The Bible allows for the possibility that the earth is ancient, but also suggests that it is very young.
Old Earth Alternative
The Bible says God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. Each of the first six days had a morning and an evening. These demarcations are not ascribed to the seventh day.
This means the seventh day is still ongoing, and we are living in it. As such, the seventh day has lasted much longer than twenty-four hours.
This suggests that the six previous creation days also lasted longer than a calendar day, possibly eons.
If so, the Genesis days may refer to phases in God’s creation process that generally align with the geological epochs proposed by science—e.g., the Precambrian, Paleozoic, and Mesozoic eras.
Young Earth Alternative
God exists outside the realm of time and space. To him, a single second is equivalent to a million years.
Just as we compress data files to store large amounts of information on small electronic devices, God may have compressed the geological eras into shorter phases, enabling the earth to reach its current state more quickly.
The first miracle Jesus performed at the start of his earthly ministry supports this possibility.
Water Into Wine
In his first miracle, Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding in Cana.
According to the head of the wedding banquet, the wine he spontaneously created was the best vintage served that day.
Wine takes time to make. Excellent wines ferment for years. The wine that Jesus created exhibited the attributes of age even though it was only minutes old.
In other words, Jesus miraculously condensed the years required to produce fine wine into an instant.
This miracle introduced Jesus to the world as the Son of God and the creator of the universe.
However, it may have served another purpose.
Jesus may have turned water into wine to demonstrate how he compressed time when he commanded each aspect of the world into existence.
The quality of the wine suggests that he may have created the earth with the attributes of age, such as coal, oil, and fossils.
Read About Other Creation Theories
God’s active participation is implicit in the Big Bang and the evolution of plant and animal species within kinds. DNA affirms that he is the source of life. The Bible and science are harmonious.
