How old is the earth? How, exactly, did creation happen? Christian answers differ.

Youve likely heard of the old earth versus young earth debate among Christians. Key within this
controversy is the six-day period of creation spoken of in the book of Genesis.

Lets look at three common interpretations of the Genesis creation story, evaluate how
significant the issue is to the Christian faith, and examine how a similar controversy several
hundred years ago was resolved in a way that fulfills the commands of both Christ and the
Apostle Paul in regard to Christian unity.1

The three basic interpretations are young earth creationism (YEC), old earth creationism (OEC),
and allegorical approaches.

Young Earth Creationism (YEC)

The historical interpretation of Genesis is that the seven days of creation are seven 24-hour
periodslike our current days.2 When combined with the simple addition of the years provided
in the Bible genealogies, the math results in a 6,000-year-old universe with the human race
starting with Adam and Eveappearing on day 6.3

While some YEC advocates attempt to develop scientific evidence for a recent creation (known
as creation science), others view the entire scientific enterprise with skepticism.4 Those who
reject science either view scientific assertions of a 4.5-billion-year-old earth as a theory meant to
cause Christians to doubt the Bible or as an impossible pursuit because of the flawed thinking of
fallen humans.5

YECs assert that a natural reading of the Bible indicates that God intended that readers interpret
the days of creation as ordinary 24-hour periods. With that said, it should be noted that some
YECs would agree that the earth appears to be very old. However, they would argue that God
created the earth with simply the appearance of age, just as he probably created Adam as a
mature man, not an infant.

Old Earth Creationism (OEC)

OECs6 advocate a literal Genesis account, but they interpret the word day to be an era or some
other kind of longer period of time.7 Another term used for this position is Day Age. That is,
each day signifies an epoch of time, much as English speakers might refer to the Day of the
Pioneers or the Day of the Dinosaurs.

Most OECs believe God supernaturally created the universe out of nothing and that Big
Bangcosmology provides powerful scientific support for this. These OECs are progressive
creationists in the sense that they believe God supernaturally intervened over the course of the
six long periods of time to create the various plant and animal life-forms (the kinds mentioned
in Genesis).
OECs oppose Darwinian evolution but not necessarily microevolution (minor changes within a
species).8 Like YECs, OECs place a high value on biblical inerrancy. Most OEC advocates will
admit that a natural reading of the English versions of Genesis lead to a YEC position, but they
also point to Scripture that is supportive of an old-earth interpretation.9

Allegorical Approaches

This third category includes all Christians who do not believe that the Genesis days signify time
periods of any sort. They maintain that the Bible is not intended to be read as either history or
science.

A group of Christians who go by the name evolutionary creationists or theistic evolutionists

(TEs) believe that God created Earth with the potential for life to unfold by naturalistic methods.
Advocates of TE fall into the category of non-literalists.10

Historically, there have been other allegorical approaches that are not tied to either science or the
issue of Darwinian evolution. One of these is called the analogical approach, which contends
that Moses told the Genesis story in a way that the seven creation days would parallel the
workweek, with God resting on the seventh day.11

Essential Doctrine

That God created the universeas opposed to some form of causeless self-creationis a major
Christian doctrine, along with original sin, the Virgin birth, the Trinity, the atonement,
the resurrection, and salvation by grace through faith. These beliefs, among others, are set out in
the various creeds and most doctrinal statements of evangelical Christian churches.

If the doctrines stated above are primary to what it means to be Christian, the issue
over whenGod created is perhaps tertiary. While tertiary issues often set apart one Christian
denomination from another, most Christians agree on the primary issues found in the historical
creeds.

Resolving the Issue

In the early days of the Christian Church, disagreements of this sort were resolved by church
councils. In more recent times, two such councils composed of conservative Bible scholars
addressed the issue at hand. Both the Council of Biblical Inerrancy and the leaders of the
Presbyterian Church of America (PCA) agreed almost unanimously to reject the inclusion of a
young earth as criteria for inerrancy.12