Information Related to "Genesis 1 and the Days of Creation"
| Audio/Video |
Genesis 1 and the Days of Creation
Did you know that no piece of ancient history is more scientifically grounded than
the book of Genesis, including its description of the 24-hour days of creation? The
evidence is astonishingly clear!
by John Ross Schroeder
During the last 150 years or so,
no part of the Bible has come under more rigorous attack than the creation account
in the first chapter of Genesis. Darwinists have made much of evidence that earth
is apparently anywhere from five to 15 billion years old. Yet a careful genealogical
study of the biblical record combined with history suggests to some people that the
earth has existed for a mere 6,000 years.
Before we address this discrepancy, let us first consider how the Bible, in its Genesis
narrative, presents creation. What is the organizing principle of the biblical account
of creation? How does the creation narrative present God's acts of creation to the
reader? On what does God hang the whole creation epic?
The creation account hangs first on the 24-hour day; then on the seven-day week.
(Genesis 1 describes the first six days of creation week; the first few verses of
chapter 2 recount the seventh day.)
The Earth in Orbit
We learn from observation that the earth makes one revolution around the sun
in a year, and it rotates on its axis once every 24 hours. The axis rotation produces
the familiar succession of day and night. The planet spins like a child's top at
a consistent angle to the sun, maintaining that angle while making its circular journey.
Earth revolves just rapidly enough to produce the 24-hour cycle (or, more precisely,
23 hours and 56 minutes). It revolves slightly obliquely to its plane of rotation,
which makes for the four annual seasons.
What does Genesis 1 have to do with these natural phenomena? Can we take seriously
the Bible's creation account?
"And God saw the light that it was good, and God divided the light from darkness.
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. So the evening and the
morning were the first day" (Genesis 1:4-5). We see from the account that God established
the day-and-night cycle from the beginning. Day and night are functions of the rotation
of the earth as it orbits the sun. Clearly the wording of Genesis describes the 24-hour
period we are all familiar with. Notice further that God appointed the sun to separate
light from darkness and to divide day from night (verse 14).
Related Information on UCG Sites:
Table of Contents that includes "Genesis 1 and the Days of Creation"
Other Articles by John Ross Schroeder
Re-published from an earlier version
Seventh day: