The Six Days of Creation

By Dewey Roberts

In the first chapter of Genesis, there is the divine revelation that God created the world “in the space of six days, and all very good” (Shorter Catechism #9). Genesis 1 gives us the six days of creation and verse 31 of that chapter says: “God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good. And there was evening and morning, the sixth day.” Those of us starting Vanguard Presbytery are in agreement that the days of creation were normal days because they are identified as such in Scripture—“And there was evening and there was morning, one day” (Genesis 1:5). Each of the six days are identified in that same manner by Holy Writ. The Sabbath commandment in Exodus 20:8-11, likewise, is based on the relationship between God’s creation of the world in six days and His rest on the seventh day.

Of course, no such Scriptural arguments are convincing to people who have, wittingly or unwittingly, been influenced by the theory of natural selection put forth by Charles Darwin’s book, The Origin of the Species, published in 1859. Darwinian evolution has resulted in the rise of atheism wherever it has become popularly held and taught. Yet, Darwin himself claimed to be a theist who believed that God created the original material of the universe. What he denied, and that which is the heart of his thesis, is the intelligent design in the creation of all the various life forms of the world and all the intricate parts of their being. What he denied was that the human eye, for instance, is an indication of intelligent design just as much as the telescope. Darwin accounted for the development of all life forms through natural selection and not supernatural design. Darwinism holds the following principles listed by Charles Hodge:

First, evolution; or the assumption that all organic forms, vegetable and animal, have been evolved from one, or a few, primordial living germs; second, that this evolution has been effected by natural selection, or the survival of the fittest; and third, and by far the most important and only distinctive element of his theory, that this natural selection is without design, being conducted by unintelligent physical causes.[1]     

The fallacy of Darwin’s theory was shown by Professor Joseph Henry (1797-1878), the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, at a speech which Hodge attended:

If I take brass, glass, and other materials, the product is a slag. This is what physical laws do. If I take those same materials, and form them into a telescope, that is what mind does.[2]

Before the rise of evolutionary science and Darwinism, there was nearly unanimous agreement among all churches that the six days of creation were normal days as we know them—an evening and a morning for each day. Darwin was a naturalist who tried to answer the single question of “how are the fauna and flora of our earth to be accounted for?”[3] The fauna are all the animal life present in a particular region. The flora is all the plant life in that same region. There are fauna and flora that are distinct to particular regions of the world. Elephants are not indigenous to America. Orange trees are not indigenous to Scandinavia. Darwin was attempting to answer the question of how these differences came to pass. His theory assumed the creation of all matter, but the various species had developed by unintelligent physical laws and the survival of the fittest. Yet, Darwin was unable to prove his theory through either the fossil records or his careful observations. Thus, he concluded that the evolutionary changes must have taken place too slowly to be found in the fossil records. For that reason, he assumed that the world would have to be hundreds of million years old. Sadly, that assumption has influenced many Christian theologians, pastors, and church members since Darwin’s day which is the leading reason why the day-age theory of creation has been proposed as a means of reconciling science and the Scripture.

Someone might ask if a minister’s view of creation, and the days of creation, is really all that important? I would turn that around with a different question. Can anyone name a denomination that has remained evangelical after permitting ministers to take exceptions to the Westminster Standards teaching on creation?

It is true that the first three days of creation were not solar days, but all six days were consisted of the same time period—an “evening and morning.”  The sun was created on the fourth day. Genesis 1:19 concludes that day with these words: “There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.” Some ministers take an exception to the Westminster Standards by claiming that each day of creation was an age of indefinable length. They are, thereby, saying that Genesis 1:19 should have a parenthetical statement like this: (But this fourth day was actually about a thousand years or more in length). That would mean there was not actually an evening and a morning for the fourth day (or the other days), but rather there were numerous evenings and mornings for a “day” of such indefinite duration. There is no factual support for that position either within or outside the Bible. It is a theory based on a flawed, or at least unproved, idea. Even Darwin never claimed his theory to be factual. In The Origin of the Species, Darwin argues in this manner: If you consider this point and assume that such and such is possible, then it is not hard to imagine that such and such also could possibly have happened. He acknowledges, but rejects, the idea that the fauna and flora could be the result of the design of the Creator.

The purpose of this article is not to identify all the weaknesses and contradictions in Darwin’s theory of evolution, but rather to prove that the days of creation were six normal days—which means that they were six 24-hour days. All the denials by people who say that the days of creation were longer periods are based on starting at the wrong end of the matter. They start, like Darwin did, with what is observed at the present time and try to work back to the creation. They start with observing how long it takes a tree to grow or a rock to form and try to overlay that onto the days of creation. In other words, they try to base the length of the creation days on the laws of physics rather than the intelligent design of the mind of God. Physical laws can petrify wood into rocks over time, but those physical laws cannot plane that wood into 2×4 studs 8 feet long that can be used to frame a house. It takes intelligent design to do that. Thus, when pastors say that they believe the days of creation were long periods of time, they are making that statement on the basis of observable physical laws—not the intelligent design of God. They are being unphilosophical in their quest to accommodate flawed evolutionary theories. They accuse those of us who believe in six literal 24-hour days of creation of being unscientific. Yet, science means knowledge and Darwin was very clear that his theories were not based on observable facts. Darwinism is not knowledge. Darwinism is not true science. And the day-age view of the length of the days of creation is neither science nor revelation.  

