Creation Theory

What was the world like when God first made it? How did the world change into what we know the world to be like today? Was there a plan? The first few pages of the Bible answer these questions.

The early history of the universe can be summed up as follows:

1. Creation of the heavens, angels and earth.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Gen. 1:1-2

Earth and heaven could have been made any time, or even before time began. When God made the earth, it was a dark, formless planet covered in water. While making the heavens, he made angels, spirit beings who are in many ways like human beings. For example, they have free will.

2. The rebellion of a third of the angels against God, which resulted in their expulsion from heaven.

Their leader was called Lucifer, who later became known as Satan or the Devil.

"`You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendour. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. Ezek. 28:12-17

His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.......The great dragon was hurled down, that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Rev. 12:4,9

3. Creation week, in which the earth was transformed from a dark, water covered planet to a planet that was teeming with life.

There are two creation stories in the Bible:

1. Gen 1:3 - 2:2 : The story of what happened on each day of creation.

This can be summarized as follows:

• Day 1: Unknown: Could be light, time and black holes.
• Day 2: A water canopy and sky
• Day 3: Dry land appears and produces vegetation.
• Day 4: Sun, moon and stars
• Day 5: Birds, insects and sea creatures.
• Day 6: Animals and human beings.

2. Gen 2:3 - 25: The story of how humans came to be created.

This can be summarized as follows:

God made man out of the dust of the ground and put him in a beautiful garden to take care of it. He told the man he could eat the fruit of any tree in the garden except from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Then God gave him the job of naming all the animals and birds. After this He created a wife for the man. The first man was called Adam and the first woman Eve.

4. Humans disobeyed God and, as a result, sin entered the world. Society degenerated rapidly.

The world as God originally made it was a wonderful place. Sadly, Adam and Eve disobeyed God after being persuaded by Satan to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Sin had entered the world. One of Adam and Eve's children, called Cain, murdered his brother Abel.

Things got much worse. The world became characterised by violence and corruption, so God had no alternative but to destroy the world and start again.

The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.Gen 6:5

5. A global flood destroyed every land creature 1936 years after creation week.

God chose a righteous and blameless man called Noah, together with his family. God gave Noah instructions to construct a large boat, called an Ark, and to put in it two of every kind of land creature: animals, birds and insects. With Noah and his family safely inside, together with all the animals and enough food for them all, the Lord closed the door of the Ark. Afterwards the flood waters came and flooded the whole earth for 150 days. From Noah's family descended all peoples.

6. Continental drift took place about 100 years after the flood.

In the days of Peleg, the earth divided:

Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan. Gen 10:25

How the early earth was different and what changes came about to make the world as we know it.

After that brief history of the early earth, here are some of the features of the earth and some of the changes which came about to make the world as we know it.

1. The beginning of time

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning: the first day.Gen 1:3-5

What is happening? God may be using a riddle that is so profound that one day scientists will discover that their research concerning the origins of the universe could be summed up in these few sentences. Yet, it is so simple that even a child can handle it. It may be saying that God created time and black holes on the first day:

• time because it is the first day and before that, time did not exist.
• black holes because of the separation of light and darkness.

2 A transparent water canopy enveloped the whole earth and was situated some distance above the earth's surface.

And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning --the second day.Gen 1:6-8

This canopy is no longer here: it came down during the flood. It is unknown whether this canopy was made of vapour, water or ice.

3. There was a tropical climate at the Poles

One of the effects of living under the water canopy would have been an even temperature throughout the earth, so it would be warm on the Poles and the Equator. Science has shown that lush, tropical vegetation once grew in the polar regions.

4. The Earth was protected from harmful rays of the sun.

Another effect of living under the water canopy would have been much better protection from harmful rays of the sun. For example ultra violet radiation would not have got through the Earth's atmosphere.

5. The early earth had a much greater land mass.

There was a greater land mass on the earth because there was less water in the seas. The canopy collapsed and is now part of our oceans. If we were able to take half the water out of the oceans, we would uncover a large ledge around our shores about a mile below sea level, known as the continental shelf.

Continental shelf showing the sea level
before and after the Flood.

Below this level the oceans get deep very quickly. Above this level the sea gradually gets shallower, the closer you get to land. It is known that the continental shelf used to be above sea level because oil, which is fossilized vegetation, has been found there.

6. Gorges, oil, coal and fossils are evidence of a global flood

The flood was world wide and covered the highest mountains to a depth of 7 metres. Can you imagine what the water pressure would have been at the bottom? Underwater currents moving rapidly across the earth's surface would have caused devastation everywhere. Clifton suspension bridge in Bristol spans a huge gorge with the river Avon running through at the bottom. It doesn't take much imagination to envisage a river many times bigger than the Avon rushing down the valley, causing high speed erosion as it cut its way through the rock, creating the gorge we can see today.

