With a clash of cymbals and to the thundering applause of the heavens, the Bible opens with an astonishing and incredible statement: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

Wow! Right there in bold print, in just one short sentence, lies the answer to tons of questions we might have as we survey the grandeur of our global home. Our omnipotent, omniscient God designed and created it all.

If you think about it, there is no statement more appropriate to begin the sacred text. If God did not create, he does not own. Unless he did a hostile takeover.

If God does not own, he is not the preserver and governor of all things and of all people. If God does not govern, he has no right to set a righteous and moral standard for humanity and certainly no right to define or punish sin. In addition to all of this, every book of the Bible is predicated on the fact that God created the heavens and the earth and set in place what we call nature.

If the devil was ever going to debunk the Bible and dethrone its God, there is no better place to start than at the beginning. It is absolutely vital to stop genuine seekers right at the front door of Scripture. So, bent on believing that our existence and our world must have a more natural genesis than the lofty concept of a single Creator, an intense search was undertaken. No stone was left unturned, no monkey was left un-probed, until the scientific community breathed a sigh of relief. Charles Robert Darwin had the answer which he boldy proclaimed 150 years ago in his The Origin of the Species. Darwin convinced millions of people that our existence had more to do with Mother Nature than Father God.

It shook the world and has taken its toll upon and within the Church. Since that time, the theory of evolution has been the topic of debate that has eaten up billions of dollars of research and has chipped away at the Judeo-Christian confidence in the biblical Creator God.

Well, against that backdrop, I want to pose two questions that will take your faith out for a test run. These two questions are designed to test your notion of God that you subscribe to. The first question is easy.

1. Do you believe God created the earth in six literal consecutive days? Admittedly there is some wiggle room here. One could ask how long was a day? Could it have been a 1000 or a million years, etc? In educational settings, according to my admittedly limited and unprofessional survey of contemporary students and teachers, it seems as though there is a fair bit of pressure to believe in the strict evolutionary process. You could be in for quite a bit of ridicule if you believe in a creator God. The attitude is well summed up by first-century Arab philosopher Abū al-'Ala al-Ma'arrī who stated: “There are two classes of men: intelligent men without religion, and religious men without intelligence.”

Well, let's leave that question and move to a more probing one. This question leaves no room for us to sit on the fence.

2. Do you believe that God could have created the heavens and the earth in six literal and consecutive days? If your answer to the first question was no, then is it that God did not or could not? If he could not, then what is the purpose of submitting to him whatsoever? Is there any benefit in a God who could not form this tiny speck in the vast universe in six days? Quite frankly, I can entertain either explanation: a day as a longer period of time or six literal days in which God created a mature earth. But I cannot believe in or worship with confidence a God who could not do whatever his divine will decreed necessary to accomplish his divine purpose.

A God who could not create is useless us. We are going to need him to reverse death, build us a heaven, defeat evil and sustain us eternally. He set the price of our sins as his blessed Son on the cross. I need him to have the authority to do that without having to be muscled to the ground by the loyal opposition.

Although I do not fully understand God or all of his ways, and because I see through a glass darkly and am often confused by his responses, there is a perpetual worship going on in my heart for our God. With the Apostle Paul I say with confidence:

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).

lorne-pritchettMajor Lorne Pritchett is the District Director for the Canadian Bible Society in Newfoundland and Labrador. Married to Barbara, they have two children: Elizabeth (Christan Murphy) who is a high school teacher in Mt. Pearl, NL, and John (Michelle Burditt) who is the district manager for Zellers in the greater Vancouver area.

Comment

On Thursday, March 19, 2009, Rob Jeffery said:

The book of Genesis is not a historical book either. It is the first book of Torah; any other thing that Genesis is must be seen in light of this.

I do think it possible that the earth was not created in six literal days. But it is entirely possible that it was. I just don't think Christians can use science very effectively to somehow prove whether the accounts in Scripture are true, or not true. The Scriptures were not written with the aims of science in mind. Science, as we know, is really a product of the western enlightenment. It is impossible that the ancients would have written according to this sort framework. And yet the Scriptures are true because God is true. Paul tells us in Romans 1 that man knows God exists because of the created order. But due to the problem of sin, man started worshipping the created order instead of God. The apparent "worshipping" of science that we see today is an example of this.

I am willing to believe that the Genesis account (chs 1-11) may not need to be understood as the literal way that God created the earth, yet it still reflects the truth. God created the universe and everything in it. So while I do believe that the earth is older than 6000 years, I do not believe in human evolution. I think this is one of the great mistruths of our age, and negates the importance of the incarnation.