There is no other reason to hold to the day-age view of the creation days except that a person has unwittingly (or maybe wittingly) acquiesced to the idea of the natural selection of physical laws. Every day-age proponent that I know defends their views based on the observable physical laws. No Christian, especially no minister, should ever walk on that plank because it leads to Darwinism. Most pastors who hold to the day-age theory will vehemently deny that they believe in Darwinism. Yet, I am reminded of the words of Queen Gertrude in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” I would ask such ministers, “If it is not Darwin’s emphasis on the natural selection of physical laws that has subtly influenced you to hold to the day-age theory, then what is it?”

Several years ago, there was an article in ByFaith Magazine of the PCA by a Covenant Theological Seminary professor, Dr. John Collins, who hypothesized that Adam and Eve were selected by God from among numerous hominoids to be the first parents of mankind. Yet, he also stated that the human DNA pool is too large for all of us to have come through a single set of parents, thus the rest of us are descended from other hominoids. Collins, thereby, denies the unity of the race through a single set of first parents, Adam and Eve; he denies the fall of all mankind through Adam’s one act of disobedience; he denies the Noahic flood; and, he denies the federal Headship of Christ which is the theological basis for His atonment. When the tree is bad, the fruit is bad also.  

So, how do we know that the days of creation were six 24-hour days? Because God tells us so in Genesis 1. In all discussions of origins, we have to go by the testimony of those who were consciously present at that event. You and I were present at our own births, but we have no memory of those events. We were not conscious. What we know we have learned from others. We have birth certificates that record the essential facts. Our parents have told us of that day. Otherwise, we would grope in darkness to find out that information. Modern science cannot discover the beginning of creation by looking at the rocks and mountains or by close observation of all life forms. We were not there at the moment of creation. That is a point that God makes to Job in Job 38:4—“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” Suddenly, Job felt so small. Do we dare to question God’s revelation of the six days of creation in order to reconcile Scripture with false theories? Once again, I realize that people who hold to the day-age theory will object that they do not believe in Darwinism. I agree, but they have been influenced by it.

So, Adam and Eve and all other life was created by the intelligent design of our Heavenly Father. Did Adam come forth as a newborn infant who needed to be breastfed by his mother? Of course not. He had no mother. He had only a Creator. He was not a babe. He was a mature man, probably around the age of twenty-five or thirty the very first day he was alive. It has long been my view that God created the rest of the world the same way—with the appearance of age—in order to confound the wise. The fruit trees in the garden bore fruit on the very first day of their existence. All the animals were fully grown and all the plants were mature. All living things had the seeds of reproduction within them. We know, therefore, which came first. It was the chicken—not the egg. We know this because God created all things in the space of six days and all very good.

But how long did it take God to create all these things and all this life? Was it long ages or did it happen in an instant? We know that God created ex-nihilo—out of nothing. He spoke the word and all things were created. Genesis 1:3 says, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” God spoke all things into being. That is what the mind of God is able to do. It did not take God the full 24-hours to complete each days’ work of creation. The length of the days are there for our good. That is how God has apportioned to us each day, and each week, and each year.

Someone might ask if a minister’s view of creation, and the days of creation, is really all that important? I would turn that around with a different question. Can anyone name a denomination that has remained evangelical after permitting ministers to take exceptions to the Westminster Standards teaching on creation?

The apostle Paul began his evangelization of the Gentiles with references to creation. In his sermon at Mars Hill, below the Acropolis in Athens, Paul began by referring to “God who made the world and all things in it” (Acts 17:24). He did not directly mention the length of the six days of creation, but he made it clear that all things were made by God—and did not come through the laws of physics. Romans is Paul’s great epistle to the Gentiles and probably puts in words what he often delivered in person to the Gentiles wherever he labored. After some verses of introduction, Paul begins at creation once again. When the Lord wanted to help Job work through the problem of suffering, He took his starting point in creation also. If we want to evangelize the lost, we should start where Paul started. We should proclaim that God created all things out of nothing in the space of six days and all very good. That will arrest their attention and convict them before the living God. I fail to see how defining the days of creation as long ages is going to convict an unbeliever of the awesome power of God. Thus, the 6 days of creation are an important litmus test for us in Vanguard Presbytery.  

Dewey Roberts is the pastor of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church of Destin, FL