Creationism is a term often embraced by Judeo-Christian conservatives and often reviled by religious and secular liberals. The term refers to a philosophy of the origins of the universe in which an agent (God) is actively involved in the formation of everything in the universe. As suggested in my previous commentary, the presence of an Agent implies an Act, a Scene, an Agency, and a Purpose. The scientific theory presented in the Universe of Energy seems to lack an Agent. Hence, it could be inferred that the origin of the universe was NOT an Act. It had no Scene, required no Agency, and HAD NO PURPOSE. Small wonder that theologians are hesitant to overwhelmingly embrace this view of the origins of our universe! Indeed, this view of origins is clearly capable of supplying a strong motive for some to reject science altogether—to pursue a purely antagonistic stance. Many have been tempted, therefore, to “throw the baby out with the bath water.”
Some atheists, agnostics, and Bible-believers have asserted that the Bible teaches that the universe (heavens and Earth) came into being in six twenty-four hour periods, not 13 billion years. They say that, according to the Bible, the entire process began approximately 6000 years ago, beginning with the six days of creation. To support the believers’ view—countering “scientific” evidence of fossil remains, carbon dating, etc.—they pose the question: “How old did Adam appear when God created him?” Did he look as if he were 25? Then, if God can create a man who, though newly crafted, appeared to look 25 years old, He could create a universe that appears to look 13 billion years old (even though it is really only 6000 years old). True enough, if you accept the premise that God created Adam to appear to be 25. The syllogism works, if the premises are accepted:
• Major premise: God can create things to appear much older than they are.
• Minor Premise: The universe appears to be much older than 6000 years.
• Conclusion: God can create the universe to appear much older than 6000 years.
This reasoning is, of course, tied to the definition of God as omnipotent. Some do not accept the Major premise of the syllogism, but those who believe God to be omnipotent have no problem with the premise. Yet, some of these individuals, while they might accept the premise, wonder about the extended syllogism, concerning the Biblical teaching. They question whether it is actually true that “the Bible teaches that the universe (heavens and Earth) came into being in six twenty-four hour periods, not 13 billion years.” Are people of biblical faith inextricably bound to a view that is in such disharmony with current scientific views?
In the Introduction to my book Persuasion, Proposals, and Public Speaking (2nd edition), I demonstrate how I use the analytical method of Stephen Toulmin. Toulmin extends the syllogism by providing for situations in which some of the premises or conclusions might not be true. In my book, I use the O. J. Simpson trials as examples of Toulminian analysis. In this situation, let’s apply Toulminian analysis to the view that the heavens and Earth are only thousands of years old.
Certainly, it is possible to interpret the Genesis account of creation as stating that the entire universe and its inhabitants (up to and including humans) were completely created in six twenty-four hour periods, just a few thousand years ago. This translation is possible because the word “day” (YOM, in the Hebrew) most frequently refers to “one twenty-four hour period.” We could submit the Toulminian Claim that the Bible possibly teaches that the universe is a few thousand years old. Nevertheless, Toulminian analysis next permits us to attempt a Rebuttal. A rebuttal typically begins with the word “unless.” So, here is one rebuttal: “unless the term day/YOM can mean something other than a twenty-four hour period.” As it turns out, that is the case. In addition to the twenty-four hour denotation, the word YOM also, at times, simply means “light,” as opposed to “darkness”(Genesis 1:5).
YOM also refers to time periods other than the twenty-four hour variety. In the first chapter of Genesis, God created man—both male and female—and gave them instructions to multiply and fill the Earth, all in one YOM (Day Six). In the second chapter, there is an expanded discussion of several steps in this process. First, God creates Adam, a male, and instructs him to keep the Garden of Eden, to name the animals, to refrain from eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, etc. Then, God notices Adam’s loneliness, brings a deep sleep upon him, removes a rib from his side, fashions it into a female (Eve), and brings her to Adam. Later (when Adam and Eve are not together), a serpent successfully induces Eve to eat from the Tree, and Eve subsequently successfully tempts Adam to do so. They invent clothing and hide from God. God discovers them and interrogates them. They are cast from the Garden of Eden and FINALLY told to be fruitful and multiply in the Earth. These are quite a few events to have all been completed in one twenty-four hour period. Nevertheless, Genesis 5:1-2 confirms that Adam and Eve were created in a YOM.
Consider another example of YOM lasting longer than twenty-four hours. In Genesis 2:17, God tells Adam that “in the day you eat” from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, you shall surely die. Since (according to Genesis 5:8) Adam lived 930 years, the YOM in which he ate and died appears to be quite long. In fact, this nearly-one-thousand-year-long YOM appears to be close to the famous formula found in Psalm 90:4: “For a thousand years are in [God’s] eyes as a YOM . . .” Changing the Hebrew word YOM/day to the Greek term HEMERA/day, Second Peter 3:8 declares: “One day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day.” There may be another answer to the rebuttal that Adam died in the YOM in which he ate from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. That answer would pertain to the definition of another curious theological word: “die.” I’ll write more on that issue in a later commentary.
A third example of YOM lasting longer than twenty-four hours is found in Genesis 2:4. This verse seems to suggest that ALL of creation—heavens, Earth, plants, animals, and humans—occurred in a single YOM. Even those who suggest that God created all things in 144 hours are hesitant to assert that it all happened within 24 hours.
While sound Biblical scholarship certainly permits the interpretation that the heavens and Earth and all varieties of inhabitants were formed in 144 hours, this is not the ONLY possible interpretation. Those who wish to discredit either the Bible or science on that basis may be mistaken.
Furthermore, a second rebuttal may be advanced against the claim that the Bible teaches that the universe is a few thousand years old. This rebuttal may be phrased: “unless the first word of the Bible has been mistranslated.” The first word of the Bible in the original language of Hebrew is BERESHIT. It is almost always translated: “In the beginning.” There is, however, a problem with that translation. The problem lies in the fact that the term BERESHIT is a Hebrew “construct” form. This means that the term “Beginning” should be connected with another noun by the word “of.” The second word of Genesis is NOT, however, a noun; it is the word BARA’, a verb, translated as “He created.” Among the possible solutions to this translation problem, Hebrew scholars have suggested that the textual helps that lead us to see this as a verb may be mistaken. (These textual helps were not in the original written Hebrew text.) It is quite permissible, if the textual helps are removed, to read BARA’ as a noun (or Gerund): “the creating.” This is how the translation of Genesis 1:1-2 might, thus, read: “In the Beginning of God’s creating the heavens and the Earth, the Earth was formless and void.
If the translation just offered is true, we do not know for certain exactly where the Genesis creation account begins. What is the exact point in the beginning of creating that the first day described in Genesis actually begins? It’s somewhere in the beginning, but the Earth is apparently already in existence, albeit in a formless and chaotic state. Of course, this is not the ONLY possible translation/interpretation of Genesis 1:1-2, but NEITHER is the translation: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth.”
So, what am I suggesting? I am suggesting that those who choose to interpret the Genesis account of creation as occurring within a very short time span have some reasonable (syllogistic) basis for taking that position. Yet, those who believe the heavens and Earth took a much longer time to develop need not throw the baby out with the bath water. Young Earth and Old Earth both have possibilities in Judeo-Christian theology. Toulmin just shows how the various arguments are made. On the other hand, what does it matter how long God might have taken to create the universe, if He is truly ETERNAL.
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