Please Note: Each coloured link within the articles will lead you to a related topic on a different page of this site. However while the text is part of the original article, the links are not. The authors of these articles may or may not agree with the views expressed on those pages, or anything else on this site.. ************** This article in our series on frequently encountered objections to faith in Christ and His word focuses on the creation chronolog, Genesis One. It appears to many people, even those with limited education in science that the order of events in that passage is clearly at odds with the facts. After all, light is created on the first day, and yet the sun shows up on the fourth day, after the creation of plants, which live by photosynthesis. Before looking into the solution of this seeming difficulty, let me point out that this problem has been proposed as evidence for 24-hour creation days. The argument is that plant life, created on the third day, could have survived just long enough for the fourth day to begin, with its sunlight to keep them alive. But, such an argument lacks plausibility. Taking away the heat of the sun would yield a temperature at the earth's surface of 454'F below zero (-270'C). Plants could not have survived such an extreme, even for a short while, certainly not long enough for God to survey His newly-created wonders and declare-them "good," as the text says He did. Furthermore, the introduction of the sun at this late stage in the earth's development would have had such radical physical impact as to destroy the planet. What amazed me when I read Genesis seriously for the first time (at age 17) was that the creation account reflects the scientific method. It begins with a statement of the point of view, or frame of reference. Next there is an indication of the initial conditions. Then comes a chronological account of the physical events. Finally, there is a statement of conclusions. Here, in a nutshell, is the scientific approach. if I had known better, I would not have been so amazed. Thirteen years later I discovered Thomas Torrance's work, which documents the derivation of the scientific method, in a large part, from the Bible. According to the second verse, the point of view from which the rest of the description follows is the surface of the ocean, belou, the cloud layer. This is the often-overlooked key to the interpretation of the rest of the story. The second half of that same verse lists the initial conditions: With the point of view and initial conditions established, we can correctly interpret the chronolog of Genesis creation events. These are listed in order below: Creation of the physical universe (space, time, matter, energy, galaxies, stars, planets, etc.) Transformation of the earth's atmosphere from opaque to translucent Formation of a stable water cycle Establishment of continent(s) and ocean(s) Pproduction of plants on the continent(s) Transformation of the atmosphere from translucent to transparent sun, moon, and stars became visible for the first time) Production of small sea animals Creation of sea mammals (nephesh) Creation of birds (more nephesh, perhaps simultaneously with #8) Making of land mammals (wild mammals, mammals that can be domesticated, and rodents-still more nephesh) Creation of mankind (adam)
This chronolog gives a brief summary, to be sure, and yet it perfectly accords with the findings of modem science. The odds that Moses (the writer of Genesis) could have guessed the correct order, even if he were given the events, amount to only 1 chance in llxlOx9x8x7x6x5x4x3x2xl, or I chance in roughly 40 million. We must credit him, too, with scoring three for three in stating the initial conditions. Even more amazing to me is the accuracy of his depiction of each creative event. This astounding accuracy speaks to me of divine inspiration. It was the beginning of my coming to faith in Jesus Christ. Rather than a stumbling block, Genesis One provides blockbuster evidence for the trustworthiness of the Bible in all matters, including its description of physical things. | 
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