Are you a Creationist?

[Esaias]

Which are you? Young earth creationist (literal 6 days of creation, no evolution of species from other kinds, no a biogenesis (spontaneous appearance of life from non-living matter by natural processes), etc?

Old earth creationist (days of creation are aeons of time, happened millions or billions of years ago, God designed nature to evolve per evolutionary science, etc)?

Evolutionist (billions of years ago, by natural processes with no Divine Intelligence guiding things, ie standard evolutionary theory)?

Other (please explain)?

[Esaias]

I chose other because although I believe in a literal creation week, biogenesis, no macroevolution of species, I allow for the possibility of an unspecified time between Adam's creation and his expulsion from the garden, a possible unspecified amount of time between the 6th day creation of homo sapiens and the Adam who was placed in the garden, and a possible gap of unknown duration between Gen 1:1 and 1:2.

[Aquila]

I normally lean towards a literal 6 day creation. My first pastor taught the Gap-Theory. I've read several good books on creation, each from differing positions. One is, "A New Look At An Old Earth", by Don Stoner. This book teaches the Day-Age theory, and is an excellent explanation of the view. Another excellent book is, "Genesis Unbound", by John Sailhamer. This book is like the Gap-Theory except after verse 2 the reader's attention is drawn to "the land" (the Holy Land) which God fashions in six literal days. The third book, and most provocative in my opinion, is, "Creation and Evolution", by Alan Hayward. This view is interesting because the author states that in the dateless past, before anything was, God spoke for six days. However, noting actually occurred the moment He spoke. Instead, after the Sabbath, the Big Bang took place and the entire known universe began to form. Essentially the author proposes that our entire universe is indeed 14 billion years old, but has formed according to divine fiats that took place over 6 days prior to time itself. Thus in the first chapter of Genesis we see parentheticals. For example, Genesis 1 would read like this:

Genesis 1:1-31
{1:1} In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth. {1:2} And the earth was without form, and void; and
darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of
God moved upon the face of the waters.
{1:3} And God said, Let there be light:

({1:4} and there was light. And God saw the light, that [it was] good: and
God divided the light from the darkness. {1:5} And God
called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.)

And the evening and the morning were the first day.
{1:6} And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst
of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

({1:7} And God made the firmament, and divided the waters
which [were] under the firmament from the waters which
[were] above the firmament: and it was so. {1:8} And God
called the firmament Heaven.

And the evening and the morning were the second day.
{1:9} And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be
gathered together unto one place, and let the dry [land]
appear: and it was so.

{1:10} And God called the dry [land]
Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he
Seas: and God saw that [it was] good.

{1:11} And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [and]
the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed [is] in
itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

{1:12} And the earth brought forth grass, [and] herb yielding seed after his kind,
and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed [was] in itself, after
his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.

{1:13} And the
evening and the morning were the third day.
{1:14} And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament
of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them
be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
{1:15} And let them be for lights in the firmament of the
heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

{1:16} And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the
day, and the lesser light to rule the night: [he made] the stars
also. {1:17} And God set them in the firmament of the
heaven to give light upon the earth, {1:18} And to rule over
the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the
darkness: and God saw that [it was] good.

{1:19} And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. {1:20} And
God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving
creature that hath life, and fowl [that] may fly above the
earth in the open firmament of heaven.

{1:21} And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth,
which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind,
and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that [it
was] good. {1:22} And God blessed them, saying, Be
fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let
fowl multiply in the earth.

{1:23} And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
{1:24} And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living
creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast
of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

{1:25} And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after
their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after
his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.

{1:26} And God said, Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish
of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle,
and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth.

{1:27} So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and
female created he them. {1:28} And God blessed them, and
God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish
the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of
the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living
thing that moveth upon the earth.

{1:29} And God said, Behold, I have given you every
herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth,
and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding
seed; to you it shall be for meat. {1:30} And to every beast
of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing
that creepeth upon the earth, wherein [there is] life, [I have
given] every green herb for meat: and it was so.

