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Old Earth Creationism Ernst Mayr has observed that mans world view today is dominated by evolution. a quote from The Facts on Creation vs Evolution. Not everyone would agree. The term creationism was first used in the early years of the church to describe the belief that God creates a soul for each human being, though there are various ideas as to when this happens at conception, at birth, or some period in-between. However the term is now used to describe a belief in the Biblical Genesis account of the origins of the world and its inhabitants. This is as opposed to the theory of evolution as opposed by Darwin.
However, for some the two ideas are not as opposed as they are for other people. All creationists would agree with the opening words of Genesis 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth but words such as The third day, and Thus the heavens and the earth were finished Genesis 2 v 1 prove more problematic for some. According to scripture Genesis 9 - 13 on the third day the land appeared and plants grew to maturity and produced fruit and seed. There is no evidence from the text that this was done in anything but a natural way, so we are talking of a considerable period of time. The same idea is there on the sixth day. Not only did God create man and woman, but he created all the animals, thousands of different types, and these were brought before Adam to name.
One estimate is that just this naming would, at 2 seconds per animal, have taken 25 days. Old Earth Creationists do not see the Bible as a scientific text, but recognise passages such as that in Genesis as containing both scientific and spiritual truths nevertheless. This enables them to reconcile belief in a creator God, who cares for his creation, with the scientific ideas that developed in the 19 th century regarding the age of the earth and how it has developed over the millennia. Included in this is the idea of evolution. Their ideas have been summed up by L. H.
Edmiston as a divinely ordered gradual process of evolution. -as quoted by Theistic Science. The Near Earth Web page talks of objects of various sizes that orbited the sun and its writers believe that when some of these collided with the earth they brought with them the carbon and water that made life possible. Lyell, in his Principles of Geology, published in the 1830 s, argued that the earth was as it was as the result of extended and gradual development. Then along came Charles Darwin in 1859 with the Origin of Species. Up to this point most people had read the Genesis accounts as factually as they read a report in the newspaper. Bibles would have marginal notes with Archbishop Users dates at the side i.
e. a date of 4004 B. C. for the creation. Despite Darwin there were many who continued to believe as previously. Others however began to ask questions such as Is it possible that these accounts are not meant to be taken literally, but rather represent mans relationship with God and with the world as seen by the writers, men of a pre-scientific era.
Old earth creationists accept the order in which things happened. What they query is the length of a day taking it to be many millennia, rather than 24 hours. Although often seen as a new idea it has been around as long as Christianity. Many of those we describe as the Christian fathers, Eusebius, Basil, Origen and many more, held such beliefs according to Dr Ross of Wheaton University.
The Hebrew word Yom can mean 12 hours, that is sunrise to sunset in the middle east, 24 hours, or an indefinite and much longer period of time. These various meanings can be supported from scripture, for example in Genesis 2 v 4 all six days of creation are referred to as one day. Also the seventh day is not closed as the others are by the words, There was evening, there was morning, a day. Various interpretations of these words are held by Christian leaders, but almost all are in agreement that belief in the big bang and an ancient earth is not a doctrinal problem. Dr. Ross and the Reasons To Believe staff are providing a much-needed voice showing that science does not have to deny God.
In fact, when science is approached without a naturalistic bias, it provides strong evidence for the existence of the Biblical God. - John Ankerberg, March 2004 He would have been thinking of scientific evidence such as the fossil record found in detail on the Fossil Record Home Page. Fossils are the remains of creatures, plants, animals and others that can be found in rock layers or sedimentary strata all over the earth. They are found in a consistent order i. e. more primitive forms are lower down in the layers, and some die out all together or evolve into more complex forms. This applies not just to primitive life forms, but also to much more complex ones.
Paleontologists study these fossils in order to understand what has happened in the history of life on earth. t would be hard for anyone who is looking a these facts objectively to come to any conclusion than that the earth developed over a very long time. There is also the evidence form geology. Scientists today can carefully measure such things as the heights of mountains and can prove that these vary over time as mountain rise and fall according to what is happening deep within the earth.
