspective
shifts to a view from the surface
of the earth, when the Spirit was "hovering" above
the waters. The perspective for the balance of creativities in
Genesis 1 is from the surface of the earth - not from far out in space.
This is important to realize to properly understand what occurs in the
rest of the story. Old earth proponents interpret Gen 1:3 to mean that God merely "let" that pre-existing light break through a dark blanket of clouds by causing the opaque atmosphere, over time, to become more translucent - allowing the light to eventually shine through to the surface. Thus, as Gen 1:4 states, "God divided the light from the darkness", and the cycle of day & night began. As to the interpretation of the "evening and morning cycle" of Gen 1:5 and later repetitions, old earth proponents interpret this phrase to mean that God had a "diminishing of the creative process" and a "starting up of new activity" on each "day" - and that each "day" was a stage in the process of creation, an indeterminate but long period of time. While young earth creationists maintain that God repeats Himself to underscore that these were 24 hour literal days, old earth proponents maintain that there is nothing in the text which demands these to be literal evenings and mornings of 24 hour periods - what God is emphasizing is that there were six periods of creative activity, each of which had a winding up and a winding down. Genesis: Day 2 What the Bible Says: Gen 1:6 "And
God said,
Let there be
["Hayah": become; cause to appear or Young Earth View: Contend that God created the atmosphere and separated the waters above (the clouds, atmosphere) from the waters below (the sea), all in the space of a 24 hour day. Old Earth View: Old earth adherents have a similar view, except they believe that God did not suddenly "create" the atmosphere - He let it appear over a long period time (rather than a 24 hour day). This is supported by the Hebrew wording: "Let there be", which is Hayah [to become, cause to appear]. Also note the discussion in Psalm 104:3-6, where God is separating the watery clouds of heaven above from the waters of the earth below. Genesis: Day 3 What the Bible Says: Gen 1:9
And God said,
"Let ["Hayah": become; cause to appear or arise]
the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and
let ["Hayah": become;
cause to appear or arise]
dry ground appear."
And it was so. Young Earth View: Young earth proponents assert that all of these creative activities occurred "instantaneously", and all within a literal 24 hour "day":
And since the sun, moon and stars are believed NOT to be created yet (they are created on Day Four), the light for sustaining all of these plants and trees is coming from a non-solar source specially created by God for this purpose! This view obviously presents some conflicts with the findings of science, as the science of geology and plate-tectonics presents strong evidence that the continents originated out of a watery covered earth over millions of years. Some young earth creationists claim that God instantaneously created fully mature plants and trees. However, the text does not support this view - the word for "create" (Bara), is not used here. Rather, it is the ground that is causing to "bring forth" vegetation and trees. We also know from science (and observation) that it takes much longer than a 24 hour day for seed-bearing plants and vegetation to grow to maturity. If you adhere to a 24 hour day interpretation, you are forced into an unreasonable interpretation, and conflict with natural processes and the facts of science. They day-age view however presents no such conflict. Old Earth View: The Old Earth interpretation
presents no conflict with science, and is consistent with the meaning of
the original Hebrew . Scientific
evidence exists to support the notion that at after a period of
cooling, the earth was relatively flat, without mountains and
canyons, and covered by water.
The other point to note is that the Hebrew text does not
say that God created ["Bara"] mature plants and trees.
