by Cooper P. Abrams III |
THE SIX DAYS OF CREATION There are three basic views concerning the origin of the universe.
The Bible is the literal Word of God and is accurate and says what it means. The very words of Scripture are inspired of God and reveal what God wanted us to know and are inspired of God and are TOTALLY accurate without error. (2 Tim 3:16, 2 Peter 2:20-21) The Genesis account of Creation is God's revelation to man as to how the universe, the earth and life was created. |
The Bible is only a symbolic representation of what happened and is not literally accurate. God used evolution to create the universe. Further the Genesis account of creation is made up of the traditions and myths of the Jews passed down through the centuries. Adam and Eve were only symbolic of early primitive man and were not literal people, the father and mother of the human race. It is an attempt to collate the evolution with the Bible. The serious error of this position is that it denies the very word of God. God cannot lie and therefore the Genesis account of Creation is a true account of God's work in creation or He lied. 3. Modern Evolutionary Science. There is no God. Evolution created life by chance. Evolution is a natural process in which life was chemically begun millions of years ago when certain amino acid formed, then were changed to proteins, which changed to form simple one cell life forms, which changed to produce all life on earth. Psalm 14:1 "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." |
ATTEMPTS TO EXPLAIN THE CREATION ACCOUNT
IN THE LIGHT OF MODERN SO CALLED EVOLUTIONARY SCIENCE.
In the late 1800's as evolution was gaining wide acceptance among scientists a great pressure was placed on Bible believers. Modern Science seemingly was discounting the Biblical account of Creation. It appeared to many that science had found the keys to the existence of life on earth. The new evolutionary science cast a shadow over how the Bible explained the beginning of the Universe. Science was a "sacred cow", and its so called "scientific" theory of evolution was presented as fact.
Many in the "Christian"(1) community accepted this new science without question. It caused them a great dilemma. They believed the Bible to be true and also accepted the newly discovered so called science of evolution. Many under this pressure sought ways to bring the Bible into harmony with evolution.
Some saw Theistic evolution as a tailor made solution to the problem. They supposed they could hold on to both their belief in God and the teachings of modern science. God used the process of evolution to create life, seemed to be a good answer to Bible critics. However, this opened up a Pandora's box of serious problems. Evolution needed millions of years in which to function; the Bible said God created the universe in only six days. The Bible said Adam and Eve were the first man and woman, yet evolution taught man descended from primitive apes! In time, some in the "Christian" community abandoned their belief in the creditably of the Bible. They began to teach the Bible was only true in spiritual matters, but was not reliable in matters of science.
Theistic evolution is a false view of creation formed by those attempting to reach a compromise between Truth and error. The Bible is the Word of God to man and is it totally accurate in all matters it addresses. (2 Tim. 3:16-17, 2 Pet. 1:21) It is the record given by the One who created all things.
Some the made an attempt to bring the Bible accordance with evolution by proposing the "Gap Theory." This theory teaches that between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 a great deal of time lapsed, probably millions of years, and all of evolution's geological ages can be placed there. To explain the fossils of prehistoric animals and men, which science said was positive proof of evolution, they came up with a theory that there existed a race of men and animals existing before the earth that we see now and before Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. They associated this pre-existing earth with the rule and fall of Satan. This gave them a convenient explanation to the discoveries of science that contradicted the Scriptures. This view was made popular by C. I. Scofield, in the Scofield reference Bible. It was a poor and unnecessary compromise.
There is no Biblical evidence or scientific evidence to support this idea. Genesis 2:1, states, "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them." There is no reason to believe that the heavens and earth spoken of here are a different heaven and earth than God originally created.
The Gap Theory will be dealt with in greater detail in a supplement to these study notes titled, "Is there a Gap in Time Between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2?".
The account of the Creation in Genesis is written to be literally accepted in the same way as salvation. There is nothing in the Bible that suggests that the Genesis account of Creation is to be understood symbolically. Romans 10:9 literally says that a man must accept Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior and in doing so will receive eternal life. If Romans is true, so is Genesis. You cannot accept one and reject the other. Both are literal instructions from God. One instructs in the plan of salvation, the other in God's work in creating the universe.
If God wanted to reveal to man how the universe and man came into existence, why would he not just literally say exactly what happened? Why allow myths to be included in the Scriptures and have man for thousands of years believe them to be truth? Why also did Jesus quote from the Book of Genesis and regard it as fact, if it were but myths?
