Expert: Pastor Don Carpenter - 10/21/2011

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

I am a born again Christian who attends a Baptist Church. I have been born again for about 8 or 9 years. For a while I believed in the literal interpretation of Genesis, but about 2 years ago I met a born again Christian who was a evolutionary biologist. He told me in all honesty that it is impossible for the human genome to have come from 8 people who survived a flood as recently as 5,000 years ago. There is just too much diversity in the human genome for that to be the case. He also told me that it is impossible for animals to have come from only 2 or 7 ancestors who survived that same flood only 5,000 years ago. So if the Bible is inerrant truth, and science is true as well, it must be our interpretation of scripture that is lacking.

I came up with this interpretation recently. Please read the whole thing and tell me what you think as a minister of the gospel. You don't have to agree with it, just be sure to read it all. I don't like it when people don't read something entirely and then comment on it. Thanks!!!

I was reading the first chapter of the book of Genesis recently and I noticed some things. God first creates light and calls it day and the dark he calls night, on the first day. Then on the 3rd day he creates plants. Yet it isn’t till the 4th day that God creates the Sun, the moon, and the stars. When creating the stars you’d think it would be more complicated then just creating the earth, which is one tiny planet in a sea of other planets and stars. By saying that God created the stars one would think that it means that he created the other planets and stars all on the 3rd day. So why is the earth so complicated to create, while the other heavenly bodies don’t appear to be. And how can vegetation be created before the sun?

Also sea creatures are created on the 5th day. Along with the sea creatures He created the birds, but the other land animals He created on the 6th day. Which makes little sense. The modern day belief is that birds evolved from dinosaurs which were first land animals, and therefore would have come before the birds. But this is all looking at Genesis chapter 1 as if it is a science book that is supposed to give scientific answers. Genesis chapter 1 is Hebrew poetry. It is part of what is called poetic Biblical genre. It’s not meant to be taken literally, but figuratively to point out certain spiritual truths, and not to give scientific answers.

When we look at Genesis 1 we see the 6 days of creation divided into two parts. In the first three days God creates the basic framework, and the next three days he fills in the details. Light is created on the first day. The sky and the seas and the dry land are created on the second day. And the vegetation is created on the 3rd day. That’s the basic framework of the earth. Then the gaps are filled in over the next 3 days. The 4th day corresponds to the first day. On the first day light is created and so is day and night. But then on the 4th day the Sun, moon and stars which populate the day and night are created. Therefore the framework of the first day is completed on the 4th day. On the 2nd day God creates the sky and the sea and the dry land. Those are the basics. But the gaps left behind from that are finished on the 5th day with the creation of sea creatures to populate the seas, and birds to populate the sky. And so the 5th day corresponds to the 2nd day. On the 3rd day God creates vegetation. But those living beings which eat the vegetation are created on the 6th day. Finally on the 6th day God creates the pinnacle of His creation. Mankind. Whom He makes in His own divine image. That doesn’t mean that Man looks like God, but that man has certain divine characteristics. And that man is the greatest of all his creations.

Genesis Chapter 1 is also figuratively placed in the framework of a work week, with the final day being a day of rest. So God is the architect, and the builder who creates the universe just men are workers to work on the earth as His stewards. Men work 6 days a week, in an orderly fashion, and rest on the 7th day. The narrative makes it looks like God created the universe in the same way that a man builds a house. First he puts down the foundation and the framework, then he fills in the gaps. The foundation and framework are done in the first 3 days, and the gaps are filled in in the last 3 days.

What is it that Genesis teaches from a spiritual perspective? God created the universe out of nothing. And God created the universe. The universe did not create God. In many of the pagan stories of that time the various pagan gods came out of the primordial chaos of the universe. In many pagan stories the universe started out as chaos and then settled into order, and out of that order came the gods. This is not so in the Hebrew narrative.

Also God creates the universe in an orderly fashion. As a man who builds a house in an orderly fashion, first building the framework, and then filling in the gaps. So did God also create the universe in an orderly fashion. In stages, so to speak. Nice, and neat, and orderly. Not in a chaotic fashion. This is in opposition to many of the pagan stories of the time period that Genesis was written.

Finally we see that God builds in a regular work week and rests on the Sabbath day. This is not a literal work week. This is put in the narrative for symbolic reasons. To show how God worked, and to show mankind that he is to work and finally to rest. God blesses the Sabbath day. To the Hebrews of the time, who had just left the bondage of slavery, the Sabbath day was very important. This story shows how important the Sabbath day is. Even God rested from his toil of creation on the Sabbath day, and blessed it.  

Much of this is a symbolic and figurative story of creation, that holds many truths and lessons within it. It is not a science book. It is a story that shows how loving and caring God is with His creation. And it shows that He is the creator, ruler and master of the universe, because He made all things, and was not Himself made or created.  The 6 days of creation, and the 7th day on which God rested are put into the story for symbolic reasons. The whole story is placed in the framework of a regular work week. This is not to prove that the universe was created in 6 literal 24 hour days. Earth is a tiny insignificant planet in a great sea of heavenly bodies. The idea that God would center His universal creating activity on how long it took this one planet to revolve around itself seems a bit silly. And actually the earth doesn’t revolve around itself in 24 hours, but in 23 hours and 56 minutes. As it says in the New Testament, to God a thousand years is like a day. So why be so literal in the interpretation of Genesis 1?

