Recently I was asked about my beliefs pertaining to the Biblical account of Creation. I thought I'd share it with the rest of you since I actually decided to write this much... Keep in mind I was speaking with a Christian so some of you non-Christians will without a doubt disagree with a lot of my statements. Here is what I said:

I suppose I'll give you my background when it comes to Creation before I say anything. As far back as 3rd grade I'd read about the Big Bang and other theories regarding how the universe began. I became an Evolutionist long before I ever became a Creationist or Christian even though I had a very poor understanding of Evolution at the time.

Years after becoming a Christian while in high school I'd lay awake at night for hours trying to breed Evolution with Creationism. All of my thoughts simply tried to fit millions if not billions of years between Gen. 1:1 and the Great Flood. Some ideas resembled that of the Gap Theory where God "re-created" everything during the days of Creation after a massive extinction (could come about by anything from asteroids to battles between angels and demons). Other theories might be a bit more "odd" which put the Garden of Eden on another planet.

Whatever I did, it seemed I contradicted scripture in some way because of me adding things to scripture. I then started going to college and this was the first time I had ever heard of Young-Earth Creationism while the person presenting was smart enough to use correct grammar. All I'd heard before was, "I ain't come from no monkey!" If there is such a thing as a Hyper Young Earth Creationist, I had become that. I'd look down on anyone who even hinted towards believing in an old earth.

I've thankfully changed since then and am hopefully less of a Pharisee. Now my basic belief is God created everything with intention and perfection but that creation fell along the way. How long it took, I do not know. I do still lean towards Young Earth Creationism and anytime I question one who believes in an old earth it's more of a question of why they believe it than what.

Let me explain. I know longer criticize Old Earth Creationists for that reason so long as they are believe so with the right motivation. Are they believing in an old earth because they've studied the text and that was their conclusion or are they not believing in a young earth because of spiritual reasons? If God's creating ability is doubted for example, we have a problem.

I honestly don't care as much about how old the earth is but more the heart of the people studying the text. If a person believes Genesis chapter one and two is poetic and symbolic of something greater, go right ahead. If a person does not believe Adam and Eve were tempted in the garden, we might have a problem. If a person believes God created everything in the beginning and has been hands off, not involved in the world since, then there is another problem.

Now let's look at some of my own thoughts regarding the creation story and some of why I am not such a Hyper Young Earth Creationist anymore.

I think there is good evidence for the days of creation to be literal. At the end of each day it says, "And there was evening, and there was morning—the (insert number here) day." This statement adds to the meaning of day possibly being literal.

Despite the literal nature of each day, taking a look at the structure of the first chapter gives evidence of poetry. Let me explain:

Day 1 - light is parallel with Day 4 - sun.

Day 2 - water and sky is parallel with Day 5 - sea creatures and birds.

Day 3 - land is parallel with Day 6 - land creatures, a.k.a. humans and animals.

Day 7 - conclusion to the matter.

Did God create the days to be in this parallel nature or am I looking into the text too much? If this is indeed poetical then should this be taken literal or figurative of something else? I honestly do not know.

By the way, I'm writing this more to make you think than giving you an answer. :P

Some people argue in a Gap Theory. The Gap Theory states there is a gap of millions if not billions of years between verse 1 and 2 of Genesis 1. I do not take this approach in part for several reasons which are as follows: (but will give some argument against my stance)

1. Verse 1 seems to be a title for the chapter more than an event happening prior to verse 2. (But was there something preexisting before verse 2?)

2. If the dinosaurs and life lived before the fall of man then they also would have died during the fall of man. Was there death and sickness before Adam and Eve's fall? Did their fall affect all of creation or just their spiritual lives?

3. Adding this much seems to be looking too far into the text and makes argumentation out of silence. (But the Bible doesn't clarify this to be a short length of time (though would it if it's simply a title?))

Now let's continue past chapter 1 of Genesis. God created man, the fall of man, and the time up to the flood. According to Genesis, Adam was created and there is a genealogy tracing him to Noah with the ages of each parent during the time of the son's birth. Due to this time frame, it's clear there is (give or take 50 years) 2000 years between the creation of man and the Great Flood.

You state this may not be a literal year but a longer length of time. My biggest problem with this is when does the physical take the place of the literal? Does Noah live to be 950 million years old while his son Shem only lived to be 500 years old (11:10)? Even many generations later Abraham lived to be 165 (25:7). Who's age was figurative and who's was literal? How is this determined?

After looking at all of this information. I simply do not know where to put millions of years without scripture being degraded in some way (unless it is actually supposed to be interpreted figuratively).

Well those are some of my thoughts regarding Creation and my overall conclusion is... I don't know. In cases like this I'll quote a professor of mine from a sermon he preached, "I know this seems crazy but trust and obey." Romans 11:33-36 is also relevant and Duet. 29:29 states, "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law."

God does not give us a science or history book to explain to us all the details of how we got here, he told us what we needed to know. He created us, he loves us despite our turning from him, and we will one day live with him forever if we repent and follow.