Often quoted are the words of 2 nd Peter 3 v 8 But do not ignore this fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years. Peter is quoting from Psalm 90 v 4. In Deut. 7 v 9, and in other places, we are told that the laws of God have been proclaimed for a thousand generations. The literalist's, even if they took a generation to mean 20, rather than the conventionally accepted 30 or even 40 years, would have to calculate this as at least 20, 000 years. Another name for old-earth creationism is progressive creationism, because its proponents believe that various species were created at various times over the millennia as can be seen from the fossil records mentioned earlier. We also know that climate on the earth has changed considerably as can be seen from evidence such as that found in central London when Nelsons column was put in place and lion and hippo bones were dug up according to the B.
B. C. Time Team programme. On trips to places such as Gozo, an island in the Mediterranean, or to the Dorset coast of England, fossils of all kinds of creature can be found jumbled up in the rocks. If the rocks were created at one time, as according to the Bible record, how did these creatures find their way into the rocks? One flood, even if it had encompassed the whole earth, cannot really explain such things.
This day-age belief comes close to what is known as theistic evolution which, while it acknowledges God as creator, does not accept the idea that he made only one couple in the first instance, i. e. they say that Adam was not the first man and that Genesis 1 and 2 are meant to be read purely as metaphors. The Scofield Reference Bible, first published in 1909, has a variation on this idea with what is called the gap-day theory.
The idea behind this is that creation took place as recorded, but that there were long gaps between the days. It is largely as a result of this Bible that much of the 20 th century debate on the subject has developed, but it was after all only one mans idea and no evidence seems to have been found to support it. Another form of belief in a creator God is held by the Young Earth Creationists. Despite the scientific evidence that has been collected over many years, this group, mainly from the U. S. A. , believe that the earth was created in only 6 days, about 6, 000 years ago.
They discard geological evidence or else say it is as a result of the great flood recorded in Genesis 7. They also say that the fossil record came about as a result of the same flood. If one considers the Grand Canyon while Old Earthers would say that it was formed, and continues to be formed by the river that flows through it as stated by the geologists. Even a casual observer can see the many layers of rock that the river has cut through. New Earthers seem able to reject this idea and would again claim that it all happened at once, within a 24 hour period when the earth was created, despite the fact that they must be able to see the work of erosion around them. They happily reject much of modern science, because they see it as in opposition to their beliefs.
A few of this group look to cosmology to support and promote their ideas. They say that there are not enough remnants of supernovae to be seen in the universe to support the idea of an ancient earth. They believe the numbers to be found are consistent with the idea of a young earth and that this is supported by the fact that there are no ancient super novae to be seen. They claim that the absence of evidence to support their theological views scientifically is because of censorship and prejudice against them.
Most Jewish commentators on these passages do not hold such views, though Abraham Ibn Ezra (c 1089 1164) is often quoted by Young Earth Creationists because his famous commentaries stick firmly to the literal meaning of the text in contrast to other rabbis who tended to use metaphor or Cabalistic points of view. It can be seen from the above differences, that creationism isnt exact. It is impossible to define it without defining the exact kind that is being talked about. But, if as the vast majority agree, it is not a matter of great doctrinal significance, why does the church spend so much time and energy discussing it rather than getting on with its real work? Bibliography Ankerburg, J, and Weldon J. , The Facts on Creation vs Evolution Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 1993 Downey, T. organising editor, The History of Christianity.
Tring, Lion Publishing PLC, 1980 English, D. et al, editors The Lion Handbook o f Christian Belief. Tring: Lion Publishing PLC, 1988 Goring, R. , editor, Chambers Dictionary of Religious Beliefs, Edinburgh: Chambers, 1992 Lindsell, H. , editor, Eyre and Spottiswood Study Bible, Revised Standard Version, London: 1965 Scofield, C. Scofield Reference Bible Oxford: Oxford University Press 1909 Electronic Sources Ankerburg, John found April 26 th 2007 at web Abraham ibn Ezra found 26 th April 2007 at web About: Agnosticism/ Atheism agnosticism found 25 th April 2007 at web The Fossil Record found 30 th April 2007 at web God and Science Organisation found 25 th April 2007 at web Near Earth Objects found 30 th April 2007 web Old Earth Network found 26 th April 2007 at web Sun earth distance found 30 th April 2007 web Supernova found 25 th April 2007 at web Theistic Science found 26 th April 2007 at web Time Team, B.
B. C. 23 rd April 2007
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