Biblical Creationism

There are a number of passages in the Bible that are very difficult to understand. There are other passages that people understand but simply don’t like. Then there is another class of passages – verses that people simply do not believe. In the past this third category was quite small, but recently there has been an ever-growing number of Christians who read the Bible and dismiss large portions of it. It is no longer considered shocking or horrifying to say that you disagree with the Bible. In fact, it’s all the rage. At one time that would have considered proof of heresy, but today it’s quite fashionable. The church has abandoned the idea of inerrancy – but as I have already defended inerrancy elsewhere I will not dwell on it here.

If I had to pick one passage that I thought was the most rejected passage out of the entire Bible (and I mean rejected by those who call themselves believers), it would be this one:

Exodus 20:11: “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

The Christian Church today does not believe that God created the world in six days. This idea is mocked, laughed at, and ridiculed. It is seen as an insane, extreme position that is as embarrassing as believing that the Earth is flat or that the Moon is made of cheese. There are very few churches left that would agree with Exodus 20:11. Scientists have told us that God did no such thing, so the Church has obediently abandoned this verse and moved on. A pattern has been established: the culture tells us that divorce is acceptable, so the Church agrees. The culture says that homosexuality is normal and good, so the Church abandons its position against it. The culture says that abortion is simply a woman’s right to choose, so the Church makes peace with it. In all of these fights the Bible’s position has not changed, but the Church has changed tremendously. It has tried hard to win the approval of the world by abandoning the teachings of the Bible. Unfortunately, this has severe consequences, as the Lord plainly tells us that “friendship with the world is enmity with God”. A Church that has won the world’s approval is one that has lost God’s approval.

Now, there are scores of people who have tried very hard to reinterpret “six days” to mean “14 billion years”. However, let’s be honest about it: the Bible doesn’t say anything remotely like this. No one has ever read Genesis 1 and came away thinking “Oh, life came to exist gradually over incredibly long periods of time, as simple organisms gave rise to more complex ones.” The chapter doesn’t even hint at this line of thinking; in fact, it directly contradicts it. The reason that people do this is because they hear the culture saying that evolution created the world, and so they look for creative ways to force this interpretation upon the chapter. This is not because anyone believes that the actual Hebrew text of the chapter has really been teaching evolution all along, and people simply overlooked it for 4000 years. No, it is because today’s culture has decided that evolution is the truth, and there are many people who are willing to “reinterpret” rather straightforward passages of the Bible so that they agree with whatever our culture wants them to say. The great problem with this is that it simply does not work. It is impossible to reconcile evolution with Genesis because the Bible goes out of its way to contradict evolution. The Bible really does teach that God created the world in six days.

If you stop and read what the first chapter in the Bible has to say, you can’t escape the idea that the person who wrote it actually, honestly believed that the entire universe was created in just six ordinary days. For example, look at how many times the phrase “evening and morning” is associated with the word “day”:

Genesis 1:5: “And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. …
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. …
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day. …
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. …
23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. …
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

In the Jewish culture, a day consists of an evening and a morning. No Jew who read this chapter could escape the idea that these days were ordinary days, not vast ages of time. God could not possibly have communicated this any clearer to a Jewish audience. Exactly six days are mentioned, with the phrase “evening and morning” attached to each one. Just in case we missed it, this “six day” idea is repeated in Exodus 20:11, which I quoted at the top of the paper. What that verse is saying is that God wanted Israel to work six days and rest one day because God worked six days and rested one day. If God had actually created the world over an incredibly long stretch of time then that would have been a great place to mention this fact, but no such mention can be found. Instead the Bible uses the word “day” each time it talks about creation – not words like “year”, or “age”, or “unfathomable period of time”.

Keep in mind that if God had wanted to say that evolution created the world, He could have easily done so. But Genesis does not even hint that the life forms we see today arose from more primitive ancestors. Instead it says that they sprouted out fully-formed, with sea life and birds appearing at the same time, and land animals appearing later – something no evolutionist would agree with:

Genesis 1:21: “And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his 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 fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”

This tells us that birds and fish were created on day five, while land animals were created on day six. This doesn’t “basically agree” with evolution; it directly contradicts it. Evolution teaches that fish gave rise to land animals, which in turn eventually gave rise to birds. No evolutionist would agree that birds existed before land animals. That idea is considered to be preposterous – but it is what Genesis 1 says.

