N THE SCIENTIFIC WORLD today, “creation science” is the subject of renewed interest among many professionals and laypeople. Because of the impact of evolutionary theory many have come to question the literal account of Genesis—even within conservative churches, such as the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Some seem to suggest that Christians must focus on doctrines that are essential to salvation.

We might ask ourselves this question: Is the doctrine of creation that important? Does it really matter how or when life on earth was created? What is the biblical teaching of creation, and how does it impact my life as a Christian?

What Does the Bible Teach?
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).*

This first verse of Scripture outlines in the most concise terms “when,” “how,” “by whom,” and “in what manner” the world was created. What follows is a concise description of creation in six “evenings and mornings.”

Some scholars have suggested that each day could represent long periods of time; or that there are chronological gaps in the narrative of Genesis 1. Recent studies show, however, that in terms of the syntax, articular usage, singular gender, time boundaries, and other factors, the word “day” (Hebrew yôm) means a literal 24-hour period of time. Furthermore, these days were intended by the writer to be sequential and chronological.1

Other theologians acknowledge the fact that the writer of Genesis intended to present the account in a manner of sequential and literal days. However, they maintain that the entire corpus of material in Genesis 1-11 belongs to a nonfactual genre of literature. Designations such as “myth,” “parable,” “saga,” “symbolism”—or simply “doctrine” or “theology”—are used to describe the content of these chapters. For them, Genesis 1-11 was “invented”—created later, so to speak—in the minds of some Hebrew peasants.

Such subjective approaches have achieved no known consensus among their interpreters, and, in addition, exhibit other internal weaknesses.2

In contrast, Protestant Christians (Adventists included) believe in sola scriptura, the biblical principle of interpretation that maintains that “Scrip-ture is its own interpreter.” (See 1 Cor. 2:13; 2 Peter 1:20.)3 This means that external methods from the twentieth century cannot be read back into the Bible, written at a different time, but that the Bible must be allowed to speak for itself. This principle does not deny various styles of writing or their historical and chronological contexts, but rather relates them to one another within the interwoven framework of inspired Scripture.

In applying the principle of sola scriptura to the doctrine of creation we must inquire, What do other parts of the Bible say about creation?

Testimony of Old Testament Writers
References to creation are interspersed throughout the Old Testament. The genealogy of Adam in Genesis 5 begins with the statement “When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God” (verse 1). The fourth commandment places renewed emphasis on the literal six-day creation in connection with the seventh-day Sabbath (Ex. 20:9-11). Psalm 19:1 states, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” God is proclaimed Creator of “the north and the south” (Ps. 89:12). “By the word of the Lord” He “spoke, and it came to be” (Ps. 33:6, 9). In Psalm 104 the sun, moon, and heavens are all referred to as having been created by the Lord, reaffirming Genesis in poetic imagery.4 In Isaiah, God is the “Creator of the ends of the earth” (Isa. 40:28).

Throughout the Old Testament God’s omnipotence is demonstrated through His creation of the world and everything in it.

Testimony of New Testament Writers
In a similar vein, the New Testament affirms God’s creatorship. John writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:1-3). Commentators have long recognized that the “Word” refers to Jesus as Creator. Paul often points to creation (Rom. 1:25; Eph. 4:24; Col. 1:16; 1 Tim. 4:4), and stated boldly to the Athenians that “the God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth,” for “he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else” (Acts 17:24-27). Other references are found in Revelation 4:11 and 10:6; and in Hebrews 1:2 and 11:3. Thus Jesus and the writers of the New Testament dramatically reaffirm the biblical teaching of creation.

Some Practical Implications
for Christian Life and Belief
How does belief in creation affect me today? Is it really a doctrine essential for salvation? These questions tug at the very heart of our Christian experience.

Many Christians today take a middle stance between creation and pure evolution to harmonize science and the Bible. In doing so some support the theory of progressive creation, a belief that life began on earth some 600 million years ago or more with God’s intervention at crucial stages in the vertical radiation of species. Others have advanced to theistic evolution, maintaining that God initiated the whole process millions of years ago and left it to develop on its own. But what are the implications of these views for the biblical gospel? I call your attention to 12 considerations.