At the heart of the matter is the fact that those who deny the Genesis account of Creation deny also the inspiration of the Bible and that it is the infallible inerrant Word of God. They conclude that the Bible is merely the work of men, who down to us through the ages collected Jewish myths and stories and then passed them on from generation to generation. Further they deny all the miracles and prophecies and dismiss them as myths. God Himself is thus only one of these myths and there is no supernatural Creator.
The Bible says God created the heavens and the earth in six days and on the seventh day rested. In Exodus 20:11, the words for days are not used symbolically, they mean literally 24 hour periods. The Bible, which is God's inerrant infallible Word, states this as fact. There is no reason to have to compromise the Word of God to fit man's so called science.
Today, there are many Christian and secular scientists holding degrees from major universes which have questioned evolution not only from a Biblical point of view but also from their fields of science.
It is a far gone conclusion that there is no Biblical or scientific reason to accept evolution. Since Darwin's book, The Origin of the Species, science has not produced one demonstrable proven evidence of evolution. Evolutionary science is basically flawed in that it discounts what must be the root and foundation of any true science, that God created the heavens and earth. To a great degree modern science is found also to be dishonest in that when the great wealth of evidence of creation is shown they refuse to accept or even consider it. The interpret the evidence to conform to their evolutionary bias. However, there is a growing number of honest scientists today outside the "Christian" community who have serious doubts about evolution because their research does not support it. The reaction of their colleagues is to ridicule any who question evolution.
The bottom line of the matter is this: Evolution is basically flawed and cannot be scientifically demonstrated or proven. Evolution is the myth, not the biblical account of Creation. There is no reason for the Christian to feel any pressure to accept evolution or try and bring the Bible into harmony with it.
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."
A. The word used here for God is plural. It is the word "Elohim" which means "powerful" and "majesty of God." The name "Elohim" is plural, which supports the Biblical teaching of the "Trinity". John 1:1-3, states that "the Word", which is the Lord Jesus Christ, (Rev. 19:13) created all things. In Genesis 1:2, it is recorded the Holy Spirit "moved upon the face of the waters". Thus, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are shown individually working in Creation, yet Genesis 1:1, states "God created the heavens and earth."
1. The word "created", is the Hebrew word, "bara". The word means created out of nothing. It literally means, "new thing". The word is limited to divine activity.(2) Only God can create. The Latin "ex nihilo", which means to create out of nothing or being into being something that did not previously exist is the conceit of Biblical Creation. The Scriptures teach this truth in the following references:
a. Rom. 4:17 "...called those things which be not as though they were"
b. Heb. 11:3, "...the worlds were formed by the word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."
2. In the beginning God first created the matter of the universe. This agrees with the First Law of Thermodynamics which states no new matter is being created. He created even the very space in which the Universe now exists and all the material it has in it.
3. Time also began. Time was a created element of the Creation.
B. Heavens: "Shamayim" (sham a yim). The word is used in a broad sense to encompass the sky, space, and heaven as the abode of God. Here the word appears to be a reference to what we call space, or generally as a reference to everything which is above the earth.
C. Earth: It refers to the matter that makes up the elements of the Universe.
D. In the beginning. At the first of Time. It means it had not existed prior to this time. How long ago was this? From Biblical chronology and scientific evidence from 6-8 thousand years ago. All historic records available today seem to agree with Scripture. Written records go back in time little more than 3000 years ago.
Archbishop Ussher dated Creation at 4004 BC, basing his computation from the chronologies of the Bible. (The age the Bible records as the length of a Bible character's life. See Gen. 10 and 11). Even giving room for supposed "gaps" in the Biblical account, you come up with is 10,000 BC at the most.(3)
Evolution dates the beginning of the Universe at least nine billion years ago. However, this is in reality is not a "beginning", but a reforming of the Universe according to the "Big Bang Theory" of evolution. The Big Bang Theory says that all the matter in the Universe was once condensed into one mass which exploded throwing matter into all the of space. Where the matter or space originally came from is not addressed by evolution. It merely "assumes" that matter always existed. Only Creation has a beginning and it is recorded in Genesis 1:1.
DAY ONE CONTINUES: GOD CREATES SPACE, TIME, ENERGY AND MATTER
(Genesis 1:2)
"The earth was without form and void and the darkness was upon the face of the deep."
