Creation or Evolution? A False Dichotomy

     As mentioned in my previous blog from February 4^th, scholars have been analyzing Genesis for thousands of years and there is no conclusion as to the one correct way to interpret the creation account in the first chapter. There are several possible interpretations ranging from literal to analogical to mythical. For a complete treatment of all the Christian views on Genesis 1 go here: www.pcahistory.org/creation/report.pdf or here www.reasonablefaith.org/defenders-2-podcast/s9

     There has to be some truth in almost every one of the views. Genesis 1 is very carefully crafted to accomplish several goals. It gives the framework for how creation is organized; it gives us the function of several of the entities in nature and it provides an analogy for the human work week while at the same time introducing the theology of the Sabbath to the Jewish people. Because the Hebrews had been in Egypt for 400 years, their view of the creation and of Yahweh had been corrupted by the Egyptian culture and religions, so Genesis 1 was also corrective instruction; establishing who the real God was while putting nature in its appropriate place as separate from God.

     What I would like to explore in this blog is the possibility of the Genesis creation account matching with the scientific findings of today. What if the account was meant to do all the things mentioned above, but also was written so skillfully so that it would not contradict what actually occurred as the universe was created? As I have mentioned several times in this blog: “When interpreted correctly, Christian scripture and nature should be in harmony. God created the universe and inspired the Bible, so both should agree.” I am not proposing that Genesis 1 is teaching science, but I am suggesting that at the very least, it will not contradict nature in the end. As I compare Genesis 1 to current science, all Bible quotes come from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, 2001, Wheaton: Standard Bible Society. Biblical text will be quoted first in each section in bold font, followed by the current science information or perspective on that section. Much of the material for comparison comes from Reasons to Believe, a ministry headed by Hugh Ross. Their website is: www.reasons.org

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Current science has determined that the universe had a beginning 13.7 billion years ago (bya). See the February 1^st blog to read more about how this matches with current Big Bang cosmology. The earth formed 4.56 bya and the moon formed 4.52 bya.

“The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” The earth began with no life on it.  More importantly, this verse takes us onto the earth and allows us to look at the remainder of the account from the perspective of someone standing on the surface of the earth; giving us the point of reference from which to observe the rest of creation.

“Let there be light, and there was light.” This has been troubling for scientists for the obvious reason that we have light showing up before the sun does. When the earth was young, it had a heavy blanket of clouds, gas, and dust around it. The atmosphere then cleared up enough to allow diffuse light to come through, but a translucent layer of cloud and gas remained enveloping the planet for a while. It is interesting that the verb used here in the Bible indicates letting natural laws run their course to allow the light to appear. If we are viewing this from the perspective of someone standing on the surface of the earth, you couldn’t tell where the light was coming from. This matches our scientific planet formation model.

“Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” Science agrees that there was water on the surface of the earth 3.8 bya.

 “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” Science agrees that we had land on the surface of the earth 3.0 bya.

 “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” The verb used here is again interesting in that it seems to say that God is commanding or allowing the earth to bring the vegetation into existence; letting plants appear from the natural course of events running their course on the earth. Could this indicate some kind of evolution? It is also my understanding that the Hebrew words for trees and plants are very general and could apply to almost any plant-like organism. In terms of fossilized plants, cyanobacteria are the oldest known fossils, dating to 3.5 bya. We have found that there were complex, multicellular, photosynthetic organisms (Rafatazmia chitrakootensis & Ramathallus lobatus) on the land 1.6 bya. A recent discovery is summarized here: http://www.reasons.org/blogs/todays-new-reason-to-believe/earliest-complex-vegetation-and-the-bibles-history-of-life. The date at which we find the first primitive plants is about 543 million years ago (mya). Trees show up about 410 mya and the first seed bearing plants appear 390 mya. 

 “And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.” This is another place that seems to trouble those that know science the most. How can you have light and plants before the sun? Some will say that the genre of the writing doesn’t demand that the account be chronological; instead it is topical. This, of course, would solve this problem. Another perspective is that the sun is placed later in the week to displace it from a prominent position, as the sun was actually a god in the Egyptian creation account. However, if this is the literal order, we can rationalize it to current science because as a planet develops, the atmosphere will transition from translucent to transparent. Again, the verb used here seems to indicate natural laws running their course. If this is from the perspective of the surface of the earth, then at this point in the creation event the sky became clear enough to actually see where the light was coming from.

 “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” Again, Biblical Hebrew is very general, so it is difficult to know exactly what specific life forms are being created on days five and six. There wasn’t life in the water until 570 mya and the first land animals showed up 350 mya. If the Bible is meant to be chronological, these dates create an issue when compared to the dates for the plants appearing; trees at 410 mya and seed bearing plants at 390 mya.  If the text is referring to the complex, multicellular, photosynthetic organisms that show up 1 bya as plants, then there is no dating conflict. The first birds are found at 150 mya, with the evolution of birds thought to have begun in the Jurassic period; definitely after most plants. The Hebrew verb used in day five implies initial creation by God, so this would match with the first appearances of whichever life forms are described here; something like the Cambrian explosion in the fossil record.

“Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” Again, if the Bible is chronological and you take this mean that all land animals were created on day six, then there is a problem with birds appearing before the land animals.  But the verb used here again implies nature going through its natural course and the manufacture of something from existing materials, so day six could be describing the animals that evolve from the types created earlier.  For example, the day six creation could be referring to the major radiation of mammals and the origins of primates.

“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) showed up somewhere between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago.

If the non-literal interpretations of Genesis are correct, then we have no need to even try to match the creation account to what current science is discovering. But if we take Genesis 1 to be describing the creation of the universe and the world literally, then it is possible to show that there is no disagreement with current science. This does require that you take the account to be from the perspective of someone standing on the surface of the earth so that the clearing of the atmosphere affects when one such person would first see the sun and moon as the light giving entities. This simple perspective change then allows the creation account in the Bible to match what current science has discovered about nature. You must also understand that Biblical Hebrew is very general, so it is hard to know what specific types of life are being created in each day. The Bible definitely describes an ordered creation of life in almost the same order as evolutionary theory describes.  The Bible definitely describes sudden appearances of “types”, with periods of time where the earth and life are allowed to run their natural course.  This matches the fossil record, which also shows explosions of “types” followed by periods of evolutionary change.