In our present society, two basic explanations for the origin of all things are promoted. The first is creationism. Creationists believe that God created the universe and everything in it through miraculous acts of His divine power as described in the Biblical account found in Genesis 1 and 2.

The second major view is evolutionism. Evolutionists believe that matter always existed or increased and that either through a great explosion or some other powerful processes our solar system was formed. Life formed by chance from non-living substances and over millions of years developed on its own from simple to more complex forms on earth.

Due to the strong views of evolution­ary teachings and publications, and their general acceptance, some Christian churches, schools, and individuals have proposed various theories which would enable them to believe in both evolution and a Creator God. These attempted compromises satisfy neither the evolutionary scientist nor the Biblical creationist, however. The one does not want to acknowledge the presence and power of God in the universe, and the other desires to remain fully true to the creation account as it is proclaimed in the infallible Word of God.

The two most popular attempts to reconcile creationism and evolutionism are called: theistic evolution and the gap theory.

Theistic Evolution⤒🔗

The word "theistic" means "by or from God." Theistic evolutionists be­lieve that God created all things, but through an evolutionary process. Quot­ing 2 Peter 3:8, that "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years," theistic evolutionists believe that the "days" of creation referred to in Genesis 1 and 2 are long periods of time – each "day" being a time period of millions of years. During these time periods of millions of years, God created all things in an evolutionary manner.

All attempts to compromise creationism and evolutionism by means of the theistic evolution (or "long days of creation") theory will not prove successful, for all will encounter the following Scriptural difficulties:

The Old Testament word "day" (Hebrew – "yom"), when used with a numeral, always means a literal day of twenty-four hours. The only possible exceptions to this rule are found in the difficult visions of Daniel (Daniel 8:14 and 12:11-12). The "days" in Daniel being quoted within a clearly symbolic vision leaves them open to symbolic interpretation; the context surrounding these two exceptions clearly indicates that these chapters are visions and not history. Genesis is a historical book. Chapters 1 and 2 do not provide us with any contextual indications that they are not literal history.

Scripture always speaks of God's creative work as being instant in power. "By the Word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth ... For He spake and it was; He commanded and it stood fast" (Psalm 33:6, 9). The re­peated pattern of Genesis 1, "And God said, Let there be ... and it was so," also portrays God's instant, creating power.

The fourth of God's ten commandments reads as follows: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maid­servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day, wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it" (Exodus 20:8-11).

The same Hebrew words are used consistently for "day" and "days" in these verses. There is no hint in the context that some "days" are literal twenty-four-hour days and that other "days" are not. Man is not taught here to work for six periods of millions of years and then to rest for one such period. Man is clearly instructed in this commandment to work for six twenty-four-hour days and then to rest for one, as God did.

Genesis 2:7 informs us that "the LORD God formed man of the dust (powder; dry crumbs) of the ground." the theistic evolutionist believes that the word "dust" in this verse must also be interpreted symbolically. Since man gradually developed from animals, "dust" must mean "lower life forms."

This interpretation encounters serious difficulties in the following chapter of Genesis, however, where God proclaims to Adam and all mankind: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Genesis 3:19).

The Hebrew word for "dust" and "ground" are identical in both verses. Neither verse is placed in a context requiring symbolic interpretations. To be consistent, if "dust" means "lower life forms," in Genesis 2:7, then Genesis 3:19 must mean that man will return to lower forms of animal life when he dies!

Proposing that each creation "day" represents long periods of time results in numerous contradictions of God's natural laws. For instance: plants were created on the third day and the sun on the fourth. Plants need sunlight to live. If one day represented one million years, how could plants have survived for a million years without sun? Insects were created on the fifth day. Plants need insects for cross-pollination. How could plants have reproduced for two million years without insects?

Numerous conflicts in order confront those who attempt to compromise creation and evolution. For instance, the Biblical account testifies of the follow­ing sequences: the earth created before the sun, moon, and stars; plants formed prior to the sun; whales ahead of land animals; birds before insects, fruit trees prior to fish; and birds ahead of reptiles. All of these are presented in reverse order in the evolutionary time table, sometimes reflecting millions or even billions of years of reversed distance.

For these six reasons, Scripture rejects the compromise proposed by theistic evolution.

Another attempt to place millions or billions of years into Biblical history is the "gap theory." This theory is based on the idea that a large gap of time can be found between Genesis 1:1 and 1:3. The gap theorists interpret Genesis 1:1-3 in the following manner:

The Gap Theory←⤒🔗

THE GENESIS 1:1-3 GAP THEORY
Genesis 1	Gap Theory Explanation
Verse 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.	This was God's first creation. The earth supported many forms of life that are extinct today.
Verse 2a And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.	"Was" should be translated as "became." During this time Satan and his host fell and God destroyed His first creation. It "became" formless, void, and full of darkness.
Verse 2b-3 And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.	God re-created a second creation on the earth which exists yet today. Millions or billions of years existed between the first and second creation.

The gap theory contradicts Scripture in the following ways:

In Genesis 1:31 we read that at the close of the sixth and final day of creation, "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.'' God could not have declared that everything He had made was very good if, previously, Satan had fallen, sin had marred creation, and a first creation had been destroyed.

In Romans 5:12 Paul writes, "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin." Through Adam's sin death came into this world. Scripture never speaks of previous death nor of the destruction of an entire earlier creation on earth.

In Genesis 2:2 the Hebrew text states "and the earth was" without form, not "and the earth became." The word "was" links verses one and two, meaning that this "was" the condition of the matter God created on the first day before He acted to form light and order.

In Exodus 20:11 God declares, "For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day." Here Scripture clearly states that both the initial creation of heaven and earth, and all forms of matter and life in them, took place within the six days of creation specified in Genesis 1.

In these four references, Scripture rejects the gap theorists' presentation.

Conclusion←⤒🔗

As churches, schools, and individuals, let us never be led astray from the clear, literal, and historical truths of God's infallible Word. If creation is not literally true, is Adam? If Adam was not an actual human being, is man's fall an actual historic fact? If man never really fell, is Jesus Christ truly necessary? If Genesis 1 and 2 are not literally and historically true – why should Genesis 3 be? How, then, could we know if any part of the Bible testifies of an actual happening?

To begin compromising God's Word to fit man's ideas or theories is to make a dangerous move. It is stepping onto a slippery slope. May God restrain us from such wanderings; by grace, may His Word be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.

Above all, may the Holy Spirit move upon the void, dark, and restless waters of our soul and command with light-producing authority, "Let there be light." Then there shall be light, both spiritually and eternally, to the honor and the glory of the most blessed Light-and-Life Giving Creator. He is Almighty; He remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. He can still speak and it will be; He can command and it shall stand fast. For those distressed by the hopelessly dark, restless void you find within, your hope lies outside yourself in Him and in the Almighty power of His gracious Word!