A. Note the use of the conjunction "and". It is significant!
1. It is the Hebrew word "waw". It grammatically means that what follows is a further description of what was just previously stated.
2. It means this is a description of the heaven and earth as originally created.
Example: I have just taken a pencil out of my pocket and it is a Pentel and it is silver. The conjunction "and" connects the phrases "it is a Pentel" and "it is silver", to the this part of the sentence. The conjunction joins two facts about the same thing which is the pen.
3. "And" connects Verse 1 and 2, and Verse 2, is further information about what happened in Verse 1.
B. "Without form and void".
1. The earth or the matter in which the earth is to be made from is without form or unformed and was uninhabited or empty.
2. The word "tohu" (KJV "form") means "worthless, confusion, empty place, nothing" Isaiah 45:18, states God created the earth not "in vain". (The word "tohu") He is saying he created the earth with purpose, that being to be inhibited.(4)
Thus the word "form" in its context means in "uninhabited" or "incomplete". There was more to be done in making it a finished product.
3. "Bohu" is means empty, or uninhabited.
4. The verse is saying the earth was originally made at this stage of Creation, without form and empty. What was first created was the matter the Universe. He created the matter, the space to put it and began time.
C. "Darkness upon the face of the deep." There was no light. Where there is energy being used there is light. At this stage of Creation nothing was yet functioning. The material for creation of the atom was in existence but it was not functioning, not yet being energized or given power. God had taken part of the matter He had created and formed the earth, yet until this time had not energized it. Henry Morris says that everything was at a stand-still and the electromagnetic power was not yet on!(5)
D. "The face of the deep." Face means "presence". The presence of water was on the earth but it was not yet cohesive, (stuck together).
E. "The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters".
Word "Spirit" is the Hebrew word for wind and breath. Now God activated and empowered the universe! He turned the lights on! The word translated here "moved" is used only three times in Scripture. It means to shake, to flutter, and as a hen moving over her chicks. Literally it means rapid back and forth action! There is movement found in all material in the Universe. Nothing is without movement, even the atoms that make up rocks are moving and have neutrons and protons spinning around their nucleuses.
F. At this stage of Creation space, time, energy and matter were formed, but were in a raw stage.
DAY ONE CONTINUES: GOD CREATES LIGHT, DAY & NIGHT.
(Genesis 1:3-5)
At this stage of Creation light was made and the earth began to rotate on its axis. We must understand that this light was not from the sun, moon or stars as they were not created until the fourth day.
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" II Corinthians 4:6.
After God created light, He pronounced it "good". This is the Hebrew world "tob" and is used in a general way to describe a state of well being. After each subsequent day of Creation God pronounced it "good" meaning that it was finished and completely operative as He had willed it to be. The Creation was perfect and flawless.
He then separated the light from the darkness and called the light, Day and the darkness Night. The earth spinning on its axis caused the day and night. The earth is rotating now around the sun and the side that is exposed to the rays of the sun are in daylight. However, on Day One, the sun was not in existence and thus God provided some special light source. What it was is beyond our understanding. Many have criticized the Creation account on this point saying how could there be light without the sun to provide it? A greater question is what is light and how did God create it from nothing? Surely God who created light from nothing could have created it before the sun existed and did not need the sun to provide light. Note the verse quoted from II Cor. 4:6. This states God create light from darkness. The word for "Day" is the Hebrew word, "yom". It can mean:
(1) The period of light (contrasted from the period of darkness).
(2) A twenty four hour period.
(3) A general vague "time".
(4) A point in time.
(5) A year.(6)
Some who want to believe the "days of creation" were long periods of time, which would support evolution, suggest that the meaning of the word "yom", used in Genesis 1, means "long ages" or refers to a indiffinite period of time. They point to verses such as Psalm 102:2, which use the word in a general sense. "Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble...". This could mean the day was one twenty hour period or any length of time of trouble.
However, to understand what the word means you must look at the word grammically in all the contexts it is used. Look at verses such as Gen. 7:11, 27:45; Ex. 20:10; Lev. 22:277; Num. 7:24, 30, 36, 40, 48, 54, 60, 66, 72, 77-78; Psa. 88:1, 139:12, Eccl. 8:16. This verses illustrate an unfailing principle found in every use of the word, "yom". Whenever "yom" is modified by a number, or whenever "yom" is used in conjunction with the idea of day and night, or light and darkness, it ALWAYS means a normal twenty four hour day.(7)
The use of a number with the word "yom" is conclusive evidence that the "Days of Creation" were twenty four hour periods of time. Grammatically, the use of the word "yom" with a modifier limits the meaning to being a twenty four hour period. If God wanted to convey the meaning of the days a being of indiffinte periods of time He would have not used the word witha modifier. Certainly, God knew what He wanted to us to understand and used the words which state what He meant.