{1:31} And
God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, [it was]
very good.

And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

So, if you asked Alan Hayward if the universe was created in 6 days, he'd answer, "Yes." If you asked him if it formed over 14 billion years, he'd say, "Yes. Everything we see in the known 14 billion year old universe is the result of God taking six days to speak of what would be."

Ultimately, I have no idea how God did it. I find that each interpretation has its strengths and weaknesses.

[Aquila]

Lastly, there is the notion of "Sacred Myth". This view holds that the entire Genesis narrative isn't intended to be taken literally or scientifically, but is to be taken as a "spiritual truth". This view proposes that it is a spiritual story explaining that God progressively created all things from the earth, even man (evolution?). Adam and Eve are not seen as descriptions of literal people, but representations of all of mankind. Thus, in Adam and Eve, we find ourselves. In the serpent we see the tempter that we all face. In their fall we find our individual loss of innocence. In God having clothed them, we find God's grace and desire to clothe us in His righteousness.

This view elevates the entire story into the realm of being above scientific inquiry and presents it as eternal spiritual truth about our relationship with God. It leaves science to work out the earthly "facts" while maintaining that no matter what science might find... we're all found in Adam, even the earliest human primates dating back nearly 2 million years.

Imagine if God's Spirit inspired the story of, The Three Little Pigs. It would teach an important lesson about building a life out of values that endure. And it would be just as divinely inspired as any other text. However, it wouldn't be intended to be taken literally. That's how this view sees Genesis.

[thephnxman]

Originally Posted by Esaias

I chose other because although I believe in a literal creation week, biogenesis, no macroevolution of species, I allow for the possibility of an unspecified time between Adam's creation and his expulsion from the garden, a possible unspecified amount of time between the 6th day creation of homo sapiens and the Adam who was placed in the garden, and a possible gap of unknown duration between Gen 1:1 and 1:2.

In the beginning was eternity, and God spoke: and "time"
did not begin until Genesis 1:14.

[thephnxman]

Originally Posted by Esaias

I chose other because although I believe in a literal creation week, biogenesis, no macroevolution of species, I allow for the possibility of an unspecified time between Adam's creation and his expulsion from the garden, a possible unspecified amount of time between the 6th day creation of homo sapiens and the Adam who was placed in the garden, and a possible gap of unknown duration between Gen 1:1 and 1:2.

In the beginning was eternity, and God spoke: and "time"
did not begin until Genesis 1:14.

I don't know where that would put me.

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by Esaias

Which are you? Young earth creationist (literal 6 days of creation, no evolution of species from other kinds, no a biogenesis (spontaneous appearance of life from non-living matter by natural processes), etc?

Old earth creationist (days of creation are aeons of time, happened millions or billions of years ago, God designed nature to evolve per evolutionary science, etc)?

Evolutionist (billions of years ago, by natural processes with no Divine Intelligence guiding things, ie standard evolutionary theory)?

Other (please explain)?

You left out the option of old earth, but literal 6 days.

That's my take. I don't believe creation occurred in 6 literal days. I believe renovation occurred in six literal days. Creation occurred in a moment in Gen 1:1. But the 6 days were literal.

[mfblume]

Francis Febus is apostolic and believes the Genesis account is not about literal creation but about covenants, using spiritual language to lay out His covenants with man.

[Carl]

The Gap Theory, Day Age Theory and Theistic Evolution are all conjecture, reading between the scriptures something that is not there in an attempt to conform the word of God with science.

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by Carl

The Gap Theory, Day Age Theory and Theistic Evolution are all conjecture, reading between the scriptures something that is not there in an attempt to conform the word of God with science.

Not really. Several passages throughout the word are used for the gap theory. Nothing read between the lines. I never accept something that is surmised, but the scriptures do bring this thought together.

Isaiah said God did not create the earth without form. So how can it be without form in gen 1:2 if God created it in 1:1 and he didn't create it without form?