Oil and coal may well have been made instantaneously as plant matter was gathered together into large deposits and crushed under intense pressure by the flood waters.

Fossils are yet more evidence of the flood. When an animal dies, the carcass decays leaving a collapsed heap of disjointed bones. However, fossils are often found in a position as if the animal had been turned into stone suddenly. When the flood came, animals and plant life were drowned in water and mud. The intense pressure caused by the depth of the flood waters fossilized these plants and animals. As a result, we have some remarkable specimens of life forms that existed before the flood.

7. The presence of a water canopy effects the way we date fossils

Ultra violet radiation from the sun turns nitrogen in the atmosphere into radio-active carbon, which in turn oxidizes and is absorbed by plant life. The radio-active carbon then decays over a long period of time into ordinary carbon. It is therefore possible to calculate the age of a fossil by the amount of radio-active carbon it contains: the smaller the amount, the greater the age. This method of dating fossils is thrown into question if little or no radio-active carbon was absorbed in the first place because of the presence of a water canopy that later disappeared. So, many fossils which have previously been calculated to be several thousand years old may well be a fraction of that age.

8. There is room for minor evolution in creation theory

And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Gen 1:24-25

God said that the land could produce plants, creatures, fish and birds, all according to their kinds. This seems to imply that animals could cross-breed with other animals in their kind, but rules out the possibility of cross-breeding between species of different kinds. For example different types of dog can breed to form new breeds of dog, but it would be impossible for a hare and a dog to produce a kangaroo.

9 There was no rain, rainbow or clouds

When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, but streams (or mist) came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground....Gen 2:4-6

The ground used to be watered by irrigation, as there was no rain.

Neither clouds or rainbows are mentioned in the Bible until after the flood. Then suddenly they are mentioned many times in one paragraph:

"I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." Gen 9:11-16

A new Christian may say: "As a sign that I will never play with the occult again, I have destroyed all my occult literature and fetishes". The new Christian's action in destroying all his occult things had a strong relationship with what he wanted to achieve: namely, not to play with the occult again. The same is true with God's covenant with all living creatures: the appearance of clouds and a rainbow in the sky were signs that God would never flood the earth again. Noah is most likely to never have seen clouds or rainbows in the sky before. The fact was, this was a sign that the water canopy had collapsed, therefore the amount of water which could fall from the sky would never be enough to flood the whole earth.

10. Humans lived in a state of innocence.

The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, `You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, `You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Gen 2:25-3:7

Human beings were once naturally good. It would never occur to them to do wrong. In many ways they were like small children in so far as small children feel no shame when they wander around naked. When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, their innocence left them, because they knew good and evil. One of the immediate effects was that they became afraid and experienced shame.

11. Humans lived a very long time.

God's intention was for people to live forever. However, God warned Adam and Eve that if they ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil then they would die.

"....... but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Gen 2:17

Adam eventually did die, at the age of 930. In the period before the Flood, we have a record of number of people living very long lives :

During the days of Noah, God said that the life span of man would be 120 years.

Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years." Gen 6:3

Notice how after the flood, people lived much shorter lives. By the time of Abra(ha)m, people only lived to about 200 years.

We know that Abra(ha)m lived 175, Ishmael 137, Isaac 180, Jacob 147 and Joseph 110. Moses prayed a prayer (Ps 90) in which he acknowledged that human life is only 70 or perhaps 80 if strong.

The reason God has reduced the human life span is to limit our potential to sin. Old people tend to get very set in their ways and unwilling to change. It is easier to turn from sinful habits when young. Because life is so short, it forces us to ask the important questions about life.

There is no reason why we should get old. In the days before the Flood, people aged very slowly. A 90 year old may have looked to us as if they were 20, simply because people aged at a much slower rate. It didn't take much for God to speed up this process.

12. Humans used to be super-intelligent

It is generally known that much of our brain is unused. Why didn't God make us so that we utilise all of our brain? If we believe that creation took six days, then there is good reason to suppose that human beings were once super-intelligent:

Adam and Eve were made on day six.

..... God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. ..... And there was evening, and there was morning --the sixth day. Gen 1 :27,31

Adam was made first. God then gave him the job of naming all the animals. Afterwards, Eve was made.

...the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being........The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called `woman, ' for she was taken out of man." For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Gen 2: 7,18-24

Why did God get Adam to name all the animals? Naming in the Bible involves more than giving someone or something a name. It means putting their character into the name. For example, Jacob wrestled with God and his name was changed to Israel, which means, "He struggles with God". Furthermore, the person who gives the name has authority over that being. God gave Adam the task to rule over all the living creatures. In naming them, God was training Adam in his task of ruling. One thing Adam would have realised was that every animal had a mate, but there was none found for Adam. So, God made Eve to fulfil the need in Adam.

