Is There Evidence For Biblical Creation? Part 2

Biblegems #252

Question: How do we answer the criticism that the order of events in the Creation account contradicts scientific evidence?

It is important to note that the order of events in the Genesis account of creation does not contradict scientific evidence; it does, however, contradict current scientific theory.

Compare the order & origins of the universe from both worldviews:

(Note: y.a. = years ago. M. = million, b. = billion, etc.)

Genesis                                        Secular

[10,000 – 6,000 years ago]           [13.5 – 14 billion years ago]

Day 1         (1:1-5)                         0 sec. -300,000 years

Time, light & darkness,                           Eternal.atter & energy.

Big Bang (13.7 m.y.a.): time,  

shapeless earth & water,                expanding radiation,

space, first 24 hour day                 elementary particles,

                                                      intense heat.

                          

Day 2         (1:6-10)                       300,000 – 150 million years (m.y.)

Sky & Ocean                                  Universe dominated by “dark Matter”              

Day 3         (1:11-13)                     150 – 1 billion years (b.y.)

Land & seas, mature                     Reionization:

vegetation reproducing                           Gravitational collapse

it’s own kind.                                  forms quasars &

                                                      ionized plasma.

                                                      1 b.y. – 9 b.y.

Day 4         (1:14-19)                     Star & galaxy formation, gas

Heavenly bodies                            pockets collapse & trigger

nuclear fusion.

Solar System (4.5 b.y.a.)

Day 5         (1:20-23)                     600 m.y.a.

Water creatures and birds             Fish

Reproducing their own kinds.

                                                      500 m.y.a.

Day 6         (1:24-31)                     land plants

Land creatures produced from

the ground reproducing                 400 m.y.a.

according to their kinds,                Amphibians, reptiles, forests

man separately created                

to oversee the earth and               300 m.y.a.

reproducing according to               Dinosaurs evolve,       

human kind.                                   Mammals evolve

                                                      200 m.y.a.

                                                      Bees, birds, flowering plants

                                                      100 m.y.a.

Apes evolve, homo-sapiens evolve

Discrepancies between the biblical and secular views go well beyond the order of events and differences in time. The biblical worldview does not allow for long epochs of evolution, nor does the secular view allow for man to be created uniquely separate from the animals.

The question, however, is whether the Bible contradicts scientific evidence for the secular worldview. And the answer is that there is no evidence for human evolution from apes—none. That is speculative theory. There is no evidence for the evolution of dinosaurs from some other kind of creature— none. That is speculative theory. There is no evidence for the evolution of amphibians from non-amphibians— none. That is speculative theory. And there is absolutely no evidence of our solar system evolving from pockets of ionized gas expanding from a Big Bang 14 billion years ago— none. That is speculative theory.

These secular theories are based upon a host of false assumptions, such as the Uniformitarian Principle. That principle holds that all the processes we see at work in the universe today have been uniformly at work throughout all time. Based on that principle, it is assumed that since light travels at approximately 186 miles per second, we can determine how long it takes light from a star to travel to earth, estimate the stars distance from earth, and estimate the star’s relative age.

If, however, God cast the stars into their relative positions in space at His command as the Scripture reveals, time and space at the moment of creation exceeded the speed of light by a vast degree, canceling out the carefully constructed mathematical formulas based upon speculation and assumption.

Rom. 1:20  For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Supernovas And Creation

Biblegems #245

Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team

Question: According to NASA, the Veil Nebula is the debris of a supernova that occurred 8,000 years ago. How does this fit in the Genesis portrayal of a universe created in six days only thousands of years ago?

According to Genesis, stars and galaxies came into existence at once by God’s command on day four of creation (Gen. 1:14-19).

    

Furthermore, the genealogical record between Adam (created day six, year one) and Abraham (c. 2150 B.C.) covers approximately 2,000 years. That places creation week at roughly 4,000 B.C. —only 6,000+ years ago.

Current scientific theory proposes that the Veil Nebula is the vast debris field of a blue star once twenty times larger than our sun that grew old and eventually exploded. According to NASA—

         “The fast-moving blast wave from the ancient explosion is plowing into a wall of cool, denser interstellar gas, emitting light. The nebula lies along the edge of a large bubble of low-density gas that was blown into space by the dying star prior to its self-detonation.”[i]

The estimated explosion date?

         “The Veil Nebula arches into graceful loops over a large region in Cygnus. Earlier estimates of its age were in the tens of thousands of years. In 2001, however, Sky & Telescope (2/2001) reported a surprise. By comparing Hubble views with photographs taken in 1953, astronomers recalculated its age at 5,000 years.”

That fits well within the Genesis time frame of creation. But what about the billions of years required for the formation of stars out of the Big Bang before a blue star eventually turns supernova?

The belief that stars are billions of years old is based on the assumption that stars take a certain amount of time to form. What evidence is this assumption built upon?

None.

In fact, this assumption is based upon one more assumption: that the processes we see at work in nature now have always been the same and do not change. The Bible predicted that this Uniformitarian Principle would drive people in the Last Days to ridicule those who trust God’s revelation in the Scriptures:

         2Pet. 3:3   First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.

When we see a thirty year-old man, we assume (logically) that he has been alive for thirty years. However, the first man (Adam) was created as a mature adult, perhaps the equivalent age of approximately thirty years old. To assume he had been alive for thirty years would be false. In the same way, to assume stars and galaxies are billions of years old because they appear (from our very limited perspective) to be in various stages of ages-long development would also be a false assumption.

Secular scientific theorizing must assume natural forces of cause and effect without any purpose or design. In contrast, the God of creation intentionally reveals that every aspect of the universe exists by design…

                  Psa. 147:4   He determines the number of the stars

         and calls them each by name.

…and for His purposes:

         Col. 1:16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

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[i] https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/veil-nebula-supernova-remnant