I have spent plenty of time bad-mouthing OEC, but now it’s time for me to put up or shut up. Why should a Christian believe in Young Earth Creationism? Some of the answers are obvious if you have been keeping up with my entries. It is derived from a simple reading of Scripture, it places death AFTER sin, and it is consistent with Jesus’ literal interpretation of Scripture. For most people, that is not good enough and frankly, I will probably never convince you if that is your perspective….but I’m going to try to anyway!
How is YEC more consistent with Scripture? Couldn’t a figurative interpretation be just as acceptable as a literal interpretation? And is OEC necessarily a figurative interpretation of Scripture? For instance, Hugh Ross believes that OEC is quite consistent with a “straightforward” reading of Scripture. It really depends on how far we take OEC. Most OEC’s would disagree with Dr. Ross and anybody who really thinks about his claims will consider them to be bogus.
YEC is more consistent with Scripture because it follows the entire redemptive story from the beginning of the Bible to its end. YEC comes from the literal interpretation of the Bible. It considers the genealogies of the Bible as historic opposed to metaphoric. This is very, very important. Allow me to bore you for a moment.
The genealogical records start in Genesis. In Genesis chapter 4, we observe the first genealogy which is the descendants of Cain. This one is not quite as important. In Genesis 5, the descendants of Adam through Seth are recorded…this one is important. Verse 5:4 states, “And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters.” Do the math with me: If Adam was created on day six and he was 800 when Seth was born, how old was the earth? 800 years (and six days). Following that, 5:6 reads, “And Seth lived an hundred and five years and begat Enos.” So 800 + 105 = 905 years since the creation of the earth. The genealogies are extensive and that is how YECs deduce the age of the earth. Simple, right?
There are other genealogies throughout the Bible. One of the most boring and tedious ones is in 1 Chronicles and runs for over ten chapters! But the most interesting genealogy is found in the Gospel of Luke. Luke traces Jesus’ lineage and do you know who he traces Jesus’ ancestry to? Adam. Pretty cool huh? As a nerd I probably find this more exciting than you anyway, but this is the coolest part of it all: Read with me from Genesis 4:26 – “”And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.” This is the beginning of the “Messianic Bloodline” (the bloodline that Jesus descended from).The genealogy is not just about the age of the earth, it is about Jesus. Now, I know that people have pointed out problems with the genealogy(s), but there are also people who have debunked their complaints. Ultimately, I find myself in agreement with Ken Ham when he defended his belief in YEC by saying that “I am not a young earth creationist because I want to be a young earth creationist. I am a young earth creationist because I accept the authority of Scripture.” Amen.
3 comments:
Here's a thought I had recently... Adam was created as an adult, presumably... at least we can be fairly certain he wasn't created as a fertilized egg that matured in his mother's womb and was born after roughly 40 weeks of incubation... He had "age" inherent in him at the point of his creation. The trees in the garden were created with age. Had Adam cut one of them down and counted the rings there would be evidence of a mature tree at the point of its creation. Why then can we not also assume the earth, solar system, galaxy and universe were also created instantaneously with age. If Adam was created as a mature adult (at least 16 years old if not 30), why could the universe not have been created as a "mature" universe of say, 18 billion years?
Interesting comment Jeff. And a valid question. Not to doubt the premise of your question, but more to spark thought, tree rings, if I understand correctly are a result of tree growth. I imagine, that the trees God created at the beginning did not have rings to indicate their age bc they did not experience the growth pattern of a normal tree. That would lead into a whole slew of questions, though. For instance, "Did Adam have a belly button?"
There are many galaxies in this world and yet there is orderliness among each group of galaxies in which each orbit its own centre of mass. For instance, if the universe would be generated by itself through Big Bang Theory or Steady Stage Theory, the likeliness of disorderliness would occur that each galaxy would not orbit its own centre of mass. Instead, all the planets of the galaxies would fly around everywhere aimlessly in this universe and that would cause all the inhabitants on the earth to be in danger due to the likeliness that the earth to be crashed by other galaxies. Some galaxies might be even worse, to the extent, hitting each other. This is due to nothing would force the new galaxy to be formed to move in such a way that it would orbit its own centre of mass. It seems to be that each time when a new galaxy is formed, the same pattern, i.e. each would orbit its own centre of mass, would appear. The orderliness of all the galaxies in their movements around their own centre of mass gives the impression that there should be one that is in control of the entire universe. Religious people call it, God.
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