Few people doubt that the Bible intends to teach that the creation is young. The genealogies of the Old Testament are actual reproductions of the calendar system used in most ancient times. Posted on 02/07/2014 3:11:21 PM PST by fwdude
Genesis 1:1
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
Just when was the “beginning” when God created the heavens and the earth, as spoken of in Genesis 1:1? In these days when scientists talk about “billions” of years, the question of what the Bible says on the matter of origins becomes even more important.
Few people doubt that the Bible intends to teach that the creation is young. The genealogies of the Old Testament are actual reproductions of the calendar system used in most ancient times.
While the subject is very complicated, we can share with you the calculations done by some well-known Christians. You are probably familiar with Bishop Ussher’s calculation that creation took place in 4004 B.C. But did you know that no less than the great scientist Kepler calculated that creation took place in 3877? Martin Luther calculated that creation took place in 3961 B.C. The very oldest ages arrived at through calculations based on Scripture say the creation is about 7,500 years old.
For the Christian, the question of the age of the creation can only be answered on the basis of Scripture. There is no question that Scripture gives us more than enough information to conclude that the creation is young and that God wants us to know it. After that, it is simply a matter of whether we accept Scripture’s authority.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, help my thinking not to be conformed to this world, but help me to be transformed by Your renewing of my mind so that my faith in Your clear Word is unshakable. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Notes:
Painting: Archbishop James Ussher, painted by Peter Lely (1618–1680).
I pretty much do. If God had thought it important enough to make sure the exact date of Creation was known, I believe he would have inspired man to provide it.
If you look at the Ten Commandments, Sabbath Observance, and the acceptance of Salvation through faith, I believe you’ll note that a belief in a firm date concerning Creation is not a must to be saved.
The ambiguity, thus leaves me thinking it’s not an issue that has to have a firm answer.
There are gaps between stories and figures in the Bible. Age is also not given in known years. Way too much guessing to say there is a specific timeline given.
It says (among other things) that God is not bound by time. Time is not irrelevant to God (He invented it after all) but he’s not bound by it. And time looks completely different to Him than it does to us. I believe the creation story is told from God’s eye view.
Do you celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday?
“For the Christian, the question of the age of the creation can only be answered on the basis of Scripture.”
I don’t think it’s answered at all in scripture. Time as we know it is directly tied to the speed of light. We look at it as a constant... roughly one foot per nanosecond, But there is a lot of evidence that in the beginning it was much faster. So if time is not linear, and we don’t know what the bounds are, we are not in a position to measure it from the beginning.
The question is from what point did he live, from his creation or from his expulsion? An argument can be made for either.
He was immortal and then became mortal. Years of age would seem irrelevant to an immortal being.
The Genesis passage you quote does not settle the question.
Did you read my last sentence, it agrees with that statement somewhat....God has a different view of time than we do...although II Peter 3:8 notes the thousand years as one day, etc. I gave scripture for my view, and the time noted in the NT.
What's the difference. A million or a billion is no difference to God.
I agree, but I think it is reasoned to take comments like this in context.
In Genesis it clearly defines the day. The evening and the morning were the first day. Now we could debate what the evening and morning were in the first few days of creation, but I don’t think it’s necessary. We do know that these same markers were used in each of the days, so it seems conventional days as we know them were being addressed.
Now, if we’re talking about a being that is everlasting, always has been and will always be (something most of us can’t wrap our pointy little heads around), it is germane to mention his overall clock compared to ours.
We last 50-100 years, generally around 70 or so. Is it easy to fathom God’s lingering in these time frames? Probably not. If you think of God’s time frame though, it is true that a 1000 years might be more like a day of His. (Most likely an exaggeration even then, but it does make things more understandable for common man IMO.) Is there even a day night comparison in Heaven? If there is no sleep for God, it would be rather easy to see 1000 years as being no more than a day is for us (I suppose).
I think the 1000 years was a basic reference and I have never seen a million or billion years and I have read the Bible through many times, but if you can find it....I will apologize.
I do believe in that. I wouldn’t say I have been faithful in it’s observance. Push comes to shove, I recognize it as that.
That’s a perfect question. Adam was created with the appearance of age.
Obviously I can’t find it because it was written during a time when people could not conceive of a number bigger than 10,000.
If God had told people the universe was 14 billion years old it would have meant NOTHING to them. So why confuse them.
At one time man lived a lot longer, in Genesis Methuselah lived 969 years...a far cry from where we are now. Sin demoted us to only a promise of four score and ten (70 yrs).
That’s quite a big drop.
Yes, during Creation the Big Bang could have been days as we know them, or days as stated in II Peter 3:8, and since we weren’t there we should let God be God.
“It’s going to be real important come election season where instead of talking about Obamacare and unemployment, every candidate running with an (R) after their name is going to have to field “gotcha” questions from the media on how old they think the earth is.”
And the answer to that should be... “I have no idea”, measured by today’s measurements.
I only have broadcast TV. And here the 7th day Adventists have 4 channels. Never really paid much attention to them before. They have some pretty solid doctrine. But I never realize how central the Saturday Sabbath was to them. It seems if you don’t celebrate on Saturday you are toast to them.
I agree with that.
I should back up there...
Because of the evening and the morning definitions used, I’m going to have to say that I think of creation in normal 24 hour day format.
I didn’t want to make it seem like I was caving on that issue.
As for when creation took place, I agree that we should let God be God.
Starting from the "Fall", or starting from his creation?
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