The Bible goes even further than that, however, and claims that plants existed before stars:

Genesis 1:12: “And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And 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 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon 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 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.”

In other words, Genesis 1 says that on the third day God created plants, grasses, herbs, and trees. Then, on the fourth day, God created the Sun, Moon, and stars. Once again, this does not “basically agree” with evolution; this contradicts it. No evolutionist would agree that plant life existed before the Sun did. Evolution teaches that the stars existed for billions of years before the first plant ever took root. The Bible, however, says that plants came first.

Anyone who interprets Genesis 1 in a normal, straightforward manner cannot escape the idea that it really does teach that God created the world in six days. Think about it: if God was trying to say that He used evolution to create the world then He did an unbelievably poor job. Instead of using words that convey enormous periods of time, He used the word “day” over and over, and then took the extra step of defining the word “day” to mean an “evening and morning” – something any Jew would interpret to mean an ordinary day, not an age of time. Instead of saying that the stars were created first, then the Earth, then plants, then sea creatures, then land animals, and then birds, He instead said that the Earth was created first, then plants, and then the stars came long – followed by fish and birds at the same time, then land animals came later. Instead of saying that one kind of living creature gradually turned into more complex creatures He insisted that each animal reproduced after its own kind:

Genesis 1:24: “And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”

And just in case that was too complicated to follow, this same idea was repeated in the New Testament:

Hebrews 11:3: “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

This is not “basically the same” as evolution, as many people have claimed. This is a direct and total contradiction of it. You simply cannot read Genesis 1 in a normal, straightforward way and come away thinking that it teaches evolution. The only way to do it is to take one of three approaches:

• Reinterpret words to mean things that they don’t mean and have never meant. For example, some have said that the word “day” means “a long age of time”, and that “evening and morning” refer to the start and end of that period. They then say that these ages overlapped and some took place before others, even though the text itself presents them in a strict chronological order. However, it is fundamentally dishonest to interpret words to mean the opposite of what they actually mean, especially when there is no textual support for it. If your approach to interpreting the Bible is to say “Well, I want this passage to say this, so I’m going to change the meaning of words until it says what I want it to say”, then you are doing it wrong.
• You can dismiss the entire chapter (or the first 11 chapters of Genesis, for that matter) as a myth. Some argue it’s not intended to be history at all; it’s simply a make-believe fable filled with “spiritual truths”. However, doing this has severe consequences, which we’ll get to in a moment.
• You can say Genesis 1 is just plain wrong. This is much more honest than trying to force the chapter to say something it doesn’t actually say. However, this also has consequences.

Some people see this entire discussion as a rather minor issue. Rather than debate it or defend what the Bible teaches, they would rather move on to more pressing matters. However, I believe that this is an extremely serious issue. The reason I believe it boils down to this: if evolution is true then Christianity is false. The two belief systems are mutually exclusive. They cannot both be true at the same time.

Now, I realize there are many Christians who believe in evolution, and I am not doubting their salvation. I am not saying that belief in evolution will send you to Hell. What I am saying is that if evolution is actually true then it is not possible for anyone to be saved.

You see, the Bible tells us that before man sinned nothing ever died. The sin of man is what brought death into the world:

Romans 5:12: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”

The Scriptures go on to say that death is an enemy, but one day God will put an end to it:

1 Corinthians 15:26: “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

In other words, the Bible says that God created a perfect world in which there was no suffering, pain, or death. However, mankind sinned, and that sin brought death into the world and upon all creation. Christ then came to provide a solution to this problem. Since death was caused by the actions of one man, it was possible for the sacrifice of one man to undo sin and provide salvation:

Romans 5:17: “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. …
18 Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”

Now, as an aside, it will not do to say that the death this speaks of is a simple spiritual death, and that physical death is normal. Christ did not die a spiritual death on the cross: He died a genuine, brutal, physical death. Nor did He experience a spiritual resurrection, with His body remaining in the tomb. He took on Himself the punishment for sin, which was physical death – and then experienced the joys of physical resurrection. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is not spiritual death, but physical death. The Bible is very clear on this point.

