Genesis has nothing to do with evoluton!
Matthew Cserhati
When asked, many people in different churches claim that they can square the creation account in Genesis with evolution. Many do not want to seem unscientific and thus come up with a compromise position. They think that it is a wise solution if they accept both evolution and creation and can remain religious and also be socially acceptable. I was such a person but I had to discover that this was only a hal-answer, a half-solution, and a half-truth.
You cannot just say that creation only tells us who God is, and only that He is the creator. Creation is described in Genesis 1 in 31 verses, and it does say certain things about the phsyical universe and how it came to be. Moses is the best one to explain to us how he wrote Genesis 1, and not Darwin.
If anyone calls themselves a Christian, then he must place himself under the Bibleâs authority. He must bow his knee before the Bible, because it is Godâs Word. If one does not accept Godâs Word, then that person does not belong to God. Christianity is based on the Bible and cannot be independent from it. Therefore in the following pages we shall examine Genesis 1, and what it says about creation!
- âIn the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.â This verse is so fmous, because it describes so many things. In the beginning God created everything. This is a completed work, not a continuous, endless evolutionary process of development. God created everything, and then ceased from all His works of creation. This single verse refutes evolutionary philosophy. âThe heavens and the earthâ is what is known as a merism in Hebrew: it contains everything in it: all things visible and invisible. There is nothing which was not created by God. Therefore we have to exclude all interpretations which say that God only created after some short time after the beginning point in another greater created reality. This view leads to atheism and is thus untenable. The beginning is a time point, not a time interval.
The first three words in this verse are âBereshit barah Elohimâ in Hebrew. Not ehtat in Hebrew, the word âElâ denotes God, or the deity. But here we see Elohim, where the -im ending denotes the male plural. What does this mean? God is one, but in plurality: gods. One God, but more than one person, since the word âbarahâ means âHe createdâ, in the singular. This is a reference to the Trinity: one God in three persons. Right in the very first verse of the Bible!
2 âThe earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.â This verse reinforcesthe first verse: the Earth was formless and void. It did not become that way. Some try vainly to slip in a very lengthy period of time between verses one and two. This is simply not in the text of the Bible. This formless void was not chaotic. This is neither the result of evolutionary development, nor is it the destruction of an already existing archaic world. It is not the same as the chaos of Greek mythology. It was a simple state of existance where Godâs building material were present: simple matter. It is like when an engineer starts to construct a buildimg, so also did God collect all of His building material. Then he constructs the building that He had planned beforehand.
3â4. âThen God said: Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.â This describes Godâs creative work of the first day. It stems from Godâs character that He separates good from evil, and light from darkness. Light contains information. We can see because of light. Light is good, and 1 John 1:5 also says that God is light, and there is no darkness in Him. This means that God is truth. Jesus says the same thing in John 14:6, that He is the Way, the truth and the Life.
- âGod called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.â This is the way the Bible defines a day. It does not say in the Hebrew that it is the âfirst dayâ. In Hebrew that would be âyim rishonâ. But in the Hebrew instead we have âyom echadâ: one day . This is one day: a period of darkness which is followed by a period of light. Evening, and then morning. This does not correspond to a million years. That would be completely meaningless. There are other Hebrew words to denote long periods of time, but these do not appear here. The reason these time periods come after one another is because the Earth is rotating in front of a light source. The Bible describes events from our human point of view so that we may understad it. God comes down to our level in this way. It is also worth mentioning that on the first day there is no sun, no moon, planets or stars⌠This means that the focus of Godâs attention is the Earth, and mankind. You and me. It may not be that the Earth is not in the exact center of the pjhysical universe. but e cn be sure that God pays special attention to man. Man was created to have a personal relationship with the Creator God. God is deeply concerned about what goes in in our lives, in human affairs. Therefore god is not indifferent as to how we live. We cannot live our lives as we please.
