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Creationism Views Compared
| God & Moses | ||||||
| Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. |
First event of day one, less than 60,000 years ago, many believe around 6,000 years ago according to biblical geneaology. The flood of Genesis 6-9 is credited for the layers of fossils found and for the scarring of the planet's surface which only seems to indicate great age. | Perspective of eternal God's
timetable established. Psalm 90:2& 4/ Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God...... For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. |
God speaks to initiate the universe from nothing; creating space, time, matter, and energy. Out of this sudden beginning all the galaxies, stars, and planets formed, 15-20 billion years ago. | Within the beginning God created
the universe. Spans the history of all things visible and invisible, created out of nothing, by the word of God, prior to the first 7 days of mankind and redemptive history. Including : sun, moon and stars, planet earth, creatures(dinosaurs) and angelic/spiritual realm. (Job 38:4-7) No authoritative date given in scripture for the creation of the universe or for the creation of the first man, therefore, we are free to speculate and study nature's revelation. |
Initial Perfect Creation (Isa. 45:18) | A god or gods initiated the universe. |
| Day One (Sky) 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were a day, one. |
The condition of the planet earth is dark and "formless and void" God speaks and creates light, without sun. "Evening and Morning" indicate one 24 hour day. | The first of the Biblical
"days" lasted 24 hours, viewed from the
"beginning of time perspective." But the
duration from our perspective was 8 billion years. The ordering force is the Spirit of God. Physics has found that light can be trapped inside high temperature plasma, but as it cools, it separates from the darkness. |
Then, in the first day-age of planet earth, starting about 4.5 billion years ago, God's Spirit began to work over the surface of the ocean. Perhaps this is when God first created life -- simple, single-celled life in the ocean. God next worked in the clouds transforming them so that the light from the sun and stars could diffuse through to planet earth. | The condition of the earth or Land
of Eden, (later to be Isreal, the Promised Land and the
very land of Christ's birth), is covered in water(2 Peter 3:5), and wasteland
or wilderness, devoid of life.(Genesis 2:4-7) God speaks and commands the sun to shed it's morning light, (Job 38:12) calling light good and separating it from darkness. Beginning the count of the 6/24 hour days or one week of work, to pattern the life of mankind for his posterity. |
The entire history of the
"geologic ages" comes between Genesis1:1 and
Genesis 1:2 "Then the earth BECAME formless and
void" due to Satan's fall.(Jeremiah 4:22) God re-establishes the cycle of evening and morning. |
The bible may or may not be the account of the formation of planet earth. Chaos is the first state of matter. |
| Second Day (Water) 6 Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." 7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. |
The heavens are created in one 24 hour day. Still no sun, moon or stars. No rain until the flood when the atmosphere is changed to shorten man's lifespan to 120 years.(Genesis 2:4-6 & 6:3 & 7:4) | The second day, from the Bible's
perspective lasted 24 hours. From our perspective it
lasted half of the previous day, 4 billion years. A firmament was created, water was formed. |
In this age God worked in both the clouds and the ocean so that water would evaporate from the oceans and condense from the clouds as rain. | God separates the water in the sky from the water covering the Land of Eden, see also Genesis 2:5-6. Clouds for precipitation vs. Greenhouse effect?(Job 38:25-27). Possibly establishing the atmospheric firmament that protects our environment. The two physical realms of heaven are now established, outer space where the sun is and the sky where birds fly, our atmosphere. | God re-creates the destroyed atmosphere. | God/s established the atmosphere. |
| Third Day (Land) 9 Then God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day. |
God created dry land, and all plant life in one 24 hour day. | The third day also lasted half of
the previous day, 2 billion years. Then life began on earth. |
In this age God gathered the ocean
water to one place so that the land would appear. Now
there was not just water on the surface of the earth.
There were oceans and continents. Then God produced plants on the land, plants of various kinds. These plants consumed carbon dioxide and water and, with the energy from the sun, converted them into food and oxygen. |
God
gathers together the "seas", not oceans, into
it's places so that "dry" land
appears. (Genesis 7:22, Exodus
14:16 & Haggai
2:6). It is
also very interesting that scientific study shows the
area that is the Promised Land, where Christ was born,
was submerged in water 20 million years ago. In contrast the map of 18,000 years ago the Mesopotamian land is
bounded by rivers and seas much like today, mankind,
definitely appeared on the planet between these times
most evidently around 35,000 years ago, but possibly
around 80,000 years ago. Fruit trees with seed, grass with seeds and herbs with seeds. Notice the kinds of plants that God planted in the Land of Eden(Genesis 2:8). Fruit trees, herbs and grasses, all particularly suited to human taste, comfort and farming, fully-grown, ready to eat from and like others that had already existed. Though certainly not representing every type of plant found on our planet such as the vast numbers of trees that are not edible fruit producing and plants that reproduce by spreading roots underground. See also Genesis 2:5 & 2:10-16. |
God re-creates the continents and the oceans and replenishes plantlife. | God/s established the continents and plantlife which evolved to what we see today. |
| Fourth Day (Sky) 14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; 15 "and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. 16 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. |
God creates the sun, moon and stars and establishes their cycles and time, in one 24 hour day. | The fourth day - one billion years.