1. Inspiration of the Bible. The belief in progressive creation or theistic evolution challenges the trustworthiness of Scripture. The creation of all life in six literal days does not jive with these models, so other explanations must be offered. This casts doubt on the Bible as the inspired Word of God (2 Peter 1:20, 21; 2 Tim. 3:16, 17; John 17:17; Ps. 119:105). Jesus Himself spoke in Luke 11:50, 51 of Abel, the son of Adam, in an illustration that took for granted the historicity of this early chapter in Genesis. These words of Christ would require reinterpretation, thus further undermining the confidence of Christ’s teachings.5

2. The Character of God. Within an evolutionary perspective the God who notices when a sparrow falls (Matt. 10:29) would have initiated and intended that animals and humans should suffer for millennia in their competitive struggle for survival. Furthermore, God would be misleading humanity by stating that the world was created in six days and that He spoke these things into existence when He did not (Ex. 20:11; Mark 13:19). This would impugn the character of the Godhead.6 Christ was called the “last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45, 47). What would this mean if sin was not introduced through the first Adam?

3. The Nature of Humans. There is no room for low self-esteem when we realize that “man” (Hebrew ’adam), both male and female, was made in God’s image (Gen. 1:27; 5:1, 2). God formed us with His hands (Gen. 2:7, 21, 22). Humankind was the apex of creation and was given the privilege of direct communication with God. We have the motivation to live lives reflective of His character because our bodies are the “temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 6:19), created in God’s image. Progressive creation views human beings as but another species in the evolutionary process, removing the element of divine relationship and responsibility entirely from humanity.

4. Death Before Sin. Paul writes in Romans 5-8 on sin and the beauty of salvation. “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men” (Rom. 5:12). Genesis 3 tells of the fall of humanity after creation, which begins the great controversy on this earth. But an evolutionary perspective would have death present for 600 million years prior to Adam. This has serious implications for the biblical teaching of the origin of sin, Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross, and the plan of salvation. If death is not related to sin, then the wages of sin is not death, and Christ would have had no reason to die on the cross of Calvary for our sins.7

5. Worship. Worship today as experienced in the church is intricately tied to creation. God’s creation was made to worship and glorify its Creator. Such worship is to take place on the seventh-day Sabbath (Ex. 20:9, 10). The theme of worship is emphasized again in the call to those on earth just before Christ’s second coming to worship the One “who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water” (Rev. 14:7). If God did not create in six literal days, then we must question the motives of our worshiping experience on the seventh.

6. God’s Remnant People. Through-out history God maintained a remnant (2 Chron. 30:6; Ezra 9:14, 15; Isa. 10:20-22; Jer. 42:2; Eze. 6:8; 14:22). This recurring theme is particularly attached to the end-time church that proclaims the three angels’ messages. The remnant “follow the Lamb wherever he goes” (Rev. 14:4) and “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (verse 12, NKJV). This includes creation. If progressive creation and theistic evolution are gaining hold today in mainstream Christianity, we must ask, What is divine truth as taught in Scripture? These are the truths upheld by the remnant.

7. The Law and the Sabbath. Progressive creation and theistic evolution directly challenge the institution of the seventh-day Sabbath. Indeed, the seven-day week has no point of origin outside of creation. It is not fixed to lunar movements or rotations of the earth. The seventh-day Sabbath is thus intimately tied to the creation. The fourth commandment (Ex. 20:9, 10) reiterates this and adds further weight to the importance of the Sabbath (cf. Ps. 104).

8. Stewardship. In the beginning God established a plan for the care of His creation. Adam named the animals, and humans were commanded to “rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Gen. 1:28). Here God provided the means of ecological stewardship, designating us to care for everything He made. Progressive creationism and theistic evolution imply that humans are in mutual competition with all species, which they must dominate in order to survive. This view is contrary to Scripture (see Ps. 8:4-8).