6â8. âThen God said: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.â In these two verses we see how God proceeds with His work of creation. God does not use millions of years of haphazard events to develop the universe and the Earth. On the first day God separated light from darkness. On the second day God again separates two things from one another: the upper and the lower waters, so that the sky and the firmament (that is, the atmopshere) became visible. By doing so God created environments for different animals, which He is to create on later days: the birds and the fish. God takes great care not only for mankind but also for the animals as well.
The firmament is not a rock-solid firmament. The word for firmament in Hebrew is âraqiaâ. This word can be interpreted in many different ways, but it is not always defined as a hard substance. Genesis 1:20 states that the birds flew across the face of the firmament. It would be meaningless if the birds would be moving across the surface of a hard substance. This is not how birds fly. Again, the Bible describes events by going down to our level. Again, the Bible describes events as how we would percieve them. This is not a problem, since scientists themselves also talk about sunrise and sunset.
9â10. âThen God said: Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear. And it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.â God proceeds with His work of creation on the thord day. And again, He separates two things from one another, and by doing so again creates another environment, for animals, plants and also for man.
In my previous presentation I spoke about the science of baraminology (in other words, biblical taxonomy, or the biblical categorization of organisms). This Bible-based science deals with how to place orgaisms into different groups. It is completely scientific, since we do not have to accept the presupposition that all organisms are related to one another. God creates different environments on the second and third day, and then fills these environments with different kinds of animals on the fifth and sixth days. Since God created the animals on different days, it means there are no evolutionary relationships between them. They are separate acts of Godâs creation. This way dinosaurs cannot be the ancestors of birds, especially since dinosaurs were created on day six, whereas birds were created on day five. An ancestor of an animal cannot come after its descendant.
11 âThen God said: Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth. And it was so.â On the third day God created the plants, separately from the animals. This also speaks about the impossibility of evolution. Whosoever wants to see evolutionary processes going on in the creation account cannot answer two things regarding the third day. Verse 5 tells us that a day is made up of a period of darkness and light. This is a day like how we experience every day. If the days of xreation were not experiential days, but millions of years, then this means that the plants created on day three of creation would have remained in darkness for a very long period of time. We know that plants need light. Light is repsonsible for the production of sugars (i.e. this is what is known as photosynthesis). If the third day was a million years long, then all plants would have wilted away and died. But where did plants recieve light before the creation of the sun? The answer is very simple â the omnipresent light was already there on the first day. Light is emitted not only by the sun; other sources can emit light. Mark 9:3 says that Jesusâ clothes radiated light when He was on the Mount of Transfiguration. Acts 9:3 also says that beams of light suddenly enveloped Paul. God created light, and has power over it. He can create light whenever He wants and in whatever form He wants. Nothing is impossible for God.
12-13. âAnd the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day.â In this verse we read that the Earth sprouted grass and fruit-yielding tress, according to their kinds. Here again we have a case of antropomorphic description, where the plants grow out of the ground from their seed. This also means that plants have an entirely different origin from animals, since they were both created on separate days, with the fourth day intervening between the two. This also means that there is no connecting link (such as the single-celled Euglena ) between animals and plants. This verse also tells us that the trees and non-tree plants also have separate origins, since they were created next to each other in a single moment, unseparated by millions of years of evolutionary development. Plants also form different kinds based on the premises of the science of baraminology, mentioned earlier.
In verse 13 God declares that what He created is good. Death, destruction, rotting are all bad things. They all contradict Godâs creative work. The second thing that evolution cannot answer regarding the third day is that many species of plants are pollenated by animals, such as by bees. If the days of creation were really millions of years long, then many plant species would not have been able to be pollenated, and thus they would not be able to reproduce, according to Godâs command.
- âThen God said: Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years.â The events of the fourth day are different from those which have happened until now. In multipke ways we again see that man is in the focus of Godâs attention, and is not the meaningless result of millions of years of random events. The heavenly bodies were created after the formation of the Earth, over and against the theory of evolution, which states that the sun came before the Earth. The heavenly bodies perform their tasks, by separating light from darkness. The task of providing a daily rhythm for man has now been placed by God into the sun and the moon. They demarcate days, months, and years. God creates temporal regularity by doing so. Rhythm, regularity, since God is the Author of order and the physical laws. The sun and the moon are placed in the firmament of heaven, which again is an anthropocentric way of describing things, just as today one would say that the sun is in the middle of the sky at noon.
