I don’t think I have ever heard the following view expressed by anyone else.

So, I might be a loophole. Or just ignorant.

I am happy to be put in either box.

Let me set the scene to start with. The challenge we have with the first few chapters of Genesis compared to the Big Bang theory and theory of evolution might be summed up as follows:

Most Scientists will tell us that there is substantial evidence to support the views that are now common in most schools and universities, namely: everything started with an infinitely dense tiny point (a ‘singularity’) which suddenly expanded – a process usually referred to as a ‘Big Bang’. Protons, neutrons, atoms, elements, stars and planets all gradually formed.

Next came Abiogenesis, the idea that, when conditions were right, a living cell can be formed from non-living materials, again over extended periods of time. Those cells must have replicated themselves to form complex molecules and structures and eventually, through natural selection, the plants and animals we see today. You and I, your family and your best mate are in there somewhere – evolving out of a long line of ancestors, including ape-like ones at some point in the distant past.

What is the common theme here? Time. Lots of it.

There are two problems for Bible-believing Christians like me: first, the early narratives of Genesis paint a different picture to the one described above despite brave attempts by many to try to marry the two. Second, many of our theological pillars emanate from these early writings e.g. Creation in God’s image, the fall of humankind, the need for a saviour, the covenant of marriage and so on. 

Is there a solution? 

Try this one for size: Imagine visiting a friend and you arrive at his door where there is a dripping tap (faucet) on the outside wall. A bucket under the tap is catching the water and is almost full.

Being the mathematical nerd you are, you estimate the volume of one drop, the capacity of the bucket and the frequency of the drips into the water. As your friend opens the door you triumphantly announce to him that the bucket has taken 23 hours and 19mins to fill to this point.

He stares at you for a moment and then tells you that he filled the bucket 2 minutes ago and must have failed to turn the tap off properly. What appeared to be a day old only took a few seconds.

As we gaze at the wonders of nature and the universe, one of the things that strikes me is the inter-dependency of everything. Plants depend on creatures and creatures on plants; both contribute to the climate and are at the mercy of it, and all ecosystems are subject to the course of the earth travelling through the solar system.  Every ecosystem is like a complex supercomputer, complete only in the sum of its parts.

If you were creating a universe and one planet in particular, would it not make sense to make it all at once – with all the sum of its parts ready to go?

But it would look old to those who don’t believe in a Creator.

The best is yet to come. God bless – Terry

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