While Young-Earth Creationism Does Not
Genesis
1:1 is grammatically a narration (as opposed
to a heading) of the
first stage of God’s creation of the universe with its opening declaration, “In the beginning God created the heavens and
the earth.” Genesis 1:1 is
categorized as narrative in part because the verse which follows (1:2) begins with a conjunction “and” (waw-Hb), which could not[1] be
the case if 1:1 was a title.[2] In addition, since this waw precedes
a noun (“earth”), its specific grammatical construction called a “waw-disjunctive,” which
serves to clarify the conditions of the earth in that era. Indeed 1:1 differs in grammatical style from other passages in the Book of Genesis that clearly
are headings (2:4a, 5:1a, etc.). Furthermore, if it actually was the case that
1:1 is a heading, then ironically the
portion of what is universally acknow-ledged
to be narrative as opposed to heading contains no reference at all to the creation
of either the earth or the heavens! For these
reasons this text teaches that the entire cosmos, including both the sun and
moon, were all created in 1:1 as opposed to later on Day 4.
2.
Genesis
1:1-2 is silent concerning the duration[3] of that initial creation event. For this reason the task of determining the
timeframe entailed in this first creation episode is a matter that is
independent of the consideration of the length each of the six Days[4]
which only begin later in 1:3. This absence
of a reference to duration in vs. 1-2 therefore allows a 13 billion-year history
of the universe that entails NO compromise with Scripture.
3.
Genesis
1:1 states that the heavens
were created at the very “beginning.”[5] Consequently, the “two great lights” (specifically identified in regard to their purpose on Day 4) already existed prior to the first Day.
In light of the distinction that Hebrew vocabulary makes between the
concepts, create out of nothing, make, and the progression of becoming visible, it is not at all certain from the vocabulary that these “lights” were created on Day Four.[6] This essay resolves that apparent conflict by postulating from Scripture that at the time
the earth was “young” (1:1), these extant “lights” weren’t yet visible from its
surface because of heavy clouds that then
blocked their rays from reaching it (1:2).
Only when the oppressive covering later began dissipating, could the
light rays begin to penetrate the darkness (1:3). Yet it was only later still, after that covering
began breaking apart, that the lights first appeared
from Earth’s surface as distinct spheres
that were useful for marking seasons (1:14).
4.
In a manner that is entirely consistent with scientific
discoveries that our cosmos came into existence out of nothing, five biblical
authors on eleven occasions, over 2,500 years prior to our scientific age independently
declared that God “stretches out the heavens.” These passages include Job 9:8, Psalm 104:2, Isaiah 40:22; 42:5; 44:24; 45:12;
48:13; 51:13; Jeremiah 10:12; 51:15,
and Zechariah 12:1.
Cosmologist
Edwin Hubble first discovered this very same phenomenon by means of scientific observation (as opposed to biblical revelation) when he noticed
through his telescope at Mount Wilson that galaxies outside of our “local”
cluster[7] are
retreating from each other (like the “stretching
out the heavens”). By their uniting
of insights from Einstein’s General Relativity Theory with the documented fact that the cosmos is
expanding, scientists, with both amazement and consternation, acknowledged that
the cosmos came into existence out of nothing. As one LCMS publication conceded,
scientists have concluded that “the
universe is not static, but is expanding. This and related discoveries thus
suggest…the now generally accepted conclusion that the universe of space and
time had a beginning in the finite past.” My essay “The Prints are Everywhere,”[8] in
broad strokes lays out the evolution of that ongoing expansion of the cosmos
from its beginning as a “zero-volume singularity” all the way up through its
present size and state. Images of the
progression of this natural development have been fully documented. Consequently, even though NO humans lived back at the beginning (which would enable them to personally view the creation of the
universe) it is entirely wrong for
young-earth creationists to suggest that we therefore have no access to actual
knowledge of either the creation or the characteristics of the early universe. The fact that scientists to the contrary are
able to observe the entirety of cosmic history utterly contradicts this LCMS belief that we have no such knowledge.
[1] The simple reason is that the word “and” points to a referent in the prior story line itself. See my essay, “The
Biblical Demand to Take another Look: Ten exegetical Reasons the Creation Days
of Genesis are Non 24-Hour,” sec. II. It
can be accessed at my website: www.christianityontheoffense.com.
[2] That 1:2 in Hebrew begins with “and,” marks it as a continuation of the narrative begun in 1:1. Further,
1:2 assumes the prior existence of
the earth.
[3] At the N.W. District conv. of the Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod (June, 1964), the late LCMS professor Dr. Paul Zimmermann
stated that if Gen. 1:2 “lies outside the
limits of the first day and indicates
a preliminary activity, then certainly a
great amount of time could be included in this verse” (bold-face mine).
Bible Science Newsletter. (Caldwell
Idaho). ** Also, Zimmerman, ed. Darwin, Evolution, and Creation.
(Concordia, 1959), pp. 47, 161, 165).
[4] I make the case that the six “creation days” are eras
as opposed to 24-hour-days in my essay, “The
Biblical Demand.” Op.cit. (2).
[5] By contrast, LCMS talk show host Todd Wilkin asserts
that on Day 1, the sky would have appeared as a “blank screen” (www.issuesetc.org,
7-11-07).
[6] Hebrew verbs
differ from English in that the former conveys the completion/non completion of
events as opposed to the English past, present, or future. When readers encounter words such as “and God
made” in creation Day Four, for example, they imply “had already made”
(referring back to Gen. 1:1) as opposed to “made that very moment” (simple past tense). Furthermore, the verbs that are employed in
creation Day Four (haya, yehee, asah), meaning variously “make,” or “cause to appear,”) are
weaker than the word bara (meaning “created
by God out of nothing”) as in Gen. 1:1.
[7] Because individual galaxies that are within
the same cluster are gravitationally
attracted to each other, they stand as an exception to this principle. The clusters as a whole on the other hand,
are flying away from each other, and with it the very fabric of the cosmos.
Hence the universe is expanding.
[8] See my papers, “The Prints are Everywhere,” and “Was
the Big Bang the Big Beginning?” at my website. Op.cit. (2).
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