How should Christians understand the first two chapters of Genesis? How did God create the "heavens and the earth"?
The first two chapters of Genesis are perhaps the most contested passages in all of ancient literature, save perhaps for the resurrection accounts of Jesus. As discussed in a previous article, there are three broad schools of thought in dealing with Genesis (or, for that matter, the entire Bible). Traditional monotheists, by and large, hold Genesis to be inspired by God and thereby instructive and beneficial. Agnostics and atheists largely dismiss Genesis. Spiritualists and polytheists may recognize some literary value to Genesis, but put little stock in its specific content.
The three most dominant religions in the world (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) all stem from the monotheistic school of thought. Since this site is focused on the Protestant Christian community, this article and the entire series will address the debate over Genesis and the origins of the universe from the Christian perspective.
Christians are far from united in their understanding of Moses’ account of God creating the “heavens and the earth.” (This article assumes the traditional view that Moses authored Genesis, however this writer concedes that some scholars dispute mosaic authorship of the Torah). There are three primary interpretations of the Genesis account of Creation prevalent in the Christian community today. They are Young Earth Creationism, Old Earth Creationism, and Theistic Evolution. We will now look at each in turn.
Theistic Evolution
Sometimes known as evolutionary creationism, Theistic Evolution (TE) is the belief that God presided over the evolutionary process to bring about the “heavens and the earth.” According to this view, Genesis 1-2 need not be interpreted literally, but rather figuratively or allegorically. TE is popular with Roman Catholics, Jews, and liberal Protestants.
The appeal of Theistic Evolution is that it allows adherents to maintain their general religious faith without coming into conflict with the modern scientific community. Wikipedia explains: “Theistic evolution is not a theory in the scientific sense, but a particular view about how the science of evolution relates to some religious interpretations.”
Young Earth Creationism
Directly counter to Theistic Evolution, Young Earth Creationists (YEC) hold that God created the universe and all basic life forms approximately 6,000 to 12,000 years ago in six 24-hour days.
The baseline YEC chronology stems from James Ussher, a medieval archbishop who calculated the age of the Earth based on Old Testament genealogies. Ussher dated the Creation to 4004 BC. Many YECs have correctly pointed out, however, that the Bible sometimes skips generations in its recorded genealogies. Thus, revisionist YECs have opined that Earth may be older than 6,000 years – perhaps as much as 10,000 or 12,000 years.
YEC fell out of favor in the late nineteenth and throughout the twentieth centuries due to developments in scientific dating methodology as well as geology. The latter has been particularly difficult for YEC adherents, since geologists today overwhelmingly consider the apparent displacements and changes in the earth’s layers to be the result of incremental change and erosion over millions of years rather than sudden catastrophe (such as Noah’s Flood). Moreover, fossil remains of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures have seriously challenged the YEC chronology.
Old Earth Creationism
Old Earth Creationism (OEC) is basically an umbrella term that incorporates a number of alternative Creationist perspectives – alternative, that is, to Young Earth Creationism. The unifying theme amongst these perspectives is that Genesis 1-2 need not be interpreted in a tight manner to restrict the age of the Earth to a mere 6,000 years. Early church fathers that held this understanding include Origen, Augustine, and Eusebius. They and others believed that the days of Genesis were not necessarily solar days.
OEC Christians generally believe that God created the universe through a combination of natural processes and direct intervention. The two leading OEC perspectives are Progressive Creationism and Gap Theory Creationism.
The Debate Continues
The modern scientific consensus tilts heavily in favor of Theistic Evolution or Old Earth Creationism. Young Earth Creationists, however, remain firm in their conviction that the Creation account in Genesis is divinely inspired and authoritative. Moreover, they argue (correctly) that the modern scientific community has based much of its dating methodology on certain assumptions and presuppositions that have not been factually established.
Science cannot authoritatively establish the origin of the universe for the simple fact that no human was present to directly observe it. And the re-creation of a new universe is not possible to test the theory of evolution. The scientific community therefore is limited to holding evolution as a theory. It cannot establish it as a fact.
The origin of the universe therefore remains in the arena of faith. Accordingly, even Young Earth Creationists (YEC) can lay claim to the possibility that their explanation for the universe’s origins may, in fact, be true.
The copyright of the article How did God Create the Universe? in Protestantism is owned by Brian Tubbs. Permission to republish How did God Create the Universe? must be granted by the author in writing.