Further evidence is Exodus 20:11, "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day: therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy". The modifier is the word "six." Using the word "six" witht he word "day" is as clear a statement of the time frame of Creation as can be had. Connecting the state of a six day Creation with instruction concerning the Sabbath day is conclusive evidence that the Creation was accomplished in six literal twenty four hours.
Some quote 2 Peter 3:8, "But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." Peter is assuring believers that God will keep his promises to us. It is pointing out that God is not confined to time as we know it. The use of the phrase "a thousand years is as but a day with the Lord" is understood as being a metaphorical reference to fact God is not limited by time. What we might perceive as a delay in time is within the structure of God's plan for the world. In the case the structure of the sentence tells us the meaning. The use of the word "as" in the sentence makes the length of the day subjective and unspecfic making the statement a methaphor which is a normal tool of grammar in expression.
If you take 2 Peter 3:8, literally, then you would still have only seven thousand years for God to complete the Creation. You would still not have the billions of years the evolutionist insists it took to create the world and life as we know it. God used specific words and grammar in His word to covey to us His truth.
One interesting note concerning those who try and reconcile the Biblical account of Creation with evolution. God created the plants on the third day, the sun was created on the fourth day. That means to reconcile the Bible's account with evolution's millions of years of evolving, the plants would have been without sun a long time. Thus, it is very clear evolution and the Biblical account of Creation can not be reconciled on any level. Your author thinks God possibly did it this way on purpose to show how great was the miracle of Creation.
Thus the first day was finished and was as God intended it to be.
THE SECOND DAY OF CREATION: THE FIRMAMENT IS CREATED
(Genesis 1:6-8)
The word "raqia", means a "expanse", literally a "expansion of plates". It can refer to a limited space as the canopy over the cherubim under the throne of Ezekiel's vision (Ezek. 1:22,26) or to the broad expanse of heaven (Dan. 12:3).(8)
The LXX translated the word "raqia", as the Greek word, "stereoma" which means something stretched or spread out like a curtain. Further, they understood the firmament as being something firm and solid.(9)
This firmament was a vast canopy located in the space above the earth. The firmament made up the atmosphere and a vapor cloud cover which covered the entire earth. This canopy of cloud was made in of part of the water of earth. Part of the water went into the canopy and the another part was in the atmosphere above the earth.
The atmosphere is made up of various layers, beginning with the troposphere nearest the surface of the earth. It extends upward the consecutive layers called the stratosphere, mesosphere and thermosphere. This is consistent with the understanding that the atmosphere is made up of layers (expanse of plates).
The canopy was probably located in the above the stratosphere and is the most probable reason for the vast green house that was the early earth. Weather as we know it did not exist, as the canopy kept the troposphere warm with little wind or weather changes. It shielded the earth from the suns harmful rays. Many believe this is the reason for the vast vegetation then found on the early earth. Evidence of the magnitude of this vegetation is the vast coal beds located all over the world. These coal beds were made when great amounts of vegetation was buried during the Great Flood. This subject will be explained later in the notes on Genesis 6, which is the Biblical account of the Flood.
Also, the firmament and its shielding properties is believed to be a factor in the long life of the pre-flood men. In Genesis 2:6, the Scripture tell us that a "mist from the earth", went up and watered the whole face of the earth. This vast canopy of water above the earth held the moisture of the earth in creating a colossal green house on earth. Dew came up each night in the cooling hours and watered the earth.
This firmament does not exist today. In Genesis 7:11, God broke up the fountains of the deep and the "windows of heaven", and torrential rains poured on the earth for the first time. Until the flood the earth had not seen rain. (Genesis 2:5)
God lastly named the vast expanse of the atmosphere "heaven".
THE THIRD DAY: GOD CREATES THE OCEANS AND VEGETATION.
(Genesis 1:9-13)
A. The oceans and dry land are formed. Genesis 1:9-10.
God now proceeded in separating the water that was under the canopy into one place and the ocean was formed and dry land appeared. The dry land God called "Earth" and called the waters "seas".