How could Adam have named all the animals in less than a day, since there were several thousand of them? It would have taken several months, given the fact that naming involved describing the character of the creature in the name. However, if Adam could use his brain to the full, he could have accurately named the creatures as soon as God presented each one to him.

Why did God make us many times less intelligent than Adam? When the human race rebelled against God, it resulted in us becoming naturally self-centred. A race of super-intelligent selfish beings, would have resulted in the discovery of the atomic bomb long ago and that may well have meant the destruction of our planet. God has made us less intelligent to stop this sort of thing from happening.

13. Animals and human beings were vegetarian

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground: everything that has the breath of life in it: I give every green plant for food." And it was so.Gen 1:29-30

Humans and animals were once vegetarian. When God commissioned Noah after he came out of the Ark, the instructions concerning food changed.

Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. "But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.Gen 9:3-4

There is evidence in our own bodies to suggest that we were once vegetarian : the appendix is used to help digest vegetable matter. It is now obsolete because we are no longer vegetarian.

Many people have problems with their wisdom teeth because there is often not enough room in the mouth for them to come through. If at the beginning we were vegetarian, then we may not have possessed canine teeth, which are those slightly pointed teeth used for eating meat, thus giving our mouths plenty of room for the wisdom teeth to come through. At some stage we grew canine teeth which forced our wisdom teeth to the back of our mouths.

The Bible tells us that one day when Jesus returns to rule on Earth, animals will be vegetarian again:

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.Is 11:6-9

14. Every animal was tame

After the flood, when God commissioned Noah, he told him that living creatures would be afraid of humans, but humans would have power over the animal kingdom.

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands.Gen. 9:1-2

This was in contrast to what God commanded Adam and Eve, which was to simply rule over the animal kingdom:

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."Gen. 1:28

We can see that animals were not afraid of humans before the flood, because living creatures came to Noah and entered the Ark. Noah did not have to go out and catch them.

Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. Gen:7:8-9

15. The origin of thorns, thistles and hard work

To Adam He (God) said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, `You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."Gen 3:17-19

Before Adam ate the forbidden fruit, man did not have to work for his living. Afterwards, we are told that man would have to work very hard and that the ground would produce thorns and thistles, which would make his work even harder.

16. There was little pain when women gave birth

To the woman he (God) said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children." Gen 3:16

God did this because Eve had disobeyed God in eating some of the forbidden fruit. We can only assume that before this time, giving birth was not very painful.

17. Relationship between husbands and wives changed

To the woman he (God) said, "....... Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." Gen 3:16

The battle between the sexes dates back to Adam and Eve. Women would get their own way by manipulating their husbands: men would get their own way by dominating their wives. It is interesting to note that the New Testament teaches how to respond to this curse:

Husbands, love your wives ..... Eph 5:25 (don't dominate)

Wives, submit to your husbands .... Eph 5:22 (don't manipulate)

18. What people did in the days of the early earth

What people did in the times before the flood is very sketchy, but we can build up a picture.

• People farmed animals and grew crops.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. Gen 4:2

• People married.
• People built cities.

Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. Gen 4:17

• Some men had more than one wife.
• People lived in tents and raised livestock.
• People made and played musical instruments.
• People were metalworkers.
• Some people were vengeful and murderous.
• There must have been times when people were far from God, because there came a time when they began to seek him.

Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute. Zillah also had a son, Tubal-cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-cain's sister was Naamah. Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times." Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, "God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him." Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD. Gen 4:19-27

• There were some godly people: Enoch was one of them. He walked with God after the birth of his son, Methuselah. The name 'Methuselah' means 'until it comes'. Methuselah died in the year of the flood. I can only assume that God told Enoch that his son would live until judgement came on the Earth. This must have stirred Enoch up to follow God for the rest of his life. Enoch never tasted death because God took him. Enoch's family may well have been followers of God, because Noah, a righteous man, and blameless among the people of his time, was Enoch's great-grandson.

When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. Gen 5:21-24

• Some people got heavily involved in sex and the occult. This involved women giving birth to 'Nephilim' as a result of sex with demons.

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days: and also afterward, when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. Gen 6:4

• The earth became corrupt and full of violence.

Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence.Gen 6:11

19. Could Noah's ark have housed all the animals?

A railway truck for carrying livestock has a capacity of just over 75 cubic metres and can carry a total of 240 sheep. The Ark has 500 times that capacity, therefore it can take a total of 120,000 sheep. The total number of different species required to go in the Ark are 17,600 which includes all mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. As two were required from each of the species (and seven of a few clean animals), then the total number of species would be no more than 36,000. The vast majority of these were very small, so there would have been plenty of room for all the animals including a couple of young dinosaurs and mammoths.