15-16. âand let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth. And it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.â This verse also contradicts evolution. God speaks, and it happens. In moments, and not millions of years. The Bible does not recognize long periods of stellar evolution. God is greater and skillful than to spread out his work of creation over long periods of time. The god of theistic evolution is exceedingly incompetent and lazy. The God of the Bible is not like this.
17-19. âGod set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.â Here also God declares after one of His acts of creation that what He had done was good. God creates all sorts of good things. He creates the sun and the moon so that man can see things and measure time. God also has provision for the night as well. Darkness is not completely dark. If man needs to do something even at night, the moon is there to give him light. And for the fourth time evening anf morning came. Invariantly just as it did during the previous three days. This means that even though the source of light emitted on the face of the earth had changed, it still did not change in the rhythm of the days. The fourth day is an experiential day (24 hours), just like the third day. There was no change in daily rhythm after the days of creation, either. Today there is morning and evening, just as it was ever since the beginning of the world â another contradiction with evolution.
20-21. âThen God said: Let the waters abound with an abundance of living [e]creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the [f]firmament of the heavens. So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.â The fifth day is tied to the second day. Just as God created the aerial and the water environments, so on the fifth day He fills them with organisms. Fish swarmed in ths seas, and a multitude of birds flew across the skies. How many different kinds of fish and birds did God create? We know that in the beginning God created only one pair of humans, Adam and Eve. The Bible doesnât speak in so much detail about the different kinds of animals, though. It may be that each bird kind consisted of several hundred or even thousands of individuals. This itself is plausible, since the birds flew across the entire sky, which would have been impossible if there were just two of each kind. God loves organisms and loves life as well. And thus He created the multitudes of fish and birds on the fifth day so that they could glorify Godâs greatness and intelligence with their fine swimming movements and flying manouvers.
22-23. âAnd God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.â God cares for the animals. God is the Author lof life, and death and decrepitude are foreign to Him. God builds and multiplies, and does not destroy. If animals could have died, they would not have been able to fulfill Godâs commands to multiply with that specific endgoal in mind to fill the Earth. God wanted animals to be everywhere so that they could reflect His glory. This is why fish and birds had to reproduce and multiply. Each kind brought forth individuals just like itself. Kinds therefore stayed stable all throughout time, and one kind does not transform into another kind. Sharks never turn into whales, and swallos never turn into eagles.
24â25. âThen God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind. And it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.â Now comes the acts of creation of the sixth day. This is an important day, summarized in eight verses by the Bible. The first thing God does is He creates the animals on dry land. This way He fills the environment that He had created on the third day. Animals now are found nit just in the seas and in the air, but also on the dry ground. All kinds of animals: cattle, beasts and creeping things. God created animals according tot heir kinds besides the plants. Note here that the creeping animals do not consist of only one kind, but rather multiple kinds. Groups of kinds, which are made up of multiple kinds. Centipedes and crickets are creeping animals, but they both belong to separate kinds. This is because their body plan is fundamentally different, and they cannot interbreed.
This leads to the question, that if God created the macroscopic animals each according to their kinds, then what about bacteria and viruses, which we cannot observe? Are viruses even living things? The Bible does not say anything about this. The bacterium Staphylococcus aureus , which causes meningitis is not mentioned in the Bible. What about it? Which kind does it belong to? I personally think that bacteria also belong to kinds. The first people did not have microscopes, and therefore could not have seen bacteria. But just because the biblical authors did not see them, it could still be possible that they also formed kinds just like animals and plants. This is because living things are uniform. All organisms have DNA and have cellular structures. The unity of living things suggest the hand of God.