The reason this is important is because the gospel message depends upon the idea that there was no death before Adam sinned, and everyone today who dies does so because of what Adam did. (As a technical point, we do not die because Adam sinned; we die because we inherit Adam’s sin nature, which causes us to sin and therefore become worthy of death. But that is beyond the scope of this paper.) As Romans 5:19 points out, the obedience of one man is sufficient to save us only because the disobedience of one man is what made us all sinners. But all of this hinges on a couple key points: that Adam was the first man, that there was no death before Adam, and the Fall in the Garden actually happened. Notice that all of these points depend upon Genesis 1-3 being literally true.

What happens if you dismiss Genesis 1-11 as myth? In that case there is no Adam, or Fall. However, since there is no Adam, there can be no salvation either. The gospel becomes a myth as well, and our faith becomes vain. Interpreting the “days” of Genesis 1 to be “billions of years” does not help either, because evolution depends upon death. In order for evolution to work its magic there must be countless generations of living creatures that are born, live, have offspring, and then die. Biblical creationism says that death is the enemy, inflicted upon the world because of Adam’s sin. Evolution says that death is a friend who has always been here. Biblical creationism says that pain, suffering, cancer, disease, and destruction were not a part of God’s original creation and came into existence because of sin, and that one day God will put an end to them. Evolution says that pain, suffering, cancer, disease, and destruction were a vital part of our creation and are simply how the world works.

To put this another way – Biblical creationism says that God created a perfect world in which there was no suffering or death, and then mankind ruined it through sin. Theistic evolution says that God deliberately created a world filled with suffering, cancer, and death, and then used death for billions of years to eventually bring about the birth of mankind. These two Gods could not be more different. One of them hates death, sees it as an enemy, and has vowed to destroy it. The other loves death and used it for billions of years – and then lied to all of us, saying there was no such thing as death before a mythical Adam sinned.

Evolution is not a trivial matter: it is an attack on the very heart of the gospel. It attacks the character of God and the accuracy of the Bible. It is a devastating belief system. If it is true then none of us can be saved, and God is a sadistic liar who enjoys tormenting creatures for no real purpose.

For what it’s worth, Jesus was not an evolutionist. He believed that the world was created in six days. We can find this in Mark:

Mark 10:6: “But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.”

Evolutionists laugh at statements like this. According to their belief system, the male/female distinction did not appear “at the beginning of creation”. In fact, something like 10 billion years supposedly went by without any life forms existing anywhere. It wasn’t until quite recently (in the past two billion years or so) that male and female organisms arose. In other words, according to evolution, the male/female distinction occurred near the very end of creation, not at its beginning. The only way you could say that God made them male and female from the very beginning is if you believed that God created the world in six days.

Now, some might argue that Jesus was simply mistaken – that He had accepted the values of His culture and just didn’t know any better. The problem with this theory is that Jesus is actually the one Who created the world in the first place:

Colossians 1:13: “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:”

In other words, the very same person that died for us and shed His blood for us is the same One who created all things. If Jesus used billions of years of suffering, pain, and death to create the world, He certainly could have said so – but instead He stuck to the Genesis account, believing that people like Abel were real people who actually existed.

The point I am trying to make is that the Bible does not teach evolution; as you can see, it directly contradicts it, and does so in very plain language. Furthermore, the Bible cannot be reconciled with evolution: if evolution is true then Christianity is false. The two are mutually exclusive. If evolution is accurate then the Bible is wrong, and all of Christianity is nothing but a hoax. However, if the Bible is accurate – and I believe it is – then evolution must be wrong, and those who believe evolution and support it are also wrong. They may be quite sincere and they may think that they have a good case, but they are mistaken.