20. Continental drift started about 100 years after the flood and lasted for a period of 239 years.

We read in the Bible that there was one large land mass and one ocean:

And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." Gen 1:9-10

However, in the days of Peleg, the earth divided:

Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan. Gen 10:25

The days of Peleg may well have started during the building of the tower of Babel.

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel --because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth. Gen 11: 1-9

The descendants of Noah started building a great city, which for some reason displeased God. God saw this as another example of man's rebellion against him. Realising the danger of a godless civilisation, God scattered them over all the earth. How did he do it ? The quickest way to get an entire population to move would be to cause some form of natural disaster. If my home was continually troubled by earthquakes, I would move in search of somewhere safer.

Could God's method of scattering people over the face of the earth have been by breaking up the land mass into the continents we know today? This would have caused continual earthquakes in all parts of the globe for a period of 239 years (the age of Peleg when he died).

There have been attempts to reconstruct what the world may have looked like when the continents were one large land mass. It is interesting to note that the land of Israel was right in the middle.

21. There was only one language in the world

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. Gen 11:1

At Babel, God confused people's speech so that they could not communicate with one another. This is the reason why there are so many languages today. God did it to prevent people being unified for purposes of evil.

22. What about dinosaurs?

Job must have lived not long after the flood. God spoke to Job about two large animals: the behemoth and the leviathan. We cannot be certain of their identity, but they seem to be dinosaurs. Could the behemoth be a diploducus and the leviathan be a hadrosaur? One thing is certain, Job was certainly aware of their existence.

"Look at the behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. What strength he has in his loins, what power in the muscles of his belly! His tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are close-knit. His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like rods of iron. He ranks first among the works of God, yet his Maker can approach him with his sword. The hills bring him their produce, and all the wild animals play nearby. Under the lotus plants he lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh. The lotuses conceal him in their shadow; the poplars by the stream surround him. When the river rages, he is not alarmed; he is secure, though the Jordan should surge against his mouth. Can anyone capture him by the eyes, or trap him and pierce his nose?Job 40:15-24

"Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope? Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he keep begging you for mercy? Will he speak to you with gentle words? Will he make an agreement with you for you to take him as your slave for life? Can you make a pet of him like a bird or put him on a leash for your girls? Will traders barter for him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the struggle and never do it again! Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering. No one is fierce enough to rouse him. Who then is able to stand against me? Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me. "I will not fail to speak of his limbs, his strength and his graceful form. Who can strip off his outer coat? Who would approach him with a bridle? Who dares open the doors of his mouth, ringed about with his fearsome teeth? His back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. His snorting throws out flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of dawn. Firebrands stream from his mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke pours from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds. His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth. Strength resides in his neck; dismay goes before him. The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. His chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing. The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. Iron he treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. Arrows do not make him flee; slingstones are like chaff to him. A club seems to him but a piece of straw; he laughs at the rattling of the lance. His undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. He makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. Behind him he leaves a glistening wake; one would think the deep had white hair. Nothing on earth is his equal-- a creature without fear. He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud." Job 41: 1-34

23. When did this all happen ?

There are two sets of genealogical records in Genesis 5 and 11, which give a record of how long certain people lived, and how old they were when a child of theirs was born. Here is a typical example:

When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Seth lived 912 years, and then he died. Gen 5: 6-8

From these records, we can calculate that:

• The length of time between Creation Week and the flood is 1936 years.
• Continental drift started 101 years after the flood.
• Abraham was born 354 years after the flood.

If we say that Abraham was born in 2166BC, then Creation Week would have been in 4176BC, which means that creation week took place a little over 6000 years ago.

A scientific explanation is demanded

I know that much of what I have written goes against modern thinking. It will have little or no credibility for those who do not believe the Bible to be true. However, there are questions that demand an answer from the sceptics: We have a book that was written long before the scientific age. Why is it that it can put forward so many ideas about our origins, which can be backed up with things which can be observed today? For example, there is strong evidence to suggest there was a water canopy. There is also evidence of a global flood, continental drift, the existence of dinosaurs, and that humans were once vegetarian and super-intelligent. These questions must be addressed.

Conclusion

In this article, I have introduced you to Creation Theory as a reasonable explanation of our origins. The opening chapters of Genesis give us a lot of information on the subject. The main purpose of these is to show us:

• how wonderful the world was before we spoilt it.
• the awful effect that sin had on the whole of creation.
• how God acted to put things right again.

The details of how God made the world are of secondary importance. Perhaps God has given us clues in these early chapters of Genesis with the intention that some of us should investigate how He made the world, for it is indeed thrilling to see evidence that backs the Genesis account of Creation. I have no doubt that, in years to come, scientific discoveries will throw light on many of the unanswered questions Genesis poses.

Any Comments?

Copyright CALITE June 2002