God proclaimed that is was complete and perfect as He willed it to be. "...God saw that it was good." Gen. 1:10b
Recently, most geologists have agreed that the continent of earth were part of one vast land mass that is called "Pangaea". This idea is called the "continental drift theory". It states that the seven continents of earth were once together, but drifted apart until they reached their present position. The plates under the earth that support the continents are fluid and the process is still in motion today. At first, the only evidence was the shape of the continents which appeared to fit together. As an example South America fits nicely against the west coast of Africa. More evidence came to light when the oceans bottoms where mapped and the vast mountain ranges were discovered with very visible evidence of continental movement.
Genesis 10:25, records "...that in the days of Peleg, the earth was divided." Peleg lived after the Noah, and thus gives us evidence that this gargantuan event occurred after the Flood.
B. Vegetation is Created. Genesis 1:11-13
The first life that appeared on earth was vegetation. These were plants, God divided into three groups: grasses, herbs and trees. This again is evidence that the concept of evolution is foreign to the Bible. Evolution says that over vast periods of time life began as a simple one cell living animal or thing and evolved into more complex forms of life. Here the Bible says the plants were created first and they were full grown and divided into classes the Bible calls "kinds". A further blow to those who would try to merge the Bible and evolution is the fact these "kinds" only produced with in their own kind. One kind of living vegetation could not evolve into another form as evolution surmises. The Bible is saying that there were fixed boundaries in which reproduction could take place.
Some have equated the Bible's "kinds" to man's classification called "species". The limits that the Bible places on kinds is that they were a part of a biological family in which they could reproduce within itself, but not out side its family. Great variation is possible with in the kind, however, fruit trees were divided into a group that reproduced within its self. Apple trees would produce apples, but not produce pears. There are many types of horses on the earth, but they are all horses. Horses can not breed with cows or other animals to produce offspring.
THE FOURTH DAY OF CREATION: THE SUN, MOON AND STARS CREATED.
(Genesis 1:14-19)
On the fourth day of Creation God created the sun, moon and stars. Up to this point in time the great expanse of space was empty. The earth existed in time before the sun around which it today rotates. Before day four the earth was rotating on its own axis and now with the creation of the sun it began its rotation in it orbit around the sun.
The earth is unique in its orbit being ninety three million miles from the sun. This distance from the sun allows the sun to warm the earth in such a way the life is sustained on earth. Only a small variation in its orbit would end life on earth making it too warm or cold. The earths orbit around the sun also creates the seasons and climates in various areas of the globe. Summer and winter come and go in the northern and southern hemispheres of earth in relation to the tilt of the earth on its axis.
The fact the earth rotates on its axis every twenty four hours. This rotation creates day and night. The moon is also an important part of our environment on earth. The moon provides for light at night as it goes through it various phases. Further it gravitational pull creates the ebb and flow of tides in our oceans.
The stars as they appear in the heavens change throughout the year as the earth rotates around the sun. Navigation is possible on earth because the stars provide a point of reference. Our calendar of twelve months and the reckoning of time is made possible by observing the position of the stars and sun in relation to the earth.
This is exactly what the Genesis account of Creation teaches was God's purpose for making the heavenly bodies:
First......to mark day from night.
Second.....to given man "signs" or bearings on earth to navigate.
Third......to mark the seasons.
Fourth.....to give light on earth.
The fact the heavenly bodies were created on the fourth day absolutely precludes that evolution and the Biblical account of Creation cannot be reconciled. This contradicts the Big Bang theory of evolution which states the universe was created in a gigantic explosion of matter which created all the heavenly bodies of the universe in one instant in time.
The fact the earth was created first further shows us the uniqueness of the creation of the earth and that God had a specific purpose in Creation. God's purpose was that the earth was created for man and all else was created to support the earth and God's plan for man.
THE FIFTH DAY OF CREATION: GOD CREATES THE FIRST LIVING CREATURES.
(Genesis 1:20-23)
The first animal life on earth was created on the fifth day of Creation. Animal life did not begin as the result of evolution's supposed "spontaneous generation". Life did not evolve, but was created whole and complete. ("God saw that it was good"). Land animals did not evolve from lower forms of sea life.