The real question is one of authority. Who do you ultimately believe is the source of truth? Is your authority the Word of God or the culture around you? There are some people who say “The Bible is true, and it says certain things, so those things must be true no matter what anyone else says.” There are others who say “The Bible says this, but the culture disagrees. Therefore, the Bible must be wrong.” There are still others who say “This is what the Bible teaches, but I disagree with it. Therefore, I am right and the Bible is wrong.” These views are radically different. The first person uses the Word of God as their source of truth. The second person uses the culture – and the third uses themselves. (As a side-note, I hope you realize that these views do not mix well. If you are willing to go along with the Bible most of the time, but you will occasionally reject it for personal reasons, then claiming that the Bible is your ultimate authority is silly. Your true ultimate authority is what you use to override everything else.)

As Christians, our source of truth must be the Bible. It can never be the ever-changing culture around us, whose standards differ from generation to generation. If we are evaluating the Bible by what the culture tells us, then the Bible isn’t our source of truth – our culture is. What is even worse is to evaluate the Bible in the light of what we think, instead of letting the Bible tell us how we should think. There is a world of difference between the two.

Jesus was quite clear as to what our source of truth should be:

Matthew 4:4: “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

The reason we can do this is because every word of God is flawless, and fully able to be trusted – but those who add to it are liars:

Proverbs 30:5: “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”

Notice that this verse does not say “Every word of God should be subjected to whatever the culture around you has to say. Feel free to add to God’s Word or take away from it as you deem it necessary.” It is simple, direct, and to the point: God’s Word can be trusted, but those who would add to it, or replace it with something else, are liars.

This point is repeated in the New Testament, where we are told that the Bible really is all we need:

2 Timothy 3:15: “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

Note the clarity of this passage! All scripture was inspired by God. All of it is trustworthy. Verse 17 tells us that the Scripture was given so that we might be “perfect”, and have what we need to accomplish all good works. That means the Scriptures left nothing out. There are no truths that we need that are not found in its pages. There are no works that we can only accomplish with doctrines found outside its pages. Christ echoed this, pointing out that the Scriptures could not be wrong:

John 10:35: “If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;”

Jesus also expected people to know the Bible:

Matthew 22:29: “Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.”

Of course, Jesus knew the Bible quite well, and frequently used it to support His teachings. He was not of the opinion that part of it could be trusted, but other parts could not, and that in either case the culture had the final say. However, this is a topic I’ve discussed at length elsewhere so I will not elaborate here.

Let me point out that there are a great many scientific reasons for believing that God created the world in six days, and for believing that evolution is merely a modern superstition, but that is beyond the scope of this paper. In a sense the science is not the real issue anyway. You see, facts do not speak for themselves; they have to be interpreted, and a person’s presuppositions have a tremendous impact on how they interpret facts. The same fact can be interpreted in wildly different ways, depending on your assumptions.

For example, a few years ago a researcher found live blood cells inside a bone that once belonged to a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Creationists looked at that and said “See, this is proof that dinosaurs lived recently.” Evolutionists looked at it and said “See, this is proof that blood cells can survive for millions of years under the right conditions.” The evidence was the same, but since the presuppositions were different the two groups arrived at completely different conclusions. That is why there is no such thing as “evidence for creation” or “evidence for evolution”. What matters is how you interpret the evidence. The way you interpret it will depend on what you believe – and what you believe depends on who your authority is. As the blood cell example demonstrates, if your authority is the Bible then you will interpret the scientific evidence in light of what it teaches. If your authority is yourself then you will interpret the evidence in light of what you already believe. If your evidence is your culture then you will use modern assumptions to interpret the evidence.

For example, the Bible strongly condemns homosexuality. Those whose authority is the Bible looks at that and says “See, this is proof that we live in a depraved culture that needs God.” Those whose authority is their culture look at those same verses and say “See, this is proof that the Bible is a bigoted, homophobic book that should be banned for its intolerant attitudes.” Those whose authority is themselves look at the verses and say “See, this is evidence that the Bible is mired in its times. Times have changed, so those verses just aren’t important anymore.” In each case the verse says the same thing, but completely different conclusions are reached. The belief system drives the interpretation.

The final question is this: who do you believe, and why? Who is your authority? By whose orders are you living your life – by God’s Word, by your words, or by the words of your peers? The answer will make an enormous difference on how you life your life – and on where you spend eternity.