9. Marriage. At creation marriage is introduced as a divine institution. Adam was to “be joined to his wife” and they were to “become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24, NKJV). It was a unique gift that God gave to humanity, and it was in the creation of both male and female that we were made in His image. Anthropological explanations of marriage must find cultural reasons for this institution that in evolutionary terms are seen again as a matter of survival and primarily biological. In Scripture marriage is ordained by God, falling uniquely into the creation account.

10. Christ’s Ministry in Heaven. One of the many aspects of the sanctuary doctrine is the final vindication of God’s character. Part of Christ’s heavenly ministry today is to demonstrate that God is not responsible for sin, but that it came through the seduction of Satan. But the confusion of sin with death, and the mystery that would surround the origin of evil if Genesis 3 is regarded as unhistorical, renders Christ’s ministry in the heavenly sanctuary as almost meaningless. Death would be a divinely instituted reality if God was involved in an evolutionary process of origin. God, rather than Satan, would have been responsible for the life-death cycle.

11. The Spirit of Prophecy. The writings of Ellen G. White repeatedly testify to a literal six-day creation (Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, pp. 90-96; letter 7a, 1868) in which God created the world out of nothing (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, pp. 258, 259; The Ministry of Healing, pp. 414, 415). “The divine mind and hand have preserved through the ages the record of creation in its purity. It is the word of God alone that gives to us an authentic account of the creation of our world” (Counsels to Parents and Teachers, p. 13). Creation is the basis for the Sabbath ( Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 336; Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 135, 136; letter 26, 1899; letter 7, 1900); and frequent mention is made of the short time that life has been in existence (Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, p. 92; Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 172; The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, p. 371; The Great Controversy, pp. 552, 553). An acceptance of progressive creation or theistic evolution would stand in stark contrast to these explicit statements by the Spirit of Prophecy.

12. The Second Coming and the New Creation. The advent of Christ is one of the cherished truths of Adventism. God’s proclamation “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth” (Isa. 65:17) has been the hope of thousands throughout the ages. But even if Christ’s second coming were possible in view of millions of years of progressive creation, what hope would there be for a “new” creation? Would God take another 600 million years to create it?

It’s vital to understand that the new creation is intimately bound up with the first. If our literal understanding of the first things (protology) is set aside, our hope in the literal fulfillment of the last things (eschatology) will soon vanish. God promises a new creation that is perfect, just as the first. A place where “there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away” (Rev. 21:4, KJV). Progressive creation and theistic evolution cast this hope into serious doubt and uncertainty.

Our Blessed Hope
Belief in creation gives us the assurance of a new creation that is close at hand. It encourages us to nurture our environment. It gives us the incentive to endure the trials and tribulations of today (2 Cor. 4:16, 17), and to live pure and upright lives, which give us the joy and certainty of our reward tomorrow (Matt. 5:12). It is in this certainty, and as a memorial to the first creation, that we worship every Sabbath. It is this truth that assures us of Christ’s soon return. For He has promised, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2, 3, NKJV).

May we stand in faith together on that day to meet our glorious Creator and Redeemer.

*Unless noted otherwise, Scripture references are from the New International Version

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¹ For the most recent detailed analyses and further literature, see Gerhard F. Hasel, “The ‘Days’ of Creation in Genesis 1: Literal ‘Days’ or Figurative ‘Periods/Epochs’ of Time,”Origins 21, No. 1 (1994): 5-38; and Richard M. Davidson, “In the Beginning: How to Interpret Genesis 1,” College and University Dialogue 6, No. 4 (1994): 9-12.
² See discussion in Hasel, pp. 15-18.
³ Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 521; see also Education, p. 190; Evangelism, p. 581.
⁴ William H. Shea, “O God, How Great Are Your Works!” Ministry, July-August 1995, pp. 14-17.
⁵ John T. Baldwin, “Progressive Creationism and Biblical Revelation: Some Theological Implications,” Journal of the Adventist Theological Society 3, No. 1 (1992): 113.
⁶ Joel Sarli and Gerald Wheeler, “God Organized for Our Salvation,” Ministry, July-August 1995, pp. 8-13.
⁷ Baldwin, p. 112.

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Michael G. Hasel is director of the Institute of Archaeology and associate professor of religion and Near Eastern studies in archaeology at Southern Adventist University, in Collegedale, Tennessee.