The animals in the sea were the first to be created. In Genesis 1:20, the words, "bring forth", are more correctly translated, "swarmed abundantly". Life did not come from the waters, but was created by God.(10) The statement can correctly be translated "Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures".(11) Vertebrates, invertebrates and reptiles were created at this time. The fowls of the air were also created.
Next God created "great whales". The words "great whales" is better translated "great sea creatures" or "great sea-monsters". The Hebrew word here is "tannin", which is most frequently translated "dragon". The root of this word is "tan" and it means "dragon or whale". However, the word in Genesis 1:21, is "tannin", which can mean "any large reptile".(12) Wilson's Old Testament Word Studies, defines the word as meaning "a great fish, sea monster; or rather, any reptile or animal of large dimensions, whether of the sea or land: Gen. 1:21, Job 7:12, Ezek. 32:2".(13) This explains to us where the now extinct dinosaurs came from. God created them on the fourth day.
Note that God states again his creation was complete (was good). God then "blessed them". This is the first time God blesses what He has created. In Genesis 1:21, God created "every living creature". This is can be translated also "every living soul". It is a reference to the fact that animal life is conscious life. Henry Morris has this to say:
"Though not an object of God's love as man would be, animals nevertheless are objects of His care and concern. Not even a sparrow would ever fall to the ground without His noticing and caring (Matthew 10:29, and He continually provides food for them (Matthew 6:26)."(14)
Evolution teaches that all life first came from the oceans. One cell life evolved into more and more complex forms of life until fish were ultimately produced. Some fish then began to seek food from shore lines and to better accomplish this task, evolved feet from their fins and became eventually land animals. These amphibians also developed the ability to breath out of the water. Three hundred million years ago these from these amphibians emerged reptiles who later evolved into birds to better escape their enemies and get food.(15)
Evolution has many problems and most evolutionist ignore the obvious fallacies with its claims. The problem of missing links is enough by itself to totally discount evolution.
A missing link is the supposed ancestor of modern animals or life forms that connects them to their prehistoric predecessors. In the case of land animals which evolved from amphibians, there would be a "missing link" which would be half amphibian, half animal. Evolution says it takes millions of years for one form of life to evolve into another higher form. Therefore, these animals which would be classed as "links" between amphibians and land animals would have had to exist for millions of years. All fossil animals found are complete and can not be classed as transitional. In fact the one would think that there would be untold millions of "missing links" produced over the millions of years it took them to evolve. However, no missing links have been found.
To illustrate the dishonest ends some evolutionists have gone to try and prove their ideas take the case of the supposed half reptile half bird called the "Archaeopteryx". Volpe says, "The origin of birds from reptiles is revealed by the celebrated "Archaeopteryx", a Jurassic form that was essentially an air borne lizard".(16) Note that it is presented as fact that this fossil reptile was in fact a flying reptile. However, today there is growing evidence that the Archaeopteryz is just another of hoax produced by evolutionist to support their unsupportable claims. Three physicists, Fred Hoyle, Chandra Wickramasinghe, and Lee Spetner, all reputable scientists claim the Archaeopteryx is a fake. Only a handful of these fossils exist and the two which show the clearest feather imprints came from the collection of Dr. Karl Hablerlein. The three physicists suggest that Dr. Hablerlein, in 1860, pressed chicken feathers on to a prepared surface of what were actually two reptilian fossils. They say obvious signs of forgery are double strikes, the same feather is imprinted twice, depressions and elevations on each half of the fossil do not match, chewing gum-like blobs: remnants of the forger's cement? and the surface on which the feathers appear is of a finer matrix than the rest of the rock surface. (17) It appears that evolution has another hoax on its hands.
There are honest and reputable scientists, but there are some have fabricated support for evolution that has not be discovered. Forgery to produce evidence for evolution is not new. The Piltdown man, presented as a primitive ancestor of modern man for years, was found to be a hoax. Charles Dawson, a Britain, who achieved recognition as the greatest British antiquarian and amateur palaeontologist was a party to the forgery, along with Arthur Smith, Keeper of the Department of Geology and Paleontology at the British Museum. Dawson conceived this hoax hopeful that it would gain him a Fellowship of the Royal Society and, almost certainly, earn him a knighthood.
