Creation Science Book Review
Refuting Compromise
Chapter 4: The Order of Creation
Book Review by Greg Neyman
© Old Earth Ministries
First Published 12 July 2004
Dr. Sarfati makes an error in the first paragraph of this chapter. He states “Ross makes serious errors in exegesis in his attempt to try to make the Bible fit the evolutionary order.” Dr. Ross does not believe in evolution, so he could not be guilty of trying to make the Bible fit the evolutionary order. Young earth proponents have always tried this tactic of tying Dr. Ross to evolution. Despite the fact that it is clear Dr. Ross is not an evolutionist, they still label him as one.
If you accept the young earth creation science model, this chapter will make perfect sense to you. If you want to understand the old earth model, this chapter is useless. This is a very short chapter that fails to make a very good effort in explaining the order of creation. Since Dr. Sarfati failed to adequately present the old earth theory, so that the reader could decide, I will have to present it here.
Old earth theory uses what I call Creation Overlap. Each day of creation overlaps the other days of creation. For instance, God started creating plants on Day Three, but he continued creating new plants right on up through the creation of Adam on Day Six. In other words, the days of creation are groupings of events, and not literal 24-hour days (that's not to say the Bible cannot be taken literally. "Day" in Genesis 1 can mean a long period of time).
The claim that the creation of plants on Day Three being contrary to the fossil record is false. The first organisms in the fossil record are simple single cell algae, a plant. There was not a lot of plant creation until after animal creation started in earnest, but the important point is that it was started.
If you are a theistic evolutionist, this works great. God started the process of evolution, and let it develop from the algae. All throughout the evolution process, God was there overseeing the development of life.
If you are a progressive creationist, it also works great. God developed the first algae, and then moved on to other creative works, without evolution. Each species was a unique creation. Although God started creating plants on Day Three, we see new plants appear in the fossil record after the creation of the first animals, so Day Three overlaps days four, five, and six.
This interpretation presents no problems from the standpoint of Biblical interpretation, including proper use of the Hebrew text. One does not even have to consider Dr. Ross’ explanations concerning the order of creation, although they are basically the same model, just explained differently.
Fourth Day Creation of Sun Undermines Day-Age Views
Not true…unless you are a young earth creation science believer. Sarfati does not go into enough detail about this topic. Ross does an excellent job in his book Creation and Time, explaining about how this topic can be resolved based on the point of reference of the observer. Sarfati also fails to answer/address the young earth problem…if plants were created on Day Three, how could they grow without the sun, which was created on Day Four?
Leading Day-Ager Concedes Defeat
Concerning the alleged scheme about light not reaching the surface of the earth until day four because the atmosphere had thinned enough to see the sun…this is the standard accepted model for planetary development, so he is saying 99.9 percent of all astronomers are wrong.
It is no problem to find former old earth believers who are now young-earthers. Keep in mind that most people are erroneously taught young earth theory when they are young, before they become old earth believers. It is not hard to imagine that it is difficult for some people who are raised in young earth thought to totally shed the bonds of this indoctrination. It is equally easy (easier, in fact) to find former young-earthers who are now old-earthers. Finding someone who switched sides does nothing to support your side.
In summary, the order of creation presents no problems for old earth belief, although Dr. Sarfati would have you think so. It also presents no problems for young earth belief…so choose what you will, it doesn’t matter so long as you are a Christian.
If you are not a Christian, and you have been holding out on making a decision for Christ because the Church always preached a message that was contrary to what you saw in the scientific world, then rest assured that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, and you can believe in Christ and receive salvation, while still believing in an old earth. Click here for more.
Are you a Christian who believes in young earth creationism? Now that we have shown the many difficulties of the young earth creation science model in this and many other articles, how does this impact your Christian life? If you are a young earth creationism believer, click here.
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