If You're Into Creation...

This blog post may not be specifically political in nature, but it's a subject I'm very much interested in.  We all know of the ideological battle between creation and evolution, but how about the battle between young-earth creationists and old-earth creationists?  For those of you who aren't quite geeky enough to get into this on your own, let me briefly explain.  :)

Some creationists -- 'young-earth' creationists -- believe that Creation took place in the space of six 24-hour periods of time, or 'days'.  Some creationists -- 'old-earth' creationists -- do not, inserting billions of years into each of the 'days'.  This may seem like a small difference, but it is critical in this very foundational Scripture in the Bible.  Let me give you just one example to show why it matters.  First, look at Genesis 1:31, at the end of Creation:

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

I think we can agree that the common understanding of this phrase means that the whole of Creation was perfect at that point.  Otherwise, why would God call it good, right?  So, on the one hand, we have a perfect creation that God himself called 'very good'.  On the other hand, what if Creation took billions of years to accomplish?  It is logical to assume that over the course of billions of years, this creation would experience an incredible amount of death, struggle, and suffering, right?  Even if you took mankind completely out of the picture, the animal world is a savage place, with one creature literally ripping apart another and in some cases eating it alive.  Is this 'good' and perfect?

So, either you have a 'good' and perfect Creation accomplished in six literal days, or you have a 'good' and perfect Creation accomplished over the course of billions of years with innumerable acts of death and violence.  If God called this second method 'good', and if this is the environment which we generally think of as being pristine and perfect, it should call into question the character of God, should it not?  If God is calling billions of years of death and violence 'good', are we truly talking about the same perfect and loving God of the New Testament?  He can't logically be both.  Or, is God being dishonest with us about how He created everything?  If He is being dishonest about our foundational beginnings, can we really trust Him in regard to anything else, especially our eternal future?

See the thorny problems here?

Since most of us haven't done extensive research into the subject -- or, honestly, have probably not thought about it much at all -- what do the experts say?  Dr. John Ankerberg hosts a TV show where some of the leading experts on both sides debated the finer points of the argument.  If you want to hear from the best of the best from both sides, click below to watch the ongoing series online.

The Great Debate

Take it or leave it, but I wanted to at least pass it along.

There's my two cents.