Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - The implications.

By moving away from a strictly literal only interpretation of the days in Genesis 1 we can start to examine the account for other intricacies.

But first a bit of a summary:

• A strictly literal interpretation of Genesis 1 has deep roots that extend well before the age of enlightenment and the knowledge of the earth we have since uncovered.
• A young earth creation (7 x 24 hours)would require the ignoring of a lot of geological and other evidence.
• An old earth creation (7 x 1000 years or longer) still has challenges regarding the order of the Days of creation in the Genesis 1 account.
• The order and repetition of elements within the Creation account hint rater at a literary structure rather than a detailed literal account.
• The structure is used to elevate and emphasize the 7th day as a day of rest.
• This same literary structure is used elsewhere in the books of Moses and is not unique.
• It is used in the account of the plagues of Egypt to elevate and emphasize the final plague that would institute the Passover and establish the start of the Israelite Calendar.

So lets see what other intricacies we can find when freed from a strictly literal straitjacket.

The account uses some interesting phraseology that literalists ignore:

On days three, five and six the phrases go as follows:

Let the earth bring forth grass
Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life
Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind

In all these phrases, the very interesting expression "bring forth" is used. In each instance the earth or waters are directed to "bring forth" plants, fish, birds and animals in such a way as to imply that the capacity is in them to do this.

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This is not out of line with what we have so far discovered regarding the emergence and differentiation of life on this planet.

This phraseology could easily accommodate the emergence of diversity via natural processes.

This emergence by natural processes is later, in the respective verses, associate with God Creating and Making:

And God created great whales
And God made the beast of the earth after his kind

Hereby we see that the act of "Creating" and "Making" is considered one and the same as the earth and waters naturally "bringing forth" all forms of life.

If we take this further to the other "Let there be" phrases:

Let there be light
Let there be a firmament
Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together
Let the earth bring forth grass
Let there be lights in the firmament
Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life
Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind
Let us make man in our image

If we review these phrases from this perspective it seems that the phraseology can quite easily accommodate the natural and emergent process that have been uncovered by observational and scientific methods.

What we know of biological evolution is the importance of reproduction and inheritance in the process.

Both of these principles are emphasized repeatedly in the account.

and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth
And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind

Now some may accuse me of trying to sneak evolution in the back door of the creation story, however its my opinion that the creation story seems to have had it in there as a possibility all along and that the creative process may have be a perfectly natural and now more increasingly understood evolutionary process.

There will be others that object in that this seems to contradict the story of Adam and Eve... but we will look into those objections next week.

So my question at this stage is; does the possibility that God may have used completely natural and increasingly understood processes to create the universe, the solar system, this planet and all life on it, make the prospect any less miraculous and glorious?

For me, the more I learn about emergent and evolutionary processes, the more I am filled with Awe at the majesty of this entire enterprise called life.

Previous parts of this Series.

Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Where do these notions originate?

Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Delving a little deeper

Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Into the detail

Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Some conclusions

Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Some more conclusions