- âThen God said: Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.â This is one of the most important verses in the creation account. It states that man has a special importance within the created world. Man is not just another animal. He is not of the same rank as a monkey or a cow. Only man was created in the image of God. Vice-versa, God only has a special relationship with man. God the Son (Jesus) became man. He did not become a monkey, nor a tiger, nor a camel. Only man has higher understanding, emotions, spirit and soul. Only man reflects something from Godâs characteristics. The traits are the communicative attributes of God which are common between God and man.
God not only created man in His image, but also placed man above the animals to rule over them. God rules over the whole universe, but put man above the created organisms. Man is Godâs representative, and God gave mankind a capability, to be able to fulfill his tasks. Man must subject the Earth to his rule. For this man must also know nature. God therefore gave man a command in this verse to pursue science!
Man is body and soul, and stands between the spiritual world and also the biological world. Man forms a single race. He brings forth individuals like himself. In contrast, angels form a host. They do not marry, nor do they multiply, since god created them each individually.
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âSo God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.â God created man male and female. He created them in two genders. Thus marriage is between only one man and one woman. Not between two men, or between two women, or between one man and four or more women. Whatâs more, there is no transition between genders. Transexualism, changing sex, and hermaphroditism are all forbidden by the Bible. Such exist today because of sin. Romans 1:26â27 also condemns homosexuality as unnatural. Homosexuality has consequences, sice AIDS spreads much, much more in gay communities, and gays also lose twenty years of life expectancy. Homosexuality is not genetic: when one twin is gay, the other is not in 90% of the cases. Gay theology has no biblical basis.
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âThen God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.â Man has also been commanded to fill the earth. So that he could rule over the fish, the birds and the animals, which fill the seas, the air and the dry land, that is, over all three environments, making up the entire earth. Reproducing and multiplying contradict dearh, destruction, natural selection, and evolution. Life is Godâs blessing.
29â30. âThen God said, See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food. And it was so.â God gave plants as food to man and also the animals. There were no carnivores in Eden. Man also did not hunt animals. Animals did not tear each other apart in bloody masses. Many carnivores can also eat plants. For example, species from the family of megabats (Pteropodidea) have sharp teeth, and can eat fruits. Sharks can also eat seaweed.
Plants do not have consciousness. They do not feel pain. They belong to a category of life different from that of animals. That is why God gave the plants to man and the animals for food. Plants produce sugars and proteins and other nutrients which are necessary for animals.
Animals also did not fear man as they do today. This is interesting, because circumstances were different than they are today in Eden. There was no animal death. Humans also did not die. If they could have died, they would not have been able to comply with Godâs commands to fill the Earth as stated in verses 22 and 28.
God is not bloodihanded. He did not create illnesses or viruses. Most bacterial groups contain only a small proportion of harmful species. These species came about after the Fall into sin via mutations. God is a God of the living, not of the dead (Mark 12:27). The last enemy to be destroyed is death (1 Corinthians 15:26). God did not use evolution as a tool to create. Evolution is synonymous with the death and destruction of many, many species.
- âThen God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.â Genesis 1 ends with verse 31. God finished His acts of creation. This is another simple fact that contradicts evolution, which is allegedly a constant process. God worked in six stages (not according to a lengthy process). Therefore man must also work for six days according to His pattern. If the days of creation are millions of years long, then man would simply break down during his million year workday.
God declares that His creation is very good, without spot or blemish, there is no bad part or mistake in it. There is no death, wounds, or pain. God did not want this. Man brought pain and suffering upon himself in that he rebelled against God. Manâs sin was the reason for Christâs coming. We all fell into sin in Adam, but can come alive again in Christ, the Second Adam. Jesus died for that sin which we all committed in Adam. If we believe in Jesus, we may have eternal life. We will have a living relationship with God again. We will not be damned, and will not die. We will have a new life, and will be a new creation. The Lord calls you today, answer him in faith, while it is possible.
, since heâs new here. So again, for his sake, one more timeâŚ