On Tuesday, March 10, 2009, Capt Patrick Lublink (MDiv) said:

Folks – we serve an amazing, almighty and powerful God who He is not bound by time and space - He stands outside of eternity! We serve an incredible God who did not need to create humankind through a series of drafts (evolution) until He got it right - first through some primal elements, then through some unknown ancestors who lived in the ocean, then through cavemen. He did not need to create this world through millions of purposeless years where no human beings would exist and where death and the survival of the fittest would prevail.

Folks - our God is much bigger than that, please don't limit Him. He created man perfect in His image, the first time around. Human beings can stand with their chins up knowing they were created in the image of God. When God created the world, it was "good". He created a beautiful place where peace and joy reigned, not death and violence. You can give good pastoral care to those who come to you discouraged with life, finding no purposes in it, that there is a purpose in life - God has created us to have a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.

The book of Genesis is not simply poetry or another theological statement - the Psalms are considered poetic books – not Genesis. The book of Genesis is a historical book, including the first 11 chapters – Jesus Himself affirmed this in the Gospels “at the beginning He created man and woman”. There is nothing in known scientific data which would contradict the Genesis narrative, on the contrary.

I simply reject the theory of evolution, a theory which serves to fuel secular humanism and atheism – a theory which is entirely based on assumptions and philosophies, not on indisputable facts. From a theological perspective, a belief in evolution - theistic or not - also appears to negate the fall of man and the need for salvation and redemption because it puts death before the creation of man and not the other way around as the Apostle Paul would assert.

Folks – what a mighty God we serve!!

On Tuesday, March 10, 2009, Lorne Pritchett said:

Thanks for the articulate and insightful comments. This is a subject that we need to pay some attention to. It has slowly faded to the background as if it is inconsequential. Unfortunately, secular society will not, perhaps cannot, let it go. It is the source of nagging and discouraging doubts for so many. Every day, thousands of students sit in classrooms where evolution is taught as fact in such a way that Biblical creation is placed among the many similar 'fairy tale' propositions that occur in a variety of religious writings. The integrity of scripture from Genesis to Revelation is an issue that for which we need to stand up, stand out and stand firm.

Keep the faith!

Lorne

On Monday, March 9, 2009, Major John Gerard said:

Do I firmly believe in creation taking 6 days - Yes. When one looks at the heavens through the most modern telecopes I am left with this belief - earth is so tiny in comparison to other heavenly bodies.The limitless space makes our earth a minute in real time to create and a little longer to cover the earth in a perfect Eden.I have heard the debates all my life and nothing will shake me from the truths of Scripture. Sorry, six days is it! There is so much more to dwell upon, for example, purity of Spirit. Make the better choices for debate. Blessings!

On Monday, March 9, 2009, Cadet Jeff Arkell said:

Six days or millions of years. I do not think it really matters.

What the Genesis text affirms is that creation was an initiative of God. I believe that the creation accounts that we read are a theological statement rather than an attempt at a scientific explaination of creation. The text does not seek to offer any other explanation. How God did it, only God knows.

On Monday, March 9, 2009, Major (Dr.) Dawn Howse said:

I believe in a God who could have created in six literal days, but I also believe we get too hung up on the concept of time, just as the religious leaders centuries ago got upset that Earth was not the center of the universe.
I think it's fantastic and an amazing revelation through the Holy Spirit that the poetic summary of Genesis 1 can encompass the big bang theory and the progressive creation of Earth and its inhabitants, in the same order that evolutionary theory presents it. I believe in a God who is big enough to stand outside time, in eternity, and time itself was part of His creation of our "Big Bang". Even more marvelous is the fact that He loved us enough to limit Himself inside time and inside a frail human body to die for us, and give us the awesome privilege of living forever in His home, beyond time, and beyond our brain-limited visions of Heaven. I'm so excited over those possibilities that I could hardly wait to die, if I wasn't enjoying life so much!

On Friday, March 6, 2009, Capt Patrick Lublink said:

I probably would stand at odds with most SA officers but not with the Evangelical world in general when I state that I unequivocally believe in a literal six-day creation. I have studied this with much passion over three decades I have come very confident in this. This point of view is gaining acceptance in many circles, thanks to the efforts of a number of creationist societies around the globe.

I have a lot of respects for those who believe that God could have created through evolution if He wanted to - I just don't believe there is any scientific evidence for this. I believe that the scientific evidence points to a recent creation by an almighty God. A belief in evolution - theistic or not - also appears to negate the fall of man and the need for salvation and redemption.

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