Expert: Elder Greg Madden - 3/19/2010

Question
I was reading your answer about why you do not believe in evolution as well as your Scripture to back it up.  First, I think you are a little confused about evolution, considering you did not even answer anything about evolution.  Instead you talk about "races", which scientists know that the reason some people have darker skin than others is because it is an evolutionary adaptation developed in order to protect those closer to the sun's dangerous rays.  If you truly understood the Bible and evolution, you would understand that there is nothing about the idea of evolution that contradicts the Bible.  The Creation Story in Genesis should not be interpreted literally but it is an allegory used to explain that God is behind everything that was created, while evolution is the physical way that God did.  Let me as you a question.  If you believe in a God that can do all things, then why do you put God in a box and say that He could not have used evolution to create the universe?

Answer
Mike,

Thank you for your question and the opportunity to help. You asked...

"If you believe in a God that can do all things, then why do you put God in a box and say that He could not have used evolution to create the universe?"

First, it is important that you understand that the God of the Bible cannot do all things. He can do all things within the framework of His Charater, and the bounds He has placed upon Himself through His Word (the Holy Bible).

James 1:13 KJV
Let no man say when he is tempted , I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

Hebrews 6:18 KJV
That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie , we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us :

So we see from Scriptures that God cannot do anything, but He can do what He has set forth in His Word.

What you are really asking about is called "Progressive Creation". Progressive Creationism (also called Process Creation) is the belief that God created the heavens and the earth over a period of billions of years, not the six 24-hour days that is the basis for the traditional Creationism view. Progressive creationists can be liberal or conservative in their theological belief system, but they generally agree on the following:

* The "Big Bang" is interpreted as God's way of producing stars and galaxies through billions-of-years of natural processes.

* The earth and universe are billions of years old, not merely thousands of years old.

* The days of creation were overlapping periods of millions and billions of years.

* Death and bloodshed have existed from the very beginning of creation and were not the result of Adam's sin. Man was created after the vast majority of earth's history of life and death had already taken place.

* The flood of Noah was local, not global and it had little effect on the earth's geology, which shows billions of years of history.

It is obvious that Progressive Creationism is a belief which opposes both atheistic evolutionism and historic Christianity's understanding of biblical creationism. The teachings of Progressive Creationism are not new or original, but, in recent years have received favorable publicity through Christian radio, television, as well as Christian magazines and books.

The error of Progressive Creationism rests on the assumption that the biblical account of Creation in Genesis chapters 1-2 cannot be understood literally. According to Progressive Creationism, the "days" in Genesis chapter 1 are not literal 24-hour days, but actually long periods of time (millions or even billions of years)(See below for an explination of how long the days of Creation were). Progressive Creationists accept the evolutionary viewpoint of the age of the earth, which is itself circularly based on evolution. It would take billions of years for evolution to have any chance of occurring; therefore the earth must be billions of years old. (See our article on age of the Earth.)

Another error of Progressive Creationism is that it posits that death existed prior to the Fall, which undermines the Bible's clear teaching that death is a result of sin (5:12 and 1 Corinthians 15:21-22). Any theory which places the death of men or animals prior to the fall of Adam must be rejected.

Clearly, Progressive Creationism is an attempt by some Christians to harmonize the teachings of modern science with the Bible. However, the theory actually ends up supporting the tenets of evolutionary science and causes greater anxiety among believers about whether God's Word can be trusted. After all, the so-called "proofs" of Progressive Creationism come mainly from the field of science, not from the simple teachings of the Bible.

Days of Creation. A careful examination of the Hebrew word for “day” and the context in which it appears in Genesis will lead to the conclusion that “day” means a literal, 24-hour period of time. The Hebrew word yom translated into the English “day” can mean more than one thing. It can refer to the 24-hour period of time that it takes for the earth to rotate on its axis (e.g., “there are 24 hours in a day”). It can refer to the period of daylight between dawn and dusk (e.g., “it gets pretty hot during the day but it cools down a bit at night”). And it can refer to an unspecified period of time (e.g., “back in my grandfather's day...”). It is used to refer to a 24-hour period in Genesis 7:11. It is used to refer to the period of daylight between dawn and dusk in Genesis 1:16. And it is used to refer to an unspecified period of time in Genesis 2:4. So, what does it mean in Genesis 1:5-2:2 when it's used in conjunction with ordinal numbers (i.e., the first day, the second day, the third day, the fourth day, the fifth day, the sixth day, and the seventh day)? Are these 24-hour periods or something else? Could yom as it is used here mean an unspecified period of time?

We can determine how yom should be interpreted in Genesis 1:5-2:2 simply by examining the context in which we find the word and then comparing its context with how we see its usage elsewhere in Scripture. By doing this we let Scripture interpret itself. The Hebrew word yom is used 2301 times in the Old Testament. Outside of Genesis 1, yom plus a number (used 410 times) always indicates an ordinary day, i.e., a 24-hour period. The words “evening” and “morning” together (38 times) always indicate an ordinary day. Yom + “evening” or “morning” (23 times) always indicates an ordinary day. Yom + “night” (52 times) always indicates an ordinary day.

The context in which the word yom is used in Genesis 1:5-2:2, describing each day as “the evening and the morning,” makes it quite clear that the author of Genesis meant 24-hour periods. The references to “evening” and “morning” make no sense unless they refer to a literal 24-hour day. This was the standard interpretation of the days of Genesis 1:5-2:2 until the 1800s when a paradigm shift occurred within the scientific community, and the earth's sedimentary strata layers were reinterpreted. Whereas previously the rock layers were interpreted as evidence of Noah's flood, the flood was thrown out by the scientific community and the rock layers were reinterpreted as evidence for an excessively old earth. Some well-meaning but terribly mistaken Christians then sought to reconcile this new anti-flood, anti-biblical interpretation with the Genesis account by reinterpreting yom to mean vast, unspecified periods of time.

The truth is that many of the old-earth interpretations are known to rely upon faulty assumptions. But we must not let the stubborn close-mindedness of scientists influence how we read the Bible. According to Exodus 20:9-11, God used six literal days to create the world in order to serve as a model for man's workweek: work six days, rest one. Certainly God could have created everything in an instant if He wanted to. But apparently He had us in mind even before He made us (on the sixth day) and wanted to provide an example for us to follow.(gotquestions.org)

Mike, please let me know if this helps or if you have any further questions.

Elder Greg MAdden