As the earth cooled, the atmosphere changed from translucent to transparent so the heavenly bodies could be seen. The sun, moon and stars can now be seen. |
In this age God worked again in the
clouds, and with the oxygen from the plants transformed
them so that it was not always overcast. Now the clouds would break up allowing the sun, moon, and stars to be seen. Also, a shield of ozone was established high up above the clouds so that the new species of animals would be protected from harmful radiation from outer space. |
God speaks
to the sun, moon and stars to declare His purposes
for their being placed in their arrangement,
separating days, seasons and years. He decreed and
governs time. Notice the text, He is not "creating" the heavenly bodies, they were "created" "in the beginning" and were praising God at the foundation of the world.(Job 38:4-7) The earth or Land of Eden was "formless and void" but the heavens were not.(Genesis 1:2) God was setting them in order by proclamation. Setting in place verbal ordinances, a covenant or a decree. (Jeremiah 33:20 & Psalm 89:33-37) Jeremiah 31:35-36 Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and stars for light by night, Who disturbs the sea, and its waves roar, (The LORD of hosts is His name): If those ordinances depart from before Me, says the LORD, Then the seed of Isreal shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever." |
God re-creates the sun, moon and stars, and re-establishes time, days, seasons and years. | God/s initiated the solar systems. |
| Fifth Day (Water) 20 Then God said, "Let the waters bring forth an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens." 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." 23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day. |
God creates all flying creatures and all water dwelling creatures in one 24 hour day. | The fifth day - one-half billion
years. The Bible mentions animal life for the first time in the fifth day of creation. Science reveals an explosion of life that fits in sequence and time placement with the Biblical narrative. |
In this age God created advanced animals both in the oceans and upon the continents. The first such creatures were small and soft -- worms and slimy animals. Then came small animals with shells, like clams, crabs, and insects. Fish and amphibians, like frogs, were next. Then came the reptiles, such as lizards. Over 100 million years ago God created dinosaurs. These lizard-like creatures were as much as 80 feet long and 50 tons in weight. They were ten times larger than any other animals that ever existed upon the continents. But, a major disaster, perhaps a nearby exploding star, an asteroid collision, or a huge volcanic eruption, took place about 60 million years ago, wiping out nearly all the dinosaur species. Only a couple of species remain, both rather small and almost extinct. All lifeforms, given enough time, go extinct. This is why God, during the time He was creating, was constantly replacing the extinct species with new species. | He
creates great sea creatures, probably not whales but the
same Hebrew term (Tannyin) used for the serpent
which Moses' rod became before Pharoah (Exodus
7:9.) He "fills" the empty(bohuw) waters with water dwelling creatures, He "fills" the empty sky with flying creatures that are to multiply on the Land, flying creatures made especially for Eden, after their own kind which were already established on the planet. Notice the correlation between the call for the flying and water creatures by commanding "let the waters bring forth abundantly" and "the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly" in the plague inflicted upon Egypt. (Genesis 1:20 & Exodus 8:3) Obviously Pharoah knew what frogs were and they were not non-existant before the plague. |
God replenishes the life in the oceans and the flying creatures. | God/s established living creatures in the water and that fly and established evolutionary process which he is merely an observer of. |
| Sixth Day (Land) 24 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind"; and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." 29 And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 "Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so. 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. |
God creates all land dwelling creatures and finally mankind, created and made in His image. | The sixth day - one-quarter billion years. | In the age after the
dinosaurs God created birds and mammals. He created four
different kinds of mammals -- mammals in the oceans, like
whales and dolphins; rodents, like rabbits and mice; wild
four-footed animals like moose and tigers; and tameable
four-footed animals, like cows and sheep. Birds and
mammals are different from all animals before them in
that they have the capacity to express their emotions,
their wills, and their minds in communicating with us.
