very significant points awaiting evidence. Nevertheless, scientific advances have been very effective in filling in many details, raising the issue of where God’s influence might be.
An alternative to the explanations of a divinely created young earth or naturalistic biological evolution is an evolutionary process directed by God. Various forms of guided evolution have been proposed, ranging from direct intervention at strategic points, to God being only the initiator of the universe’s evolution. Evaluating the competing theories of earth’s evolution requires objectively examining the fundamental claims of each.
Divine Creation
The opening lines of the Bible set the stage for Christianity’s claim that the Bible’s purpose is to reveal God’s love and desire for all people to live in relationship with him. Sometimes called a hymn, Genesis 1 appears to be a unique blend of prose and poetry. As poetry, the passage uses figurative language to describe God’s activity by using human counterparts: speaking and seeing, working and resting. In reading the first chapter of Genesis, the question to consider is whether a poetic description of the universe’s beginning could provide an accurate description of God’s actions.
Genesis 1: The opening lines of the most published book in the world’s history.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights-the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.17
The opening line of Genesis is unique among creation stories. In this and only this story God brings the universe into existence seemingly out of nothing. God’s actions and the world’s response, emphasized in the quotation with different type, demarcate an underlying pattern. The clear declaration that the God of the early Hebrews has made all of creation stands apart from the pagan myths of the neighboring prehistoric cultures. This statement of God’s creative activity has always been understood as “out of nothing,” a creation of matter and energy and time itself. Unlike the pagan gods who worked with pre-existing materials, God spoke and creation occurred.
The repeated phrase “And God said” appears at the beginning of each creative event and is followed by creation’s obedience: “And it was so.” Capping these creative events is the declaration: “And God saw that it was good.” Although the sections vary in length and minor details, they follow the same pattern to reiterate that God created everything and made all things well.
The poetic structure of Genesis has been recognized for at least two millennia. As with much poetry, it has a repetitive form at several levels. On the first day God makes light and three days later he makes the heavenly lights, the sun and moon. On the second day God makes the sky and sea and three days later, the birds and fish to populate those realms. On the third day, God makes land and vegetation, the prerequisites for the land creatures and people that appear three days later on day 6. The first three days parallel the second three days: light and darkness/sun and moon, waters above and below/birds and fish, land and ocean/animals and humans. In the first three days the world is formed, while in the following three days the world is filled. The point of this unraveling symmetry is order. Each part of creation is linked together in a beautiful plan in which creative acts bring forth ecological diversity in an integrated, interdependent structure. Day seven is God’s crowning glory consistent with the veneration of many ancient cultures for the number 7.
Understanding Genesis 1
Numerous controversies have arisen from interpretations of Genesis. The two most prevalent stem from a literal reading of the poetic style: how did God make the universe and how long did this take? A literal reading of Genesis 1 as a scientific description of God’s action seems inappropriate given that the message was for a people living some time between 1500 and 500 BC. The early Hebrews’ knowledge of science was minimal, but they did have a keen understanding of how God expected them to live even if they did not always follow directions! As poetry, broad statements conveying order and place in creation could truthfully provide some insight into how God made the universe without describing the precise sequence or mechanism. An advantage of couching how the universe came into being through a poetic description is that the essence of God’s actions are captured in a medium that can be understood thousands of years later by modern, scientifically oriented cultures and still ring true. As poetry, Genesis is unlikely to contain specifics on the mechanism by which the universe