Housed in the British Museum, it was protected from close examination by eminent scientists, such as Arthur Keith, and L.S. B. Leakey. They were only allowed to examine the supposed fossil for a few minutes and given plaster casts to conduct their investigation. S. J. Weiner, of Oxford University, exposed the hoax in the 1950s and "Life Magazine" reported it as a matter of fact that it was Dawson who was the guilty person.(18) Piltdown man was supposed to be the oldest living man discovered living on million years ago and thus the missing link so sought by evolutionists. For years science text books in schools, colleges and universes presented this hoax as fact. The evidence is that this was a dishonest attempt by this renounce evolutionist to add evidence for his hypothesis which did not exist so he produced it by fraud.
The evolutionist believes all the varies of life on earth is evidence of the process of evolution. A better explanation for all the varieties of life on earth is that in the in the gene pools of the first animals created was the ability to produce all life that has been produced since.
In Genesis 1:21, God said that all animals created on the fifth day "brought forth abundantly, after his kind." This phrase addresses the ability of animals to reproduce. It in fact places a restriction on reproduction. Animals of different types could only reproduce "after its kind". Different kinds could not cross breed. Evolution teaches that first fish evolved, then amphibians, followed by reptile and birds. Science in all its investigations has never observed on basic type of animal breeding with another basic type and producing off spring. The record stands, if evolution produced all the varies of life on earth by one animal evolving into another, why can it not be observed in even the most minute way today? Dogs produce dogs, and cats produce cats and lizards product lizards and never produce birds!! The current developments in the study of DNA, which is the genetic building block of all life, shows conclusively that the DNA chemical picture is so peculiar and of specific quality, that crossing of one animal with another is impossible.(19) This is a provable and demonstrable fact that further refutes evolution: Life only reproduces within itself in its own "kind".
Thus on the fifth day of Creation God, made the creatures of the sea, reptiles and birds. Not created was four footed land animals, insects and all other animals.
THE SIXTH DAY: GOD CREATES THE HIGHER ORDER OF ANIMALS AND MAN.
(Genesis 1:24-31)
On the beginning of the sixth day God created the (1) cattle, (2) creeping things, (3) beast of the earth. Each was created "after his kind" and God pronounced it "good".
The word "cattle" is the Hebrew word, "behemowth". Most agree with Charles Ryrie that the word refers to "domesticated quadrupeds".(20)
Your writer believes that domesticated land animals are included, but the scope of the word is much greater. This word "behemoth" is the same word translated "beast of the field" in the same verse. It is also used in Job 40:15-24. Some suppose the animal of Job to be the Nile crocodile or a hippopotamus.(21) However, the text clearly is not talking about either animal. The behemoth eats grass as an ox, his strength is in his loins and the navel of his belly, he moves his tail like a cedar, his bones are as strong as pieces of brass and bars of iron, and he is chief of the ways of God. The mountains are said to bring forth his food and he lies under shady trees in the cover and drinks up a river. He nose pierces through snares. This does not describe a crocodile or hippopotamus. What is does describe is a dinosaur!
It appears to this writer the scope of the word includes cattle and all land based animals including dinosaurs. The first use of the word by itself seems to refer to domesticated animals and the second use its meaning is qualified to refer specifically to animals "of the field" or wild animals. This would include of course the dinosaurs.
"Creeping things" would include smaller life forms that creep, crawled, walked or slid close to the earth. This would include small reptiles, worms and insects.
The statement is made twice that this part of Creation was perfect and complete, "God saw that it was good".
God then created man "in Our image". This does not means that man was created physically to look like God. God is Spirit, He is not physical or material. (John 4:24). Man was created in the likeness or representation of God in that man had, intellect, emotion and a will. This means man is spiritually, intelligently and morally like God. Man's spiritual nature was damaged in the Fall and tarnished by sin.(22)
Man was given dominion over all other life on the earth God had created. It is the Hebrew word, "radah", and means "to tread down or to rule". Adam, who was the first man, was placed in charge of the rest of Creation. He alone was made in the likeness of God having intellect, emotion and will. No animal has these attributes. Man is never in Scripture referred to as an animal. Man was God's special creation.
In Genesis 1:28, for the second time God's blessing is given in conjunction with reproduction. Adam is instructed to be fruitful and multiply and "replenish" the earth. The word translated "replenish" simply means to "fill". It can not be used to support the Gap Theory that teaches the is evidence the first earth was destroyed and now was "re-filled" or populated.
Genesis 1:29-30, states that man as well as animals were given green plants for food and meat was not eaten. Death did not come to the earth until after the Fall of man in Genesis 3. Genesis 9:2, records that it was not until after the Flood that God gave man meat for food.
