Was the Earth Created in Six –24 hour– Days?

“Do you believe that the earth was created in six –24 hour– days?”  Recently someone asked me that question.  I’ll get to my answer in a minute.  But first, let’s think about the question.  It is not inconsequential.

Followers of Jesus believe that the Bible was inspired by God.  In other words, when I hold a copy of the Holy Bible in my hands I’m holding words that, in some very real but deeply mysterious way, came to us from God.  This is central to Orthodox Christianity.

But many people are made to feel like heretics because they believe that the first two chapters of Genesis are to be understood more as a poetic account of creation than a literal one.  Some are drawn to the person and teachings of Jesus Christ but are told that they can’t believe in him and become one of his followers because they believe the earth is closer to six billion years old than six thousand years old.

On the other hand, some people are made to feel intellectually inferior because they do believe that God created the world in six days.  Subtly or not so subtly, directly or indirectly, they are told that no one with a developed understanding of our universe could hold to the archaic belief that the earth is relatively young.  Which is just another way of telling a person that he is not very smart.

I would like to make two suggestions.

First, we make Jesus Christ the foundation of our faith.  This is what theologians refer to as High Christology or the Centrality of Christ.

In college I had a friend who told me that if I didn’t believe in a six day creation then I couldn’t be “saved.”  With all due respect to my friend, I think that if your faith depends on a certain interpretation of the creation story then your theology elevates creation to a place that should be reserved for Christ.  The foundation of our faith must be Jesus Christ and him alone.  

Throughout church history (at least until fairly recently) there has been room for diversity and disagreement in the Christian community, with Christ as the foundation of our faith.  C.S. Lewis, one of the most respected theologians/philosophers from the twentieth century, held to an “old earth” understanding of creation.  Check out chapter five (The Fall of Man) in The Problem of Pain. 

Honestly, if Lewis was alive today I doubt he would get many invitations to speak in evangelical churches.  Maybe we need to make sure we are still building on the right foundation.

Secondly, we make a commitment to intellectual humility.  I think one of the most profound passages in the Bible is found in Isaiah 55:8-9.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thought than you thoughts.” 

Perhaps a paraphrase of that passage could read.  “You can’t begin to figure me out, so how about practicing a little intellectual humility.”

What if we applied this to both sides of this issue?  If I work off of the assumption that God’s way are far above mine, then I might be more open minded about the creative activity of God.  I might not be as quick to determine how long it took the God of the universe to create the earth.  Perhaps I would be willing to entertain the possibility that God could have created in six days… or 4.5 billion years. 

So, you’re waiting to hear my answer to the question.  Are you ready for it?  I said, “I don’t know… I wasn’t there.”

I wasn’t being sarcastic or trying to be funny.  I was quite sincere.  I don’t know exactly (or even remotely) how the creator of the universe created, because I was not an eye witness to his creative activity.  All I have is the creation account recorded in Genesis and I don’t want to be intellectually arrogant enough to claim that my interpretation of the passage is the only possible one.

Someday when I get to heaven, if I care enough to ask God about it, he may say something like; “O yea, I created the world is six days and did it so that it appeared to be 4.5 billion years old.”  To which I will respond, “Father, that is so cool!”

Or God may say, “O yea, I actually created the world in 4.5  billion years.  Then I inspired the Hebrew writer to communicate my beautiful creative activity through poetry.”  To which I will respond, “Father, that is so cool!” 

Either way is fine with me.