Creation or Evolution (…or A Day Equals A Year)

I no longer claim the religious beliefs my parents taught me, but at times I still ponder them. In those younger years, my friends and I were full of questions like:

“If the Bible tells stories about King David and his many wives–and his son Solomon who had seven hundred wives, and the Bible also says, ‘Go, and do thou likewise,’ then is it OK for me to have several wives?”

We were curious, but mostly just having a little fun with our teachers. They usually gave us a resounding “Pshaw” and continued with their lecture, flipping from one Bible text to another, building “proof” of some particular doctrine or tenet.

Now that I’m older, my new question is: If one Bible text can be used to support another in establishing a system of beliefs, then the “many wives” argument should hold as much weight as any other, shouldn’t it? How would you decide which Bible text supports or “proves” another?

Here’s an example. My teachers thought they had resolved the meaning of Biblical prophecies in Daniel and Revelation, one of which speaks of “2,300 days.” They told us that the 2,300 days in that prophecy are symbolic of 2,300 literal years, and that the “day equals a year” concept is based on two unrelated texts in Ezekiel 4:6 and Numbers 14:34. I think the “day equals a year” concept is taken out of context. But don’t take my word for it. Decide for yourself.

My inquisitive mind wonders why we should limit the “day equals a year” concept to only prophetic passages? Why not use it to explain other time-related stories, such as the story of creation? If read literally, the Biblical story of Creation teaches that the sun, moon and stars, our planet with all of its vegetation, the animals and humans were literally created in 6 days. However, if we apply the “day equals a year” model to the creation story, then maybe God took 6 years to create the Universe, the Earth and its inhabitants. While we’re at it, why not expand our thinking another notch and say “a day equals a billion years” and allow creation to take a literal 6 billion years?

Creation meets evolution!

Why can’t both theories be explained within the same, broad spectrum? I am neither a creationist nor an evolutionist. I embrace both theories…AND the other 6 theories we haven’t even discovered yet.

Actually, I think the missing link is based on a much larger concept.

From God’s perspective, “time” does not exist. It doesn’t matter if God created the world in 6 days or 6 billion years. From His perspective it would have been the same moment either way.

Well, that’s one perspective. Here’s another —

God is capable of anything. He’s able to create an entire Universe, including our Earth, with ‘age’ already existing in its structure. Maybe God did create our earth in 6 days and, while He was at it, had a little fun and made it with 4.6 billion years of “age” already built in.

After all, He is God….

What’s your theory? Maybe it’s one of the other 6.

Inquisitively,
David Wine