There have been many attempts made by Christians to reinterpret the Genesis account of creation in order for their accepted theories of modern geology to be compatible. These attempts are namely, theistic evolution, progressive creation, and the gap theory. There is only one reason why Christians compromise with Genesis in this manner; they have believed modern geologists who claim to have evidence that the earth is millions of years old, and then they look for places where they can incorporate millions of years into the Bible. I know that the Bible does not reveal all the details of God's creation in modern scientific terms, but to believe modern geologists and millions of years is nothing less than believing the words of man (science) instead of the Word of God. If you believe in one of these theories, I challenge you to consider my Revised Gapless Theory as a view of origins from a Biblical perspective, and believe in a literal reading of the book of Genesis.
THEISTIC EVOLUTION
Theistic evolution is basically a belief that God used evolution in order to create mankind. According to this theory, God created some kind of lifeform, which over millions of years evolved into monkeys, and then man. Some people even believe that God created "most" of everything we see, but man evolved from early life forms and was not created. This view really disturbs me because it shows how little people know about evolution and about the Word of God. I do not know of a single evolutionist who says they believe in theistic evolution; it is only Christians who make this claim. God and evolution are total opposites. Evolutionists know that their theory is atheistic in nature, and Christians need to start realizing this fact. Theistic evolution requires a belief that one, the theory of evolution according to modern science is true; two, there must have been millions of years of struggle and death; three, God's account of creation is not true and the Bible is wrong!
First of all, the theory of evolution is not based on true science, it is based on assumptions. True science requires investigation of the body of evidence, determining the validity of this evidence and reaching a conclusion consistent with all the facts. The body of evidence is just information, and this information can be interpreteted according to a creationist viewpoint, or an evolutionary viewpoint. The creationist viewpoint is based on the Word of God and is a view that assumes the Bible is correct. The theory of evolution is based on the word of scientists who believe that the evolutionary assumptions are correct. Fossils are a classic example. Someone finds a buried fossil and immediately, evolutionists claim that it must be millions of years old, even though the process of fossilization does not take that long. If nobody actually saw the animal buried and recorded that information, how can anybody scientifically prove the age of a sample? They cannot. Scientists have tried to determine the age of fossils and of the earth from radioactive dating methods. These dating methods require assumptions about how much of certain chemical elements were present in the beginning. How can anybody know how much of a chemical element was present "in the beginning"? There are numerous evolutionary scientists who report that these dating methods have serious problems with accuracy. If evolutionary scientists are criticizing the accuracy of their own dating methods, why should Christians believe them to be accurate and trust in them over the Word of God?
Two, can there be millions of years of struggle and death before Adam? Can there be death, disease and decay before Adam's sin of disobedience? Think about these questions, then read Genesis 2:17 and Romans 5:12.
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Gen 2:17.
As by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: Romans 5:12.
In Genesis 3:17, Because thou hast harkened to the voice of thy wife and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee not to eat: cursed is the ground for thy sake, in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life...
The Bible makes it clear that death is a consequence of Adam's sin, not the result of evolutionary struggle for survival and eventual death.
Three, I hope you believe the Bible is correct. Think about this. If you believe that certain parts of the Bible are wrong, how can you know which part is correct and which is not! By whose authority can anyone make these determinations, if not by their own? If we only rely on our own authority, how can we ever know if we are wrong? What does the Bible say?
Psalms 19:1, The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.
Romans 1:20-22, For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse. Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.
WHICH DO YOU BELIEVE?
PROGRESSIVE CREATION
The basic premise around evolution is that the present is the key to the past. Evolutionists believe in a slow gradual process for the deposition of the layers found on the earth because we do not see layers forming very fast in the present. This process is called uniformitarianism. Evolution would predict that the evolution of living species is a slow gradual process, but if correct, we should see fossil evidence for the billions of intermediate lifeforms that did not survive. The problem is that we do not see a single fossil of a non-disputed intermediate lifeform. What we see in the fossil record is numerous layers of fossils of animals who died. So how would you explain the observation that different fossils are found in different layers, being taught that the earth is millions of years old ?
A new theory was popularized several years ago by Christians called progressive creation, which believes that God created several species that survived for a long time, then died out leaving one layer of fossils. God then created more species, that died and formed another layer, etc,etc,etc, and then God created Adam and Eve. It is sad to believe that the promoters of this theory were Christian. They obviously had a low opinion of God's power, in that he could not get the creation right the first time, and therefore he created again and again and again. Two things are evident. The Christian promoters of this theory had a prior belief in millions of years, and they did not believe the Bible was correct when it said that God created everything in six days and that death entered this world through Adam's sin.
GAP THEORY
The gap theory is an interesting theory that tries to introduce millions of years into the Bible between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. It is interesting because these believers (called Gappers) fervently deny a belief in evolution and claim to believe in a literal Genesis. To the uninformed, this would sound like a pretty good belief, but it is not scientifically or Biblically sound. Although first popularized by Thomas Chalmers in the early 1800's, it is best summarized by Weston Fields (1976),
In the far distant past, God created a perfect heaven and earth (Genesis 1:1). Satan was ruler of the earth, which was inhabited by a race of men without any souls. Satan rebelled and sin entered the universe after Satan's rebellion and fall from heaven, and brought God's judgement in the form of a flood called "Lucifer's flood". All the plant, animal and human fossils upon the earth today were caused by this flood, and do not bear any genetic relationship with the plants, animals and humans living today. This flood is said to have occurred between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, and it was "Lucifer's flood" that reduced the world to a state described as "without form and void" in Genesis 1:2.
