Do you believe in the Biblical Account of Creation or the Philosophy of Man in other types of science?

Hey Folks,

The title of the article is important to us if we are going to take the Word of God seriously and literally. At BSC, we use the literal, historical, grammatical, and hermeneutic approaches for studying Scripture. We add two motives: to find the will of God and carry out His will (John 7:15-19), as our Lord Jesus Christ did (John 6:38), so that we may live a praiseworthy life to God (Matthew 25:21,23 and 2Tim 2). That is the purpose of man. Within the LHGH method, we also employ Inductive Bible Study.  Our course on studying the Bible is available on our blog. 

Did you know we occasionally answer questions for GotQuestions.org? One came in recently that is powerful. Here is the question. 

Question 1796170: In Genesis, it says the trees were created before the animals, but sharks are older than trees. Am I understanding Genesis incorrectly?

To answer your question directly, here is the answer. Then, we will expand. Yes, you understood Genesis correctly.

1^st Day sequence: Light and Dark

2^nd Day sequence: Water and separation of the different forms of water and atmosphere

3^rd Day sequence: Genesis 1:9 Separation of water and dry land. Then, as you noticed, God made the trees and vegetation

4^th Day sequence: God made the great lights, the sun, the moon, the stars

5^th Day sequence: Then the waters were filled with animals (sharks), and the atmosphere was filled with birds

6^th Day sequence: Man and animals on dry land.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful question. As you can see in our ministry, we love questions, and we believe God does, too.  

So, our first posture is to pray and ask the Lord for revelation from Him, because the details in the Genesis creation sequence are highly truncated and in a high-level style. The Holy Spirit has given us little detail of our Creator creating.

We aren’t told by God how He created everything, only the order in which He did so. Therefore, questions like yours are appropriate.

Our second problem in asking the question and reading the Bible is making sure we don’t let past biases or prior learning interfere with a new perspective. For example, I grew up in a secular school, attended secular universities, and earned a secular business graduate degree. I later went to seminary and earned another graduate degree in theology.

I share this bit of info because in secular school, we were literally only taught one type of philosophy of science: evolution, and, in the case of geography, uniformitarianism. We have many articles on GQ.org regarding evolution, but I grabbed one here for you. https://www.gotquestions.org/flaws-theory-evolution.html

My purpose in bringing up our schooling is that if we were only taught one form of philosophy about science and not others, we may want to consider other points of view on creation vs. evolution to be more rounded. And here is why. Your question contains this comment, which is a good one to ask: “But sharks are older than trees.”

*Note: Why did I say the philosophy of science? Typically, science starts with a theory, and the method to prove that theory is called science. However, some theories about the origin of the universe that cannot be proven by the scientific method qualify as philosophy, not science. This is where care must be taken when adopting worldviews (philosophical types).

Typically, that question would be asked from an evolutionary or uniformitarian position, not a Biblical one. Why? Because in uniformitarianism, the Earth was laid down by layers over millions of years. And because some shark fossils are found in the lowest layers, they are presumed to be older. However, in **Biblical knowledge, we see the sequence of events showing that trees were older than sharks. Why is there a potential conflict? Well, worldview matters. We also believe in the great flood that covered the Earth and in the fountains of the deep erupting (Genesis 7:11), thereby rapidly separating and moving continents and causing giant tidal waves to crisscross the Earth. The action of the tidal waves and subsequent recession of the water laid down layers of sediment, which, interestingly, the record of Mt. St. Helens shows can happen rapidly in a catastrophe.

**Note: Why did I say in Biblical knowledge? Because we can see from Genesis that the purpose of man is to carry out God’s will, which is found in the Bible. Therefore, we want to take great care with God’s word and avoid reading it like a textbook. Jesus even said that if one is not born again, they cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3) Meaning they will not understand the Bible well because the Kingdom of God is God ruling through His word, as He did in Genesis. It is important that our motivation aligns with His will in the Bible, and that, if we are unsure, we ask God for help.

The fossil record shows plants, animals, and fish all jumbled together rather than in neat little order, and buried at different times.

I personally do not believe, biblically, that the earth is older than 6,000 years (it may be slightly older than that); however, evolution and uniformitarianism hold to the earth's long age, with slow change over time.

We see in the Biblical account of creation that everything appeared suddenly, which makes sense with a God who is supernatural and the Creator. That fact gives us confidence in the proof that there is a God, and that He eventually came in the form of Jesus Christ to Israel to rescue mankind and continue what He started with Adam and Eve, whom Jesus said were real people. Matthew 19:4-6.

Our mission is to answer your question quickly and get some thought-provoking questions to ask. We appreciate Answers in Genesis and ICR.org, where you can do more research.

To conclude, here are a few additional personal thoughts. Since I was in a secular school, studied evolution and the Biblical record of creation, and asked God if He created in six literal days, I believe strongly that He did, based on Hebrew grammar and other factors. I believe in a supernatural, magnificent God who is in control of all things.

Another thought for you is this: In several places in Scripture, this thought is developed.

Psalm 90:4
For a thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.

2 Peter 3:8
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

I asked the Lord why this was significant. And the thought came to me that within each 24-hour day, the Lord (Who is in eternity) could create what 1,000 years would do. Not that each day was 1,000 years, but that He could do the work of 1,000 years each day. I love that idea because it makes God that much bigger!

Once when I was learning to study the Bible, I asked God if He really did make everything in six literal days. Later, this thought came to me like a bolt of lightning. “If you who are created could understand the Mind of your Creator, He would be no God at all to put your trust in.” WOW, that was so helpful, and I think it is true.

This rapid creation was shown elsewhere in the Bible. Take the time to read the story of Aaron’s rod budding overnight in NASB Numbers 17. A dead stick of wood made alive by the hand of God, with no life support (roots) and completely leafed out and budded with full almonds in less than 12 hours! That is a creative act by a supernatural God. He can do in our time whatever He desires as He is outside of time and space.

The main point of the Bible is to point us to Jesus Christ, who is our creator. He has a purpose for each of us if we are born and have breath in our lungs. The purpose is to be obedient to His will, which is in His word, and come to believe in Jesus Christ as our savior. None of us is good enough for eternal life, but because of that, Jesus came as a historical figure, lived the life we could not live, and died on our behalf for our sins. All I need to do to accept this gift is to place my sins on Him on the cross by faith and then ask Him for salvation. When we believe in faith, we are born again to eternal life. If you have yet to decide for Christ, we welcome you. If you have already, let us know how we can be a further resource to you.  https://www.gotquestions.org/plan-of-salvation.html

We hope you find this helpful. We enjoyed engaging with you. May the Lord bless your searches and questions.