I put together a small paper outlining my thoughts on how the Genesis creation narrative and modern scientific findings can be comfortably aligned, and it is my firm belief that faith and science always compliment each other and never contradict. If there appears to be a contradiction, it is because we are misinterpreting either the Sacred Scriptures and the beliefs our Faith is based on, or the findings of science in some way.
Here is what I threw together:
The Universe exploded into existence when the Big Bang event
occurred, which science tells us happened about ~13.8 Ga.
Our Solar System / Sun formed about ~4.57 Ga.
The Earth formed about ~4.54 Ga
The Moon forms about ~4.53 Ga
Early life / single cell organisms appear to have origins
going back about ~4 Ga
Early atmosphere evolves and the ozone layer develops (~2 –
1 Ga)
Multicellular complex life dates back to about ~1 Ga
Plant and animal life exploded into existence during the
Cambrian explosion period, ~550 to 500 Ma
Y-Chromosomal Adam and Mitochondrial Eve (anatomically
modern Homo sapiens) appeared ~150 ka
Modern human civilization sprung up in the Fertile Crescent
around 7,000 B.C.
On the first creation day, day One, God created the heavens
and the Earth, Light comes into existence and is deemed good, as well as
darkness which is not deemed good or bad, it is simply a part of the Creation. (The Universe and the Solar System and our
Earth and Moon, 13.8, 4.57, 4.54, 4.53 Ga respectively)
Day two – the Earth is evolving, the atmosphere and seas (the
firmament and waters above and below) are forming and they’re being prepared to
spring forth Life (4.54 – ~3.8 Ga)
Day three – the Earth is continuing her journey and her
mission to spring forth Life, the continents are forming and early
multicellular life begins to appear on the Earth (~3.8 Ga – 550 Ma)
Day four – the Sun and the Moon and the Stars are now being
seen by the multicellular organisms developing on earth, the atmosphere and
ozone layer are becoming what they are today and Life becomes complex to the
point where eyes develop that are able to sense the Sun, Moon and Stars through
the earth’s atmosphere (~2 Ga – 490 Ma)
Day five – Life abounds in the waters and gradually spreads
across the waters, the land and the air.
The Cambrian explosion occurs.
This is really when we can say Life began as we think of it, prior to
this the “life” that existed was very alien to what we think of when we hear
the word life. (~575 Ga – 100 Ma).
This fifth day is also the day God creates
the “great sea creatures-monsters-whales-serpents-dragons”. In the Hebrew of Genesis 1:21 it reads “Elohim
ath e-thanniyn e-gadlowim”. “Tanniyn,
H8577, means dragons, serpents, land or sea beasts, etc.” and “gadowl, H1419,
means mighty, great, loud, etc”. These
mighty, great and loud land sea serpents / beasts were called in Greek zoon
herpeton, living reptiles, ketos megas, massive fish. Gadowl tanniyn in Hebrew or megas zoon
herpeton could easily be considered synonymous with deinos sauros, or
dinosaur. So when folks ask “where are
dinosaurs in the Bible?”, or more specifically, where are dinosaurs in the creation
account? You can say “they are right
there mentioned by God in the 21st verse of that 1st
chapter of the 1st book of Sacred Scripture.”
Day 6 – Life continues to abound and become more complex,
eventually springing forth all sorts of animals, which provide the basis for
the physical body of Man, who evolves physically from the early Hominids to
more advanced hominid species all the way down to the appearance of fully
modern (anatomically speaking, not philosophically or theologically) Homo
Sapiens with the appearance of Y-chromosomal Adam and Mitochondrial Eve coming
on the scene simultaneously around ~150 ka (and there is much scientific debate
about these, with a window of time anywhere between 200 ka at the earliest to
90 ka at the latest, but it’s safe to say they both appeared in the same period
of time approximately 150 ka).
Later on during the sixth creation Day, Jesus creates Man in
his own image, this Man being Adam who (I believe) was created around 7,000
B.C. 7,000 B.C. happens to be when
civilization really began to boom in the region located around the Tigris and
Euphrates in the center, and with the Tigris-Euphrates (Mesopotamia) being the
epicenter, the Cradle of Life stretches from the heart (the Tigris-Euphrates)
in the center, to the Nile in the West (which I believe is the Gihon), and the
Indus in the East (which I believe is the Pison).
I think it’s quite the coincidence that modern archaeology
has confirmed that civilization began in the area between the Nile and the
Indus, and really flourished around the Tigris and Euphrates in the 8th
millennium B.C.
Day 7 – God rested and continues to rest from 7,000 B.C. and
the creation of Adam and Eve and civilization and religiously modern humans (homo
religiosus) to today, the 31st day of January, Anno Domini 2016.
Day 8 – the 8th day is the Eternal Day, the Day
we enter into upon either our bodily death, or the Day that comes when the Lord
Jesus comes riding on the clouds with myriads upon myriads of His Holy Ones,
Amen.
For more information synthesizing the Time found in Genesis
compared to the time scales revealed by mankind, see Gerald Schroeder’s work. He is an MIT educated physicist who holds a
PhD and is a highly intelligent man, who happens also to be an Orthodox Jew and
has done incredible work in defending the Truth of the Most High God.
Gerald Schroeder and time in the eyes of man versus Time as told from the Eyes of God
Gerald Schroeder and time in the eyes of man versus Time as told from the Eyes of God