It refers to "the land" producing or causing to spring
forth seed, plants and vegetation. It also does not speak about
this occurring instantaneously, so the production of seed-bearing
plants, vegetation and trees could well have happened over months, years
or longer - certainly longer than 24 hours. Its interesting to note that the expression "after their kind" is used several times in this passage. It seems Genesis is telling us that God set the boundaries for classes of living things - but what mechanism did He use to accomplish the orderly regulation of living things? DNA programming. One of the strongest proofs for the existence and involvement of a Designer in the creative process is the existence of DNA in every living thing - from the simplest organism to man. DNA is highly complex, specific programming, and naturalistic evolution cannot explain the origin or existence of DNA - "God's programming". Genesis: Day 4 What the Bible Says: Gen 1:14 And
God said, "Let
there be
["Hayah": become; cause to appear or Young Earth View: Focusing on the English translation of the words, young earth creationists assume the sun, moon and stars were created in an instant by God on the fourth day. Previous to this (during days 1 - 3), a supernatural "non-solar" light created by God sustained the earth, and allowed plants and trees to spring forth. Old Earth View: In contrast, the old earth view asserts that the sun, moon and stars were created "in the beginning", as discussed in Gen 1:1 (prior to Day 1). They became finally visible on the 4th "day" when the atmosphere became translucent enough to permit "the lights" that God had created to be clearly seen. Why? To "govern the day and the night", and "to serve as signs to mark seasons, days and years". The point is that during Day 4 the atmosphere became transparent enough to allow the sun, moon and stars to serve their intended purposes. The focus in day four is to make clear the purpose of the celestial bodies - not their origin. They are their to separate light from darkness, to govern the day and night, and to mark seasons, days and years. The
original language supports this interpretation.
The phrase "Let there be ... is the Hebrew verb "Hayah"
- meaning to become, or cause to appear. There is no
textual support for the notion that God is suddenly "creating" the sun,
moon and stars on the 4th day. Also, when the text states that "God
made two great lights", the Hebrew word for made - "Asah" - refers to an action
completed in the past. Thus a more proper
rendering of these verses would be "He had made two great
lights..", and "He also had made the stars"
(the stars having been created ["Bara"] back in verse 1, in the beginning). Genesis: Day 5 What the Bible Says: Gen 1:20
And God said,
"Let the water
teem [swarm with living
creatures]
with living creatures [small and minute animals],
and
let birds fly
above the earth across the expanse of the sky."
Young Earth View: The young earth view assets that God suddenly created all sea life and flying creates on the fifth day - all within 24 literal hours. They claim that all the various forms of sea life, large and small, as well as all of the various species of birds, were created within the 24 hour span that is the 5th day. Old Earth View: The old earth interpretation asserts that God created sea life and flying creatures on the fifth day, but they hold that this creative process took place over long ages of time - not suddenly or instantaneously, or within 24 literal hours. The text does not speak to "all" sea and flying creatures, as young earth creationists assume. The term "living creature" in Hebrew is the word "Nephesh Khayya", which means "living animated being" or "air breathing creature". According the scholars, this term implies specifically to that which harbors "soulish life" - mind, will and emotion, in contrast to simply organic life. Possibly God is referring to the pinnacle of His sea faring creatures - the great whales, dolphins, and other great sea creatures now extinct. In terms of "winged birds", the Hebrew word used is "Op", which means "flying thing" or "a thing that flies". Thus the language could encompass not just birds, but also insects, and even bats. Old earth creationists also note that the Hebrew term "bara" is used in connection with these "living creatures", meaning that God "created" entirely new and distinct "kinds" of sea and flying creatures during this fifth day period - and then caused each to proliferate after "its kind" as time progressed. Genesis: Day 6 What the Bible Says: Gen 1:24 And
God said, "Let
the land
produce
["Yatsa" - means to germinate, The 24 hour interpretation asserts that God created all of the myriad of land animals, along with the first humans - Adam and Eve - in a literal 24 hour period! The phrase "And God said ... and it was so." is interpreted to mean that God spoke things into existence, and immediately they appeared. Old Earth View: Old earth proponents take the position that God created all of the land animals, as well as humans, during a sixth "day age" - and that this creative process did not all occur within 24 literal hours, but over a span of ages (beginning hundreds of millions of years ago). The human race began with the special creation of Adam and Eve, the first of the human species, about 50,000 years ago. Old earth proponents also take the position that other biped hominids, such as the Neanderthals, were not human beings, having preceded the creation of Adam and Eve. The notion that that the phrase "and it was so" means immediate creation is contested. According the Biblical Hebrew, verbs have no tense, and thus cannot tell you "when" an action was done - only that it was completed at some point. So the young earth interpretation that God spoke and immediately things were created is not supported by a fair reading of the text. Old earth creationists also argue that "24 hours" is simply not enough time for all of the activities of day six to be accomplished - especially if you factor in the extrapolation of activities that is discussed in Genesis 2. To summarize, the activities of day six included ..
