Alternative Views
Over the past centuries, various theories have been advanced in an effort to reconcile the truths of Genesis with the empirical findings (truths) of science. The theory advanced at this website differs from all the cosmological models listed below.
We differ with Young Earth creationism in how we interpret Genesis 1:1. We believe subsequent verses in Scripture reveal something of the how, allowing for limitations of language (e.g. analogous terminology), by which God brought about creation. Scripture states the Creator “stretched“ the fabric of space and time (“spacetime”) into existence. Consequently, Albert Einstein’s discovery of the “fabric” nature of spacetime reality appears in harmony with Genesis 1:1 and subsequent verses.
Creation is a composite of events that occurred in two different frameworks for time (Both Russell Humphreys and Gerald Schroeder were on to something). Creation bears marks of being both young and old, which under normal circumstances would be contradictory. This contradictory evidence is the cause for polarization between Young and Old views of Creation. The common problem with most previous models is their failure to suspend Isaac Newton’s metaphysical concept of absolute space and time.
The following includes excerpts from the Wikipedia entry for Old Earth creationism.
Young Earth creationism (YEC) is the religious belief that the Universe, Earth, and all life on Earth were created by direct acts of the Abrahamic God during a relatively short period, sometime between 5,700 and 10,000 years ago. Its primary adherents are those Christians and Jews who believe that God created the Earth in six 24-hour days, using a literal [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][normal] interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative as a basis. Another comprehensive description of this view is The Calendar Day Interpretation, a detail from a July 2000 report given to the 28th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America. (Note: In 1994, Physicist D. Russell Humphreys, a YEC, published a manuscript, Starlight and Time, acknowledging both his misunderstanding of hyper-inflation (big bang theory) and appreciation for Albert Einstein’s discoveries. Humphreys writes, “Even if you like my theory, please try to keep open to the possibility that a better one may come along. I myself remain open.” Also, see John Hartnett’s work at Creation.com.)
Old Earth creationism (OEC) is an umbrella term for a number of types of creationism, including gap, progressive, analogical-days, and evolutionary creationism. See below.
Gap creationism (also known as ruin-restoration creationism, restoration creationism, or “The Gap Theory“) is a form of old Earth creationism that posits that the six-day creation, as described in the Book of Genesis, involved literal 24-hour days, but that there was a gap of [Newtonian] time between two distinct creations in the first and the second verses of Genesis, explaining many scientific observations, including the age of the Earth. (The Gap Theory of Genesis Chapter One)
Progressive creationism is the religious belief that God created new forms of life gradually, over a period of hundreds of millions of years. As a form of old Earth creationism, it accepts mainstream geological and cosmological estimates for the age of the Earth but posits that the new “kinds” of plants and animals that have appeared successively over the planet’s history represent instances of God creating new types of organisms by divine intervention. Progressive creationists generally reject macroevolution because they believe it to be biologically untenable and not supported by the fossil record, and they generally reject the concept of universal descent from a last universal common ancestor.
Theistic evolution or evolutionary creation is a concept that asserts that classical religious teachings about God are compatible with the modern scientific understanding of biological evolution. In short, theistic evolutionists believe that there is a God, that this deity is the creator of the material universe and (by consequence) all life within. Biological evolution is simply a natural process within the universe and a tool that God employed to develop human life. BioLogos is one of the leading advocates of the theistic evolution view.
Framework interpretation (also known as the literary framework view, framework theory, or framework hypothesis) is an interpretation of the first chapter of the Book of Genesis which holds that the seven-day creation account is not a literal or scientific description of the origins of the universe, rather, it is an ancient poetic/metaphor text which outlines a “functional”, not material, theology of creation. The seven-day “framework” is therefore not meant to be chronological but is a literary or symbolic structure designed to reinforce the purposefulness (“function”) of God in the creation and the Sabbath commandment. For more detail also see The Framework Interpretation. Prof. John Walton (Wheaton) has written The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate. He is one of the popular proponents of this view. Read review: Dubious and dangerous exposition.
Day-age creationism, a type of old Earth creationism, is an interpretation of the creation accounts in Genesis. It holds that the six days referred to in the Genesis account of creation are not ordinary 24-hour days, but are much longer periods (of thousands or millions of years). The theories are said to be built on the understanding that the Hebrew word yom is used to refer to a time period, with a beginning and an end and not necessarily that of a 24-hour day. For more detail also see The Day-Age Interpretation.
Analogical-Days creationism is another old Earth creation view wherein the days spoken of in Genesis 1 are God’s “workdays,” similar to (analogous) to the human workweek. They represent periods of work (6) and rest (1) in which God supernaturally prepared and then populated the Earth. Each of the broadly consecutive periods of time are of unspecified length, generally assumed to be very long. While there may be overlap, they are not necessarily demonstrating a logical rather than chronological flow. For more detail also see The Analogical Days Interpretation.
Cosmic Time: Gerald Schroeder puts forth a view which tries to reconcile 24-hour creation days with an age of billions of years for the universe by noting, as creationist Phillip E. Johnson summarizes in his article; What Would Newton Do?: “the Bible speaks of time from the viewpoint of the universe as a whole, which Schroeder interprets to mean at the moment of ‘quark confinement,’ when stable matter formed from energy early in the first second of the big bang.” Schroeder calculates that a period of six days under the conditions of quark confinement, when the universe was approximately a trillion times smaller and hotter than it is today is equal to fifteen billion years of earth time today. This is all due to space expansion after quark confinement. Thus Genesis and modern physics are reconciled. Hugh Ross’s Reasons to Believe claims that Schroeder puts the creation of the Earth approximately eight billion years earlier than modern scientific theories and it may be incorrect with respect to the viewpoint of creation. Schroeder, though, states in an earlier book, Genesis and the Big Bang, that the Earth and solar system is some “4.5 to 5 billion years” old and also states in a later book, The Science of God, that the Sun is 4.6 billion years old.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]