This story of creation never deals with the age of the earth. That is not its intention. It does not seek to give a science lesson. It seeks to show who God is, it shows how God created all things in an orderly fashion, and who man is in relation to God. In this process it contradicts many pagan creation stories. But just because I am saying that the story of creation as found in Genesis 1 is not a literal story, does not make its truths any less real. Jesus told many parables in the New Testament. Like the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. This parable cannot be taken literally, because in it the rich man speaks of having a tongue on which he’d like some water. But how can this man’s soul have a tongue? The parable is not to be taken in a literal sense, but the truths it conveys are true nonetheless. Also Jesus said that the bread and the wine at the last supper were His body and blood. But no fundamentalist preacher would ever take that literally. And so likewise, in the story of creation, as described in Genesis 1, we have a story that is not meant to be taken literally. But that does not mean that it does not convey God’s inerrant truth. Truth about Himself, about how He created the earth, and how He views mankind.

I believe that God created life on earth by means of evolution. But I believe in God directed evolution. I believe the Bible to be God's inerrant word. But the key to it is that it has to be interpreted correctly. If it is not interpreted correctly, then the interpretation can easily turn into error.

What are the lessons taught by Genesis 1?

•God made the universe out of nothing.

•God is somehow well-expressed as a unified but somehow plural being/entity (trinity) – “Let us make man in our image…” Us and our indicate a Trinity.

•God made the universe for His own pleasure.

•God made the sun (which was considered a god by many contemporary religions), and it wasn't even the first thing He made...

•God made man with special intention apart from the rest of the animals, with the direct plan of relationship.

•God intends man to rest from his labor regularly, and specifically to focus on Him.

•God was personally involved and overseeing the whole process of creation, as he is still personally involved in the running of His universe He made (no deism "set it going and ignore it" God).

•Man's capacity/inevitability of sin, part and parcel with his/her intelligence and being imbued with a soul, requires us to rely on God to bridge the gap for the relationship to function.

•etc.

Thank you!!!

ANSWER: Hi Chris,

I believe you did send me basically the same question a few days ago, but with more details in this post.  I assure you that I read every word of the above post.  I do not have time to go through this line by line.  I think we must agree to disagree in this matter.  You are not alone in your view.  There are many folks who take certain passages, particularly ones with which they disagree or struggle, and spiritualize or allegorize them, taking away the obvious meaning, preferring something more general and less "unbelievable".

You are absolutely right in your conclusion that you do not have to believe in a 6 day creation to believe in a loving God who created all things.  As you have pointed out, you do have to believe in a 6 day creation if you choose to take the Bible literally.  The Luke 16 passage is a great case in point.  Once you open the door of allegory from Genesis 1, you are then free to reason away a literal Hell.  

Now, I think that your point about the body and blood of Jesus is a good one...  In literature there are devices such as similes and metaphors that can be understood in context.  The Old Testament is filled with prohibition against eating blood and human flesh... therefore Jesus must have been using a metaphor here.  

I do see that you have thought this out very well and details are logical, however, I disagree with your initial premise because of the reasons I gave in my last post.  Thank you for taking the time to articulate such a detailed position.  I hope my input has been a help to you.

In Christ
Pastor Don

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi,

Thank you for your response. I'm so glad you read the whole thing. A lot of people will just skim stuff and the make comments.

I do not think that taking the story of creation figuratively means that we can reason away hell. Genesis 1 is meant figuratively, but Jesus talking about hell was not figurative. I believe Jesus spoke more about hell than about heaven. In the parable of Lazarus and the rich man some parts or figurative and some parts are not. We have to pay attention to what is literal and what is metaphorical.

When in the book of Joshua is says that the sun stood still and the moon stopped we believe now that it is meant figuratively. But in the past this passage was taken literally. Why the change? Because science has proven that the earth revolves around the sun, and not the other way around.

Since this is the case then I believe one day that most preachers will take Genesis 1 figuratively simply because they will no longer be able to get around the science facts.

Here is an addition I added last night to my message:

If God created the universe over billions of years it does not make the Bible untrue. To God a thousand years is as a day. God doesn’t need to be in a rush where He needs to create the universe in 6 short 24 hour days. And if He chooses to create by means of divinely directed evolution, that’s His prerogative. The Bible is a spiritual book which teaches us how to have a relationship with God, not how to view science or medicine. It is inerrant and true. And science is also true. The problem comes about when we interpret scripture in a narrow minded fashion. During the late middle ages the RCC persecuted people for saying the earth revolved around the sun because in the Book of Joshua it says that the sun stood still and the moon stopped. This was an overly literal interpretation of that passage. What does that mean about modern day Creationism which has no room for an interpretation that is anything but the extreme in being literal. It means that they have learned nothing from history. And they might as well still be saying that the sun revolves around the earth.

Thanks!!

Answer
Thanks for this follow up.  I agree with you that if God did use billions of years to create the earth it does not mean the Bible is unbelievable, but it does mean that one must take parts of the Bible that are clearly written in a prose narrative and arbitrarily spiritualize them.  The thousand years as a day passage is about God's eternal quality, not that when God's word states that the evening and the morning were the first day that God did not mean it.  I appreciate that you have put a great deal of thought into this.  I also believe that as long as you believe that Jesus is your Savior and have trusted Him alone, we will fellowship together for eternity in Heaven.  One other thing to add is that once you start using the believability of the content to determine whether or not a passage is to be taken literally, even if it is written in a prose narrative, then the ultimate authority is no longer the Bible, but the reader... and that can have dangerous results.  Thank you so much for all your input.

In Christ
Pastor Don