This is why we make pets out of these creatures, and not
(usually) with insects or lizards. Starting about 2 to 4 million years ago God began creating bipedal primates. These creatures stood on two feet, had large brains, and used tools. However, they were very different from us. They had no spirit. They did not have a conscience like we do. They did not worship God or establish religious practices. In time, all these bipedal primates went extinct. Then, about 10 to 60 thousand years ago, God replaced them with Adam and Eve. From Adam and Eve came all the people that live on the earth today. God told Adam and Eve and their descendants that they were to fill the earth and rule wisely over all the animals and all the resources of the earth. |
He
fills the Land with beasts of the field (donkeys
and oxen? Psalm 104:11-14), cattle and reptiles and
insects, a wonderful local eco-system. Dr. John Sailhamer
indicates that there were not life threatening creatures,
not the beasts of the forest who are flesh eating (Psalm
104:20-22).
These were vegetarian (Genesis
1:30) domestic
animals. Made to be helpers to man (Genesis
2:18-19) in his
tasks of tending the garden and subduing the earth.
Animals made "after their own kind", which I
believe indicates other similar creatures elsewhere on
the planet, created "in the beginning." These
may be species specifically suited to the environment of
the Land of Eden. Then once all this was prepared God made man, Adam, and woman from Adam's rib, "after Our likeness", different from any other creatures which were all made, "according to their kind." God finishes His work calling it all very good. " |
God replenishes the animal life and commands mankind to have dominion and replenish the earth. | God/s established land dwelling creatures and people. |
| Seventh Day (Rest) 1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. |
God established weekly Sabbath rest. This day has no "evening and morning" or beginning and end, and thus foreshadows eternal rest for believers. | No evening and morning indicates that this day there is completion, no more need for movement from evening(or darkness and disorder) to morning(or light which is "good"). | Same as YEC, agree with L-DC. | Same as YEC, agree with L-DC. | Same as YEC | ? |
Framework Hypothesis: "This deliberate two-triad structure, or literary framework, suggests that the several creative works of God have been arranged by Moses, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in their particular order for theological and literary, rather than sequential, reasons. For this reason we believe the days of the creation week are a figurative framework providing the narrative structure for God's historical creative works.
The framework interpretation agrees with the 24-hour view that at the literal level Gen. 1 speaks of ordinary solar days...What sets the framework interpretation apart is its claim that the total picture of the creation week is figurative. The creation history is figuratively presented as an ordinary week in which the divine craftsman goes about His creative toil for six days and finally rests from and in His completed work on the seventh.....the creation is not an end in itself but was created with the built-in eschatological goal of entering the eternal Sabbath rest of God Himself in incorruptible glory." Lee Irons
CREATION KINGDOMS |
CREATURE KINGS |
Day 1. Light |
Day 4. Luminaries |
Day 2. Sky Seas |
Day 5. Sea creatures Winged creatures |
Day 3. Dry land Vegetation |
Day 6. Land animals Man |
| THE CREATOR KING Day 7. Sabbath |
You may have noticed that Historical Creationists have points in common with each view. With YEC we agree with the fact that Exodus 20:9-11 declares that each of the days of Genesis are a reference to one "day" and "night" or 24 hours by our understanding. With the Long-Day we agree that evening to morning is an expression of the "God of order" who is making all things "Very Good", that all of creation might glorify God and fulfill the purposes He has created it for. Progressive Creationists and Gap Theorists agree that Genesis 1:1 is a timeframe prior to day one encompassing the creation of the universe. With the Framework understanding we acknowledge that the narrative poetically cycles through sky, sea and land, which is the reason that the sun, moon and stars are again addressed on the 4th day though we believe that the week is a sequential account of literal events, in a common and not figurative, 7 day week. With the Theistic Evolutionists we affirm that the first cause of all things is deity, though we believe scripture to be the only authoritative source of Theological truth, the only unchanging and authoritative revelation of the Living and True God, who is the Loving Sovereign over every element of creation at every moment.
The main difference from all of the other views of Genesis 1, is that we see the correlation of the local focus of Genesis 1:2-2:3 and 2:4-3:24. The land of Eden or the Promised Land bordered by the Euphrates River in all of the Pentateuch. The focus of the Pentateuch is the history of God's chosen people. Revealing the need for and promise of redemption by God, the lineage of Christ-the promised Seed, and the Land which He prepares/provides for His people. We do not believe that scripture's history of "beginnings", Genesis, is purposed to cover cosmological history and all development of all cultures. We believe that all mankind do descend from Adam and Eve, and that scripture's account is accurate history.
Back to Historical Creationism.
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