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I. Where did this young earth philosophy come from? The following excerpt is taken from Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2002.
“In fact, with one prominent exception, virtually all of the leading creationist of the 1920s endorsed either the Day-Age or Gap Interpretation of Genesis. THE EXCEPTION was Seventh-Day Adventist teacher and amateur geologist, George McCready Price, WHO FOLLOWED Adventist Prophet, Ellen G. White, in limiting the history of life on earth to about 6,000 years. Price attributed most fossil-bearing rock formations to the geological disruptions of the Biblical flood.”
Note: It appears that both Price and Ellen G. White held that BOTH the earth and human life have existed for only about 6,000 years.
The same encyclopedia further states under the heading “RECENT TRENDS” the following:
“Flood geology gained wider acceptance after the publication of “The Genesis Flood” (1961) jointly authored by conservative Biblical scholar, John C. Whitcomb, Jr., and hydraulic engineer, Henry M. Morris. This immensely influential book promoted Price’s views as fundamentalist orthodoxy, and prompted the formation in 1963 of the Creation Research Society. The society is dedicated to the promotion of what has come to be known as young-earth Creationism (by contrast with old-earth Creationism associated the Day-Age and Gap theories). The most distinctive feature of young-earth creationism is its reliance on catastrophism, the doctrine that large-scale changes the earth’s crust are to be explained by violent, unrepeatable geologic events, such as the Genesis flood.”
Now, let us analyze the preceding information.
1. In the 1920s, most Creationists held one of two views: One was the Gap Principle which endorsed the Biblical teaching that the original creation in Genesis 1:1 was beautiful. There, Lucifer, the anointed cherub (Ezekiel 28:14) and the angels resided. Lucifer and one-third of the angels rebelled and brought God’s judgment upon the Original Creation, which was later found in a desolate and waste condition, as recorded in Genesis 1:2. The unspecified length of time between God’s judgment on the earth rendering it uninhabitable, until His remodeling it for man’s habitation beginning in Genesis 1:2b, is known as the Gap Principle, NOT A THEORY. This time period, along with the Original Creation, is what the “young-earth” advocates attempt to do away with. The length of time the angels resided on the Original Creation until Satan’s rebellion is not given. In reality, this unspecified time period has no relativity to the “young earth” advocates, because they deny God’s Word concerning the foregoing.
2. The second view held in the 20s and to this present time is called the “Day-Age” theory. In other words, a day in Genesis, Chapter One, is not a 24-hour period of time; but, rather, a geological age. The question then asked is, “How long is a geological age?” The answer is, any number of years they dream up! A 1,000 years, 300,000, or 500,000, or a million, maybe 500 million, or any number of years will do, just as long as we put the word “scientific” beside it. We are then led to believe it is true. What a joke! In I Timothy 6:20, young Timothy was warned,
“O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science (knowledge) falsely so called.”
Included in this category are some who say that God created the first “blob.” From this, things evolved to their present state. This is what is called “Theistic Evolution.” Later, we will show the fallacies and impossibility of the Day-Age theory and give proof of a literal, 24-hour day.
3. From the encyclopedia’s article, it appears the Adventist Prophet, Ellen G. White, may have been one of the first, if not the first in advocating the “young earth” theory. Then an Adventist teacher, George McCready Price, followed her theory. Then Biblical scholar, John C. Whitcomb, Jr., and hydraulic engineer, Henry M. Morris co-authored “The Genesis Flood” (1961). Their book promoted Price’s views of a “young earth.”
Now, everyone seems to have jumped on the “young earth” bandwagon. After 1900+ years, we have finally found the truth, or so they propose!
It amazes me that when someone wants to pawn off their theory about something, it is either scientific or advocated by a Biblical SCHOLAR. As long as one addresses an issue and concludes with their opinion, then it must be true because it is either scientific, or it is from a so-called Biblical scholar. I remember reading H.G. Wells’ “The Outline of History.” This man didn’t believe the Bible at all, but was a believer in evolution. In his book he was trying to align my thinking with his. As I went back through the book, I circled such phrases as “We are led to believe,” “We can now assume,” “It is most possible,” and others, by which he was trying to magnetize my thinking to his. This man had no proof to substantiate his beliefs. This, in some respects, reminds me of the “young earth” philosophy. When their geology disagrees with the clear teaching of the word of God, it is meaningless as to how many times they use the word “scientific” and/or “Biblical scholar.”
Rev. Whitcomb, Mr. Morris, I do not know for sure; but, I do wonder, did your “young earth” idea come from the cult religionist and Adventist Ellen G. White and/or George Price?
II. The above diagram will be helpful to identify the progression from God’s Original Creation of the earth, His judgment upon it, and His remodeling it for man’s habitation.
1. Genesis 1. “Created” and “Made.” These two words, translated from two different Hebrew words, are very important in understanding God’s Original Creation and His Remodeling of the Earth after its judgment. Let’s examine each word and its significance in respect to the earth.
A. “Created.” The Hebrew word for “created” is ‘bara.” This word first appears in Genesis, Chapter One. It always means the instant, miraculous creation of something which had no previous existence in any form whatsoever. The three places “bara” (created) appears in Genesis One are as follows:
(1). Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning God CREATED (bara) the heaven and the earth.” They have never existed before this.
(2). Genesis 1:21 – “And God CREATED (bara) great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” (They never existed before this.)
(3). Genesis 1:27 – “And God CREATED (bara) man in his own image, in the image of God created he him: male and female created he them.” (Man never existed before this.)
B. “Made.” The Hebrew word for made is “asah.” This word means “to release from restraint, to make, to allow, or to assemble. The late Dr. Harry Rimmer, D.D., SC.D., had this to say concerning the Hebrew for “made.”
“This is the word that would be used to describe the production of a piece of furniture by a carpenter, or the assembling of a motor by a skilled mechanic. In the case of the carpenter it would not be proper to say he had “created” a table: he merely manufactured the article out of materials which were already in existence. It would be equally wrong to say that the mechanic had created a motor which he had (only) assembled.”
Note: When we see in English the words “made” and “created,” they have basically the same meaning to the average person, which has caused much confusion; but, not so in the Hebrew. In the Hebrew, they have distinctively different meanings, the knowledge of which is imperative to understanding Genesis, Chapter One.
Therefore, the first four days of Genesis are not an original creation, but a remodeling process of already existing materials that had been held in restraint or bondage. That is why the Holy Spirit used the precise Hebrew words brought into our English language as “made” and “let,” i.e. or “allow,” showing that these days were NOT involved as parts of the original creation in Genesis 1:1.
THIS SERIES WILL BE CONTINUED EVERY WEEK.