Comments
Mar 27, 2007 2:07 PM
Pink
:
. I must say that you have provided us with a goodly article here, Brian, that gives us a quick look at some of the more prevalent thinking in religious circles. . Are you familiar with the Luriaist view of creation? Isaac Luria was a Jewish Rabbi. His ideas relate with the Shekina. Do you know about Lurianic Jews? . He presents another view of biblical writings that almost totally denies any literalism. .
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Mar 27, 2007 4:24 PM
Brian Tubbs
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Not familiar with him. Fill me in.
Mar 27, 2007 4:39 PM
Pink
:
. Put the following information in your search engine: ,. shekina "isaac luria" . and you will get quite a bit of information. .
It's an interesting read. But of course Luria's view of the creation out of a "cataclysmic accident" is directly contrary to the creation by DELIBERATE plan model espoused by Genesis.
Mar 28, 2007 1:58 PM
Pink
:
. Be that as it may, it is an important version of the creation and, as such, derserves to be used in any discussion about the beginnings of existence. . Have you known about the Shekina before this? .
Mar 28, 2007 2:04 PM
Brian Tubbs
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No. I appreciate the information.
Obviously, though, as the Suite101 Protestantism writer, I'm most focused on the Christian interpretations of Genesis. I haven't researched all the non-Christian ones yet. Only a few of those.
Mar 28, 2007 2:44 PM
Migisi
:
. Very good article, Brian. . Here are a few native American creation stories. http://www.indians.org/welker/legend.htm . ================== . Thought you might enjoy this legend: . <i>The Ancient One</i> by Bearwalker . Ancient One sat in the shade of his tree in front of his cave. Red People came to him and he said to Red People, "Tell me your vision." . And Red People answered, "The elders have told us to pray in this manner, and that manner, and it is important that only we pray as we have been taught for this has been handed down to us by the elders." . "Hmmmm," said the Ancient One. . Then Black People came to him and he said to Black People, "Tell me your vision." . And Black People answered, "Our mothers have said to go to this building and that building and pray in this manner and that manner. And our fathers have said to bow in this manner and that manner when we pray. And it is important that we do only this when we pray." . "Hmmmm," said the Ancient One. . Then Yellow People came to him and he said to Yellow People, "Tell me your vision." . And Yellow People answered, "Our teachers have told us to sit in this manner and that manner and to say this thing and that thing when we pray. And it is important that we do only this when we pray." . "Hmmmm," said the Ancient One. . Then White People came to him and he said to White People, "Tell me your vision." . And White People answered, "Our Book has told us to pray in this way and that way and to do this thing and that thing, and it is very important that we do this when we pray." . "Hmmmm," said the Ancient One. . Then Ancient One spoke to the Earth and said, "Have you given the people a vision?" And the Earth said, "Yes, a special gift for each one, but the people were so busy speaking and arguing about which way is right they could not see the gift I gave each one of them." And the Ancient One asked same question of Water and Fire and Air and got the same answer. Then Ancient One asked Animal, and Bird, and Insect, and Tree, and Flower, and Sky, and Moon, and Sun, and Stars, and all of the other Spirits and each told him the same. . Ancient One thought this was very sad. He called Red People, Black People, Yellow People, and White People to him and said to them. "The ways taught to you by your Elders, and your Mothers and Fathers, and Teachers, and Books are sacred. It is good that you respect those ways, for they are the ways of your ancestors. But the ances
Mar 29, 2007 5:48 AM
Pink
:
. I watched the National Geographic television presentation on the evolution of existence last night. . 14,000,000,000 Years to get to this point. . How can anyone possibly buy into the literal interpretations of the creation stories of Genesis when the facts are so compelling? .
Mar 29, 2007 11:53 AM
Migisi
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. <i>How can anyone possibly buy into the literal interpretations of the creation stories of Genesis when the facts are so compelling?</i> . Not just buy into the Genesis stories, but take any cultural creation legend literally. Every culture has one or more stories. Sitting around the campfire, the children ask the questions... "Where did we come from?" "Who made the stars and moon?" "How did the birds come to be?" And grandfather answers with a story. A legend is born, added to, and passed on through generations. . I don't often quote Paul, but I think what he said here is appropriate: "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me." (1 Corinthians 13:11) . Some folks never put their childish thinking and reasoning behind them.
Mar 29, 2007 1:10 PM
Brian Tubbs
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I've tried to do my Genesis series in a fair and balanced manner. The most important theme in Genesis is that GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH. In other words, taking Migisi's campfire example, the important thing for those kids to know is: GOD is responsible for the world being here and for the human race being here. God did it.