To believe that all of these activities were accomplished in a literal 24 hour "day" strains credulity to say the least. To believe this, you have to resort to everything being accomplished in "fast-forward" mode. And you have to stretch the interpretation of Genesis 2 - which implies that time was taken to prepare a garden, place the man there, accomplish the naming of all the creatures, and to then fashion a woman to keep the man company. Comparing and contrasting the Genesis 2 account with Genesis 1 builds an even stronger case that the word for "day" used in Genesis 1 is not a literal 24 hour day.
While these all differ in many respects, one can be a Christian no matter which interpretation you choose. It's important to realize this, and respect the views of others when examining the Genesis account. God has seen fit to allow for multiple forms on interpretation, and we should respect His approach, and realize that despite different interpretations, ALL Christians can and should agree on the central teachings of Genesis:
It is important that neither
side be dogmatic in this discussion. Rather, we should look to the
evidence and investigate what a clear reading of Scripture is telling
us. Is the only Biblically viable position that God created the heavens
and the earth in six literal 24 hour days? Or, based on the
evidence, is it more likely that God created the heavens and the earth in
six "days of ages". We should examine the evidence, then base our
conclusion on the most reasonable explanation. Which is the More Reasonable Genesis Interpretation? To subscribe to the Calendar-Day interpretation, you must:
To subscribe to the Day-Age Interpretation, you ..
Conclusion: "God's Days Are Not Our Days" Based on the evidence, we submit:
Consistency between the Bible and science is what we should expect. For if the Creator of the heavens and the earth also inspired the writers who penned the words of the Bible, why shouldn't we expect the discoveries of science to support the Bible? It would be surprising if they did not. To learn more, please check out the
resources and links below. Resources on the Genesis Account "The City of God", St. Augustine - Book 11, chap.7, emphasis added. "Privileged Planet", by Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay W. Richards. Regency Publishing. http://www.privilegedplanet.com/ "Four Views of the Biblical Creation Account", compiled by Reasons to Believe: www.reasons.org "Does Old-Earth Creationism Contradict Genesis 1?", by Greg Moore - visit www.reasons.org "Creation and Time", by Dr. Hugh Ross Dr. J.P. Morland: "The Age of the Earth" Westminster Theological Seminary: "Westminster Theological Seminary and The Days of Creation" Greg Moore: "Old Earth Creationism: A Heretical Belief?" Wikipedia: "Young Earth Creationism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Earth_creationism Wikipedia: "Day-Age Creationism" Answers in Creation, a creation science ministry believing in an inerrant Word of God, a literal interpretation of Genesis, and a billions of years old earth: http://www.answersincreation.org/ "Is There Really Scientific Evidence for a Young Earth?", by Matthew S. Tiscareno See http://www.godandscience.org/youngearth/yeclaims.html "A New Look at an Old Earth", a new online book by Don Stoner: http://answers.org/newlook/NEWLOOK.HTM "The Days of Creation: A Closer Look at Scripture", by Jon W. Greene. Visit www.reasons.org for a download of this in-depth article on the issue. |
important reasons:
"day", to
mark the six periods of God's creative work. Upon examination of
the Hebrew word, we learn that the word "Yom" can have several possible
meanings.
His handiwork. Day after day
they
pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. Their
is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their
voice goes out into all the earth, their word the the ends of the
world." (Psalm 19:1-4)
arise] 
arise]
bring forth, issue
out, proceed]
