Is the Young-Earth Interpretation Biblically Sound?
by Rich Deem

Warning! It is not with much joy that I have created this page. It was created in response to attacks and complaints about my position on the age of the Earth by fellow Christians. My purpose in writing this page is not to create controversy or division within the Christian community or even convert you to an Old-Earth viewpoint if you take a Young-Earth stance. I do feel it is important that those who are adamant that the young-earth position is the only biblical interpretation of Genesis look at the rather formidable scriptural problems in their interpretation before judging others on their "non-scriptural" views. I do not feel it is productive to become engaged in a debate about the age of the Earth with fellow Christians. However, if you feel that I have missed some of the scriptural problems in the young-earth or Day-Age interpretation, E-mail me and I will add it to this page. For those of you who are non-Christian, read this page with the understanding that the young-earth interpretation of creation is not the "only biblical view" of creation. Not only does the currently popular young-earth interpretation have major scientific discrepancies, but it contradicts much of what the Bible says.

Scriptural Problems in the Young-Earth Interpretation

The traditional interpretation of the church is that creation days are 24 hours long

What did the early church fathers believe about the lengths of creation days?  The book entitled Creation and Time, by Dr. Hugh Ross documents in detail what first century Jewish scholars and the early Christian church fathers said regarding their interpretation of creation chronology (see Chapter 2, pages 16-24). Many early church fathers expressed no opinion on the subject of creation days, since it is a peripheral issue in Christianity. However, Jewish scholars who discussed creation chronology include Philo and Josephus, while Christian fathers include Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Hippolytus (through writings of Ambrose), Clement, Origen, Lactantius, Victorinus, Methodius, Augustine, Eusebius, Basil, and Ambrose. Among this group, all but one believed that the creation days were longer than 24 hours. The evidence presented in Creation and Time is both overwhelming and well documented (all references are given). All of these references are available at Wheaton College's server. Alternatively, these writings can be obtained on CD from Ages Software or Logos Research.

The Sun was created on the 4th day

The entire universe (heavens and earth) was created on or before the first day (Genesis 1:1) and sunlight was upon the earth before the end of the first day (Genesis 1:3-5). There are those who say that the light described was not from the Sun and was not falling on the Earth. However, the text clearly establishes the frame of reference as being the surface of the waters on planet Earth (Genesis 1:2). In addition, the text indicates that the light is not some "diffuse light from God," but is directional, since the Earth is experiencing both day and night (Genesis 1:5). I have yet to hear one reasonable explanation of how there can be day and night on the Earth without the Sun shining until 3 days later.

There was no death or carnivorous activity before the fall

The Bible actually suggests that Adam had seen death before the creation of Eve. When Adam was first put into the garden, God said that he could eat from any tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:15-17). God threatened that Adam would "surely die" if he broke this command. This threat makes no sense unless Adam had already seen the death of animals. There is no recorded reply of Adam asking what death was. If he had never seen death this would have been an obvious question. This is strong biblical evidence that Adam had already seen the death of animals even before Eve was created.

The standard young-earth interpretation is that sin brought about death to all living creatures and the advent of carnivorous activity. However, the text says that sin brought about the death of humans (Genesis 2:17, Romans 5:12). There is no biblical basis for the idea that sin brought about death of animals. Likewise, the young-earth contention that carnivorous activity began at the fall is without a biblical foundation. In fact, it directly contradicts scripture, since such a drastic change in animal behavior would have required God to continue the creation process - something the Bible says He stopped doing after the sixth day (Genesis 2:3, Hebrews 4:4). If this were true, then God must have changed some of the animals to become carnivorous. Why would God judge the innocent animals for the sin of mankind and condemn them to the "evil" laws of survival of the fittest? If God did change some of the animals to become carnivorous, it must be one of the better kept secrets of the Bible.

What does scripture say happened after the fall? The reality is that God judged only those who committed sin:

There were no other judgments made by God, since all the guilty parties were punished. God does not pass judgment upon the innocent. There is no biblical basis for the young-earth belief that sin brought about the death of animals and the beginning of carnivorous activity.

Physical death is evil

Is death and pain bad or evil? First, I would like to point out that animals are incapable of sin. Since they lack a spirit with which to communicate with God, they have no concept of God and are not under any of God's laws or judgment. Therefore, death and pain inflicted by animals on other animals and plants is not evil. In addition, scripture clearly tells us that God Himself allowed humans to kill (Genesis 4:4) and eat animals (Genesis 9:3). In fact, God was pleased with the sacrifice of Abel, which involved the killing of animals. Therefore, scripture itself eliminates the death of animals and plants as being evil or bad.

