geocreationism.com

In Part 1 of this series, discussing Paul H. Seely’s article, The First Four Days of Genesis in Concordist Theory and in Biblical Context, I confirmed that Geocreationism is a Concordist Theory.  In Part 2, I explained why a significant difference between Geocreationism and other Concordist theories is that Geocreationism does not rewrite scripture to fit the accepted geologic ages.  In Part 3, I explained how Geocreationism uses science to confirm the sequence of events the scriptures record.  In this installment, I discuss Seely’s approach for interpreting Genesis as history.

Recall from Part 2 this quote from the Wikipedia page Interpretations of the Creation Account:
There has been little consistency in the various ways of reconciling Genesis 1 …

If you haven’t noticed, I took a break from Day 5.  Between long hours, cub scouts, and family, well, something had to give, and it’s usually this blog.  (By the way, my son’s raingutter boat took 3rd place in the races for the cubs, and 3rd place for painting overall.  I am quite the proud papa right now. )

Well, in between the hecticness, I have been writing a review (not posted) of an article by Paul H. Seely on Concordism.  The article can be found here: The First Four Days of Genesis in Concordist Theory and in Biblical Context.  It caught my eye because the summary of the article singled out the first 4 days of Creation, …

 20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 21 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. 22 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.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. — Genesis 1:20-23
In …

 20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 21 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. 22 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.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. — Genesis 1:20-23
Day 5 was not straightforward to date.  As described …

An article by Dr. Terry Mortenson, which is found at http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n3/jesus-and-the-age-of-earth, argues that Jesus believed in a young earth. I have not read the article yet in much detail.  So, what you read below will be my thoughts and blow-by-blow analysis as I go through it.  Mortenson states his purpose:
It will be argued that Jesus clearly was a young-earth creationist and that if we call Him Lord we should follow Him rather than the contemporary scientific majority, which primarily consists of unbelievers.
 The writer argues for Jesus’ belief in the scriptures.  I agree with him.
All these above-mentioned statements reflect some aspect of Jesus’ attitude toward or belief about the Scriptures. But far more frequently Jesus reveals his conviction about the authority …

One of the main criticisms that Young Earth Creationists (YECs) lobby against Old Earth Creationists (OECs) is that scientific methods of aging ancient rocks and fossils are unreliable.  Therefore, the reasoning goes, don’t rely on it.  In fact, if you are trying to age anything you think is older than 10,000 years old, don’t even try.  After all, according to scripture, nothing was around back then.  If you try using methods that suggest ages older than 10,000 years old, your findings will be filled with contradictions and inconsistencies, so do not be surprised when you find them.  You can try reconciling them, but don’t bother.  After all, if you already know the earth is younger than 10,000 years old, then what do you gain trying explain why …

One of the difficulties with discussing an old earth is that people tend to think that it requires placing science over scripture.  In discussing Day 4 for example, a familiar argument is that scripture clearly records the creation of the sun, moon, and stars occurring on Day 4.  Therefore, as the argument goes, any theory to the contrary, using science to back it up, is setting aside the plain meaning of the scripture in favor of man’s “scientific” wisdom.  I would like to convince you otherwise. 

As explained in my post “http://geocreationism.com/2007/08/24/biblical-difficulties-for-a-young-earth-part-3-the-sun-is-not-in-the-sky/“, there is no requirement in the text that requires creation of the celestial bodies to occur on Day 4, though I admit a plain reading appears otherwise.  To be specific, …

Genesis 1:14-19
14 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, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 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. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light …

In “Biblical Difficulties for a Young Earth - Part 2: Not so easy for a child to understand“, I showed how the word Elohim communicated more than what the Children of Israel (or a child in general) would see in the scripture.  It takes the perspective of a Christian to realize that Moses was referring to the Trinity in the word Elohim.  Similarly, other aspects of Genesis 1 can only be understood when you have the correct perspective.  Once such example is Day 4 of the Creation Account.  The difference between Day 4 and Genesis 1:1 however, is that Genesis …

Our final installment on the “Plant Evolution Tour” brings us to God’s stated purpose for Day 3… the development of seeded plants.  This includes grass and trees.
…it was during the late Devonian between 395-286Ma that seeds developed (to replace spores).  This was a major evolutionary advance, because it eliminated the requirement for external sources of water for sexual reproduction of plants. It also provided better protection and a nutrient source for the developing embryo. This process of development is thought to have started with the conversion of plants from producing spores of one size (homospory) to producing spores of two sizes (heterospory). It is thought that the larger spores were precursors for ovules, and the smaller ovules precursors for pollen. – …