The gap theory claims the earth to be very old, possibly millions of years, based on the observation that rock layers form very slowly today. The gapper wants to believe in a six day creation and they are against evolution. One immediate problem for the gapper is that geologists and biologists use the same "geologic evidence" as a showcase for evolution. The gapper wants to believe in millions of years because of geologic evidence, but the same geologic evidence is used as proof for millions of years of evolution. This gives the gapper a dilemna, he wants to be committed to a literal Genesis, but he cannot accept the conclusions of evolution and millions of years based on the geologic column. The gapper cannot accept that the days of creation correspond to geologic periods, as some do, because of their interpretation of Genesis. He must therefore propose that God literally reshaped the earth and re-created all life in six literal days after Lucifer's flood which produced the fossils we see today.
First of all, The gap theory basically forces the idea of millions of years between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 without any regard for Biblical and scientific accuracy, and then claims to believe in a literal Genesis. Does something sound wrong with this statement? Many people have a problem with the meaning of the word literal; the problem is that they forget what the word really means. Literal means word for word accuracy. Either God's word is literally true or it is interpreted. It is impossible to have a literal interpretation; that would be an oxymoron. If one's interpretation of the Bible is contradicted by another verse in the Bible, that interpretation cannot be correct if you believe in a literal Genesis account of creation.
If God created a perfect heaven and earth, then all life on earth must also be perfect. If this "perfect life" was the source of the fossils buried by Lucifer's flood and sin entered this world by Satan's rebellion, why do these same fossils show abundant evidence for disease and deformities by modern scientific analysis. The presence of disease and deformities in fossils proves that all things could not have been perfect and sin was already present before the flood that buried them! If sin was present before God's judgement of Satan, then either the Bible is wrong or the gap theory is flawed.
Furthermore, if Lucifer's Flood was God's judgement against Satan and the earth was destroyed to a state without form and void; why did this flood not destroy the fossil record as well? What about Noah's flood? Gappers must assume it had no significance. If Noah's flood was not significant, why is the story of Noah used throughout the Bible to show God's judgement on man, and Lucifer's flood is never mentioned once? How can someone believe that Noah's flood was insignificant and then believe in a literal Genesis? Even the Bible shows the problem with the gap theory.
REVISED GAPLESS THEORY
(by Dr. Charles McCombs)
If we remove the concept of millions of years, I can propose a theory totally consistent with a literal Genesis and Biblically sound in interpretation.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1), and God created the angels (Collasians 1:16) probably on Day 1,and all was good. The angels were created to minister to God, and they roamed throughout heaven communing with God knowing his absolute authority. After the creation of Adam and Eve on Day 6, God pronounced everything to be "very good" (Genesis 1:31). At this point, the entire creation and the angels "were perfect in all their ways" (Ezekial 28:15), and Lucifer had not yet rebelled against God. God began communing with Adam and Eve, walking and talking with them in the Garden of Eden. Initially, Lucifer was an archangel who was perfect as were the other angels, and Lucifer was the annointed cherub to whom extraordinary powers were given by God. Soon after the creation week was finished and before Adam and Eve could have had any children, Lucifer rebelled against God's Lordship and thought himself to be equal with God, and began his long war against God. Satan (formerly Lucifer) along with the other angels who followed him, were banished from the third heaven where God resides. This angelic rebellion caused them to be exiled from the presence of God. These fallen angels could have became envious of God's power over created man or could have become jealous of God's communion with man on earth or any number of reasons. Regardless of the reason, they were all exiled from the presence of God because of their rebellion, and now, they could only attack God's creation. They came to earth where they began to practice their powers on Eve.
Eve and Adam then ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and God caused the curse to be on all mankind. Disease and death entered the world by Adam's sin (Rom 5:12 and 6:23), even though Satan's sin was first. However, Revelation tells us that Satan will be judged when Jesus comes back to earth to get his children. God's judgement on man may not be immediate, but sin will always be judged. Hell was created by God as a place of exile for Satan and his followers for all of eternity. God's judgement of Satan has not taken place because all of Satan's followers have not been identified yet. Are you one of his followers? If we are not following after Jesus, then we are following after Satan. There is no other choice.
Satan continued his attack on mankind for centuries until God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth... which grieved God in his heart. (Gen 6:5,6) All mankind was judged by a worldwide flood except Noah and his family, who were found to be righteous. It was Noah's flood that served as a judgment of man's sin and the flood that killed the animals we see as fossils today. God's second judgment will come by fire, and only those who believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God will be saved from this second judgment.
I realize that this is just my theory, but my interpretation is not contradicted by the Bible. My theory does serve to illustrate that if you hold to a belief that the Bible is the authoritative word of God and is literally true, one can propose a theory that is totally consistent with the Bible without interpretation. We do not have to accept the evolutionary viewpoint promoted by so-called experts. Even if these "experts" can make a strong claim for millions of years, who says they're right? What gives us the right to reinterpret the word of God to accommodate a viewpoint based on the word of men? We must re-establish the authority of the Word of God, and not let these evolutionary theories sway us from the Truth. Besides, these evolutionists will probably change their theory again within 5-10 years (based on past performance), and then we will see which truth stood the test of time.
We have a choice. We can believe in a creationist viewpoint or accept the evolutionary viewpoint when we read the Bible. If we start with a belief that the Bible is literally correct, all we have to do is read the Bible and practice what God commands us to do. Proverbs 3:5 instructs us not to lean on our own understanding; therefore, do not interpret the Bible, just obey it. Once you stop trying to force millions of years into the Bible, it is easy to provide a Biblically sound interpretation of scripture and it becomes easy to believe in a God who can create with just His Word.
GENESIS COMPROMISES