Expert: Rev. Stuart Woodward - 5/12/2009

Question
According to Genesis, God created light on the first day and then the sun not until the 4th day. If so, how can we explain "the evening and the morning were the first day" in Genesis 1:5?


Answer
Hello Eddie,
Thank you for your question. Christians have come up with a number of explanations for your this issue but the truth is that no one fully knows how all this works. There was no one about at the time to witness it. For God to create light before creating the sun is no problem. God can do anything He wishes and the He Himself is the light in the New Jerusalem. This then leaves the question as to what is meant by 'day' and by 'evening and morning'. For those who see the whole creation story as an allegory or parable and therefore not literal there is no problem but for those like myself who believe the text is describing what happened in reality the problem remains. It is true that the Hebrew word for 'day' is also the Hebrew word for 'period of time'. The reason many insist is must mean a 24 hour period is because of the reference to 'evening and morning'. By the way it is fascinating that the day is measured in the Hebrew way beginning with the evening rather than in our way.
It seems to me there are three possibilities. One is that the measurement of time is not dependent on the existence of the sun and therefore even without a cycle of light and dark a day would always be 24 hours. In this case the text is stating that which is true and using the Jewish idiom of 'evening and morning' to express the idea of completeness.
The second is that the word translated day really refers to a period of time and the phrase 'evening and morning' are used to give the idea of symmetry and order.
The third is that time is part of creation, God living outside of time, so until the full order of creation is established time is irrelevant and the writer is simply expressing the deep reality of creation within the only framework he can.
I hope all this makes sense.
On a personal level I tend to lean to the third explanation but in all honesty I have no idea if I am right.
I do not doubt the truth of the text of scripture I just doubt some of the simplistic interpretations that are sometimes placed in it.
I hope these comments are of some help.
God bless you.
Stuart Woodward