In conclusion, God declared the creation to be "very good". Six times God declared what He had created to be "good", however now that all of creation was finished and complete, He pronounces it "very good". In other words, all the parts of creation and of God's plan were now in place and were functioning in harmony as God intended.
Henry Morris points out that this further discounts the Gap Theory and the "one day is as a thousand years theory".(23) God could not have stated His Creation was perfect and totally complete if one thinks about what would have had to happen earlier according to these theories. Evolution requires death and destructin on earth to bring about it change. Struggle and travail would have characterized the earth up to this point in time had evolution been the creator. These things could not have been declared perfect by God.
Accounting to the Bible at this time in Creation, there could not have been any fossils at this time! Genesis 3, records the Fall of man and the entering of sin and its result death. Fossils have to die to become fossils. God has said there was no death on earth until after the seventh day of Creation.
One the second day when God made the first green plants which included trees how were they created? Were they created as seeds having to grow into mature plants? God declared them at the end of the second day to be "good" meaning complete and whole. The account describes the tree as "yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself". (Gen. 1:12) This is easily understood as describing a mature tree. It you would have cut down one of these mature trees you would have been able to count a number of tree rings. One tree ring is formed each year of a tree's life. Regardless of how many rings the tree had, how old was it? The answer is obvious: it was not over one day old!
This show us an important fact of Creation: God created the earth with the appearance of age. Adam was created as a mature man. The Bible in Genesis 2, states he was mature enough to name all the animals. If you would have taken a rock from the ground at the end of the six day of Creation and used one of the modern methods of dating rocks would it have read six days or perhaps a million years old? Probably it would have given a reading of a million years old, but how old was it in reality? Again the answer is obvious: it was only six days old!
Because modern Science has discounted the Biblical record of Creation it has been left without a place to start its clock. Time is marked from the beginning of an action and begins always at zero. Science has no place to set its clock from. Evolution in truth has no beginning. Creation does! It starts with God, forming the earth out of nothing and in six days creating all the earth. There is evidence that the earth is millions of years old, but that evidence can easily be explained in understanding that the earth was created with the appearance of age. Thus even the appearance of age fits within the creation account.
Genesis 2:1-2, states all was finished and on the seventh day God ended his work and rested. Further, He blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. God sanctified this day and set it apart. Because God rested, no the seventh day of the week was set aside to be a day of rest. The word is futuristic noting it was sanctified looking onward into the future. This again is evidence from the account that it is intended to be understood as an account of six literal days of Creation. The Sabbath is a twenty four hour period of rest. It is always presented as such in Scripture. God was setting the time pattern for rest of the future.
1. * Use of the word "Christian" with quotation marks indicates the word is referring to all who use the name Christian. It would include liberal churches and denominations. Use of the word without quotation marks indicates true Bible believing Christians.
2. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, by R. Laird Harris, Gleason L Archer, Jr, Bruce K. Waltke, The Moody Bible Institute, 1981, pg 127.
3. The Genesis Record, by Henry M. Morris, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Mich, 1980, pg 45.
4. Morris, pg 49.
5. Morris, pg 51.
6. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, p370
7. "Bible Science Newsletter", Vol.26, Nr. 8, August 1988, pg10.
8. Theological Wordbook of Old Testament, pg 862
9. Tenny, pg 283.
10. Morris, pg 68.
11. The New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tenn., pg1.
12. Theological Word Book of The Old Testament, Vol. II, pg 976.
13. Wilson's Old Testament Word Studies, William Wilson, MacDonald publishing Co., McLean, VA 22102, pg 479.
14. Morris, pg 70.
15. Understanding Evolution, E. Peter Volpe, Wm. C. Brown Company Publishers, Dubuque, Iowa, pgs 124-127
16. Volpe, pg 128.
17. "Bible Science Newsletter", Bible-Science Association, Vol. 23, No. 9, September, 1985, pg3.
18. Evolution and the Christian Faith, Bolton Davidheiser, The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1969, pg 341.
19. "The Bible-Science Newsletter", Vol. 17, No. 11, November 1979, pg7.
20. Ryrie Study Bible, Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Moody Press, 1978, pg 8.
21. Ryrie - Footnote on Job 40:22, 41:1, pg 794-795.
22. Theological Word Book, pg 768.
23. Morris, pg 79