Was the world created in seven days?

Was the earth formed in seven days? Was Genesis intended to be taken literally, as many scriptures indeed are, or is the language symbolic? Can we reconcile the Genesis account with what we know or presume to know about the universe?

Scientists claim to be able to see as far back as 10-43 seconds after the Big Bang started. That is a very small fraction of one second, but in astronomical terms it was an age in itself for about halfway through that first second God had time enough to create the four fundamental laws of all physics. He left an indelible imprint or signature, locked away for centuries to confirm that He stamped His authority and invested His divine nature on creation, from the outset. God rules the universe through the same laws that autonomously balance day and night and adjust weather patterns every day of our lives. The same laws also enable, as Jesus said, “the winds to blow where they want to”.

Recently I speculated around the dinosaurs and wondered how the same God, who made all things so beautiful, could have made such a bunch of violent and brainless uglies? Well I can only answer that, if we concede that the creation happened in discrete epochs, not in seven days – for a biblical day is as a thousand years.

So, if God did create dinosaurs, with their thick, leathery, reptilian skins and other features, then why did He do so? We know from Genesis that the original state of the garden was misty, so we can surmise that the earth was very warm. That may explain the flood, which was probably triggered when suspended water vapor reached the precipitation threshold that opened the heavens, as Moses poignantly described it.

So if it was that humid during the formative era of early man, at least such humid conditions provided an ideal hot house for the rapid growth of vegetation. However, we must assume that the earth habitat was more hostile prior to the advent of man. Maybe that is why it was populated by very tough creatures.

Maybe the giants were designed to consume vast amounts of vegetation and store their intake for fuel, so that the distances traveled, whilst fleeing the voracious likes of T-Rex and other predators, could seed the earth. Maybe their skins were also thick enough to withstand solar radiation, the way lizards of today adapt to their own harsh environments.

There were evidently a number of ice-ages, at least one of which was caused by a massive meteor. Others were triggered by changes in climate and sea currents, which thawed ice walls and flooded low lying plains. Indeed, the great flood may have been the last of a few, all triggered by the settling of the earth. The earth was at one time very warm. Then it over-cooled due to a lack of greenhouse gasses until it steadily warmed and stabilized, which presented very hostile periods to normal life.

I have always believed that God bound Himself to His own laws, probably because those laws express of His nature. So maybe He worked within the laws of the universe, without resorting to wild, quantum leaps of disruption, to steadily craft the universe.

It’s an interesting topic. I would really love to know what you think though. Share your thoughts and let’s see what comes of it all.

(c) Peter Eleazar @ www.4u2live.net