In fact, God Himself is implicated in the death of animals. First, God killed animals to clothe Adam and Eve after the fall (Genesis 3:21) and then killed many animals during the flood (Genesis 7). God set up the system of animal sacrifice for atonement for sin (Exodus 23:18). In addition, scripture tells us that God created carnivores on day 6 and provides food for the carnivores of the Earth, therefore condoning the death of some animals for the survival of others:

"Who prepares for the raven its nourishment, When its young cry to God, And wander about without food?" (Job 38:41) 
"Can you hunt the prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, [God speaking] (Job 38:39) 
The young lions roar after their prey, And seek their food from God. (Psalms 104:21)
There is the sea, great and broad, In which are swarms without number, Animals both small and great... They all wait for Thee, To give them their food in due season. (Psalms 104:25, 27)
Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. (Luke 12:24)

If one states that the death of animals and carnivorous activity are evil, then one must admit, according to scripture, that God is responsible for these things and therefore a perpetrator of evil. Such a viewpoint would make God a sinner - something vehemently refuted by scripture. Views that the deaths of animals are evil are common arguments from atheists and New Agers, some of which has been seeping into the Church.

Is the death of human beings evil or bad? God designed physical death and made it come upon humanity when Adam sinned. This death is both judgment and mercy. Sin brings about spiritual death, which can only be atoned for by the blood of Christ. Judgment of sinners is based upon their evil deeds. Therefore, God, in cutting short the lives of sinners, reduces their punishment for sin. One should note that long life was not a blessing, but a curse on early mankind. These long lifetimes led to widespread wickedness, such that God was forced to eliminate nearly all of mankind and reduce the lifetimes of post-flood humanity. Scripture tells us that the death of the righteous is actually good:

Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones. (Psalms 116:15) 
for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. (Romans 14:8) 
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21) 
But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; (Philippians 1:23) 
And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them." (Revelation 14:13)

Entropy (2nd law of thermodynamics) began after the fall

The young-earth doctrine that entropy did not start until the fall of humans into sin is directly contradicted by the text of Genesis 1. First, let's understand what entropy is so that we can see how it is directly affirmed in the opening chapter of the Bible. Simply put, the second law of thermodynamics states that heat flows from hot bodies to cold bodies. This law affects virtually everything that happens in our universe. It allows the Sun to shine and warm the Earth. It has also been called the law of decay, since it addresses the "decay" of the universe. Since all heat flows from hot bodies to cold bodies, the logical end result will be that at some point the entire universe will have the same temperature. To a large degree, this phenomenon has already occurred. At the Big Bang, the almost infinitely hot beginning of the universe became spread over the expanding size of the universe. Greater than 99.9% of all the energy of the original cosmos was dissipated within minutes of the Big Bang, and is now measurable as the 2.7°K background radiation. In a few hundred billion years the entire universe will have dispersed to become one uniform temperature (assuming God has not intervened before then). The Bible clearly states that entropy began well before the fall of mankind. Stars cannot shine (Genesis 1:3), animals move (Genesis 1:20), etc. if the 2nd law was not in effect. Those who say the 2nd law of thermodynamics did not start until the fall must postulate that God changed all the laws of physics - all the stars, planets, animals, etc. - essentially remaking the entire universe. There is not even a hint in the Bible that God did this. Indeed, the Bible says that God rested from all his creative work after the sixth day. Just recently, the young-earth creation society, Answers in Genesis refuted the idea that the second law of thermodynamics began at the fall, although the idea is still quite prevalant among other young-earth groups.

