I believe that the world and the universe were created in 6 days because that is what the Bible says (Exodus 20:11).

" For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. "

I would think that any proofs for or against literal 6-day Creation must deal with this most clear of Creation passages. It clearly lays down as a foundation truth that God created everything that exists (pretty inclusive) in 6 days. By reading the context, we see how this truth fits into the Decalog. Notice that because "God rested" (not "is resting"), the Jews were to rest on the Sabbath. Likewise all believers enter into that rest as it says in Hebrews.

Here is the passage ~ Exodus 20:8 - 11:

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.

For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

It is a requirement of progressive creationism, I suppose, that forces them to treat the seventh day as a long period, just as they do the other days.

DAYS OR AGES?

I suggest that any study of this issue might work outward from this clearest account of Creation (Exodus 20:8 - 11). Yes, there are times when "day" ("yom") can mean a longer period of time (the Day of Salvation, the Day of the Lord, even Genesis 2:4 where "yom" apparently refers to 6 days of creation). But there is a good and useful rule to start out with:

Whenever "yom" is modified with a number (as in Exodus 20:11) it is to be understood as a generic everyday day. When there is NO numeric qualifier, then a longer period is possible, but not necessarily mandatory. Context and cross-reference must then decide. Context shows, for instance, that the Day of the Lord must be longer than a regular day.

We have other proofs (aside from God telling us clearly in Ex 20:11) that God created everything in 6 days. Most of these require lengthy and tedious references to the Hebrew of Genesis 1, but some are immediately apparent. One of the most obvious is the need of plants of day 3 for the light that God created on day 4.

When I was a younger Christian I would kind of apologize for my beliefs in Creation. I would hope the subject would not come up at the workplace, the secular university I first went to, even at home. Part of this was because I did not know how to answer those seemingly tough questions. I know now that I was also just not willing to trust God on this one. We know the verse that says "the fear of man brings a snare". Part of the reproach of being a Christian is believing what God's Word says. He says He created everything in 6 days. Generations of Jewish scholars (most of whom had no saving faith in the Messiah) understood 6 days to be literal. It wasn't until Evolution launched it's "Has God said?" that Christians sought for some kind of compromise with this seeming "proof".

And now we have a whole host of Concessionists: Hugh Ross, Koonstra, Archer and a number of others who provide a ready defense (albeit watered-down) for those who don't want to look foolish when the subject of evolution comes up. Note: I am not judging anyone's motives for believing in Day/Age theory. But I am just warning that "the fear of man brings a snare" and that there is no reason to overvalue the claims of some scientists against the certainties we have in the Bible.

IT WAS GOOD. GOD SAID SO.

God said everything he made was "good" ("tob"). Paul said all Creation is "groaning". Are these describing the same thing? No, the Creation went from "good" to "groaning" because of the fall, as Paul goes on to say. Hugh Ross would have us believe that God looked down on a world of animals killing animals (all before there was any meat-eating, by the way - Gen. 1:29-30) and death by cataclysms and called all that carnage "very good"! God does not create in that shoddy fashion. No, that is what we did in our fall, we inflicted God's very good Creation with our sin.

This issue is very, very important. Once we are willing to misread the basic teaching of Creation we make ourselves more susceptible to other missteps as well.

We need to see what the Bible says and then order our lives and our thinking accordingly. Instead, what is happening is that many of the concessionists are adjusting Scripture by "science". Their "harmony" is achieved by ignoring the inharmonious Bible verses already mentioned.

We have this interesting passage in Revelation 4:

"[T]he twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” "

The 24 elders praised and worshipped God for, among other things, His glory revealed in Creation.

If He did in fact create in 6 days it is worth defending. It actually takes away from His glory to argue for longer periods.

If He created everything in 6 days we need to both believe it and teach it to others and make it part of our message to the world who needs to see the God of glory.

A god who takes countless ages to create the universe is barely distinguishable from the impersonal "how-we-came-to-be-here" mechanics of the theists or the "plenty-of-muck-lots-of-luck" evolutionists.

Written: June 2, 2002 - Updated July 11, 2005