Pre-fall Eden was perfect and will be restored at the 2nd coming of Jesus

The creation before the fall was described as "very good" (Genesis 1:31), but never as "perfect." The words used in Genesis 1:31 are meod tob, which mean "very" or "abundantly" (meod) and "good" or "beautiful" (tob). This combination of words is used several times after the Fall to describe Rebekah (Genesis 24:16), Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:2), Adonijah (1 Kings 1:6), and figs (Jeremiah 24:2). Since these words are used to describe fallen (imperfect) humans, it is obvious that the Genesis text is not referring to a perfect creation, but one that is, as translated, very good. The Hebrew word used to describe the perfection of God is tamim, which is never used to describe God's temporal creation. In fact, the Genesis creation text describes part of the creation as "not good" (Genesis 2:18). Eden was neither without pain (Genesis 3:16) nor temptation to sin (Genesis 3:1). In addition, God's command to humans in Genesis 1 was to "subdue" the earth (Genesis 1:28). The Hebrew word for "subdue" is kabash, (Strong's number H3533), which means to bring into subjection to human influence. This very statement implies that the world was hostile and unsuitable for human domination without some effort. This statement implies that the creation before the fall of man was neither perfect nor even prepared for humans to "fill the earth." God, in His mercy, started humans in His personally planted garden, Eden (Genesis 2:8), protected from the reality of the rest of the earth (weeds, drought, etc.) that needed to be subdued. When the first humans sinned, they were kicked out the garden (Genesis 3:24) into the reality of a hostile world in need of being "subdued."

In contrast, the New Creation is described as being perfect (1 Corinthians 13:10, Philippians 1:6, Hebrews 9:11). In fact, the new creation will be vastly different from Eden and this universe. The Bible specifically states that there will be no crying, mourning, death or pain (Revelation 21:4) in the new creation. Likewise, the laws of gravity will be replace or reduced, since cubes with 1,500 mile sides (Revelation 21:16) are not possible under our current laws of gravity (any object this size would immediately become a sphere in our universe). Also, in the new creation, there are no stars or Sun (Isaiah 60:19-20, Revelation 21:23, Revelation 22:5). Since there will be no entropy in the new creation, stars could not burn. However, God himself will provide the light, which will be truly marvelous to see.

Gnosticism and New Age belief in the young-earth interpretation

The Gnostics claimed that the physical universe was evil, whereas only the spiritual universe was good. Therefore, God was responsible only for the creation of the spiritual - the physical universe was created by evil god(s). Some young-earth creationists claim that Satan messed up God's original creation - essentially recreating it. This is a Gnostic view, which was refuted by nearly all the Christian church fathers of the second and third centuries. Although young-earth creationists do not associate hidden knowledge with salvation, they do propagate concepts that have no biblical basis, which have not been promoted by the Christian church until this century. The young-earth viewpoint presupposes that death and carnivorous activity are evil - something promoted by New Age religions and atheistic philosophies.

For related pages, see Day-Age Genesis One Interpretation, Biblical Evidence for Long Creation Days Did God Create Carnivores on Day 6?, and Biblical Defense of Long Creation Days.

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References

1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
2. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. (Genesis 1:3-5)
3. And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Genesis 1:2)
4. Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:15-17)
5. but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:17)
   Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12)
6. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. (Genesis 2:3)
   For He has thus said somewhere concerning the seventh day, "AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS"; (Hebrews 4:4)
7. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering (Genesis 4:4)
8. Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, *as I gave the green plant. (Genesis 9:3)
9. And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)
10. "You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; nor is the fat of My feast to remain overnight until morning. (Exodus 23:18)
11. Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens." (Genesis 1:20)
12. And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good [meod tob]. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31)
13. And the girl [Rebekah] was very beautiful [meod tob], a virgin, and no man had had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar, and came up. (Genesis 24:16)
14. Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman [Bathsheba] bathing; and the woman was very beautiful [meod tob] in appearance. (2 Samuel 11:2)
15. And his father had never crossed him at any time by asking, "Why have you done so?" And he [Adonijah] was also a very handsome [meod tob] man; and he was born after Absalom. (1 Kings 1:6)
16. One basket had very good [meod tob] figs, like first-ripe figs; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten due to rottenness. (Jeremiah 24:2)
17. Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." (Genesis 2:18)
18. To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you shall bring forth children; Yet your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you." (Genesis 3:16)
19. Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" (Genesis 3:1)
20. And God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:28)
21. And the LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. (Genesis 2:8)
22. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:24)
23. but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. (1 Corinthians 13:10)
    For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)
    But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; (Hebrews 9:11)
24. "and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." (Revelation 21:4)
25. And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. (Revelation 21:16)
26. "No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory. "Your sun will set no more, Neither will your moon wane; For you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And the days of your mourning will be finished. (Isaiah 60:19-20)
    And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. (Revelation 21:23)
    And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever. (Revelation 22:5)
27. Note: Atheists often use this argument to "prove" the God does not exist (a perfect God could not create an imperfect universe). However, the Bible clearly states that the universe was designed to be temporary and will be replaced by a new, perfect universe (Isaiah 60, Revelation 21).