Luther And Calvin On The Genesis Creation Account

 Martin Luther (1483-1546) and John Calvin (1509-1564) were the two most prominent leaders of the Protestant Reformation.  We will take a brief look at their views on creation.  

Martin Luther believed the world was created about 6,000 years ago by God out of nothing.  He rejected the idea that the world was eternal.  He also rejected allegorical interpretation, holding to a literal interpretation of the Genesis creation account.  Luther said, "We assert that Moses spoke in the literal sense, not allegorically of figuratively-i.e., that the world, with all its creatures, was created within six days, as the words read." 

John Calvin also believed the world was created by God out of nothing.  He said, "Let this, then be maintained in the first place, that the world is not eternal but was created by God."  Calvin also held to a young earth saying, "Little more than five thousand years have passed since the creation of the universe."  Calvin believed the world was created in six literal days based on the numbering of the days.  

So Martin Luther and John Calvin both held to the traditional view of the church on the Genesis creation account.  This view is known as young earth creationism. 

Does The Bible Teach That The Earth Is Flat?

Some make the assertion that the Bible teaches that the earth is flat and it is therefore proven to be in error.  I assume many of these people have never read the Bible because nowhere does it say that the earth is flat.  In fact it teaches the very opposite.  

(Isaiah 40:22a) "It is he who sits above the circle of the earth," (ESV)

While Isaiah the prophet was not primarily concerned about the shape of the earth in this passage, it clearly presents the earth as a circle, a globe.  

Once again the criticisms hurled against the Bible prove to be false.  The Bible is true and all true science is in line with it.  In fact without the Biblical worldview it would be impossible to even conduct science.  

The Origins Of The Universe

There are different views on the origin and nature of the universe.  Some believe it came into existence by chance through blind, unguided forces.  Some have even believed that the universe itself is eternal.  But for the truth on the matter we must turn to the Bible.  

(Genesis 1:1) "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."  (ESV) 

In the verse the phrase "the heavens and the earth" refers to everything, that is everything except God himself.  So all things besides God were created.  Time, space, matter, and the entire universe were created by God.  God is eternal (Romans 16:26) he has always existed.  When the universe began God was already there.  God is self existent, he is not dependent on anything else.  

God created the world out of nothing.  This speaks to his sovereignty and power.  He is the absolute being, transcendent and personal.  God is distinct from his creation, it is wholly dependent upon him.  God alone deserves to be worshiped. 

The very existence of anything is evidence for the existence of God.  The existence of our universe requires an absolute, transcendent, personal God.  The God of the Bible is necessary to make sense of the world.  

Believing that the universe exists without an infinite, personal Creator makes no sense.  Believing that something came from nothing is absurd.  Even most of the scientific community no longer believes the universe is eternal.  

Those who deny the existence of the God of the Bible do not really do so on an intellectual basis.  God's eternal power and divine nature are clearly perceived in the creation itself (Romans 1:19-20).  They are without excuse, they simply refuse to submit to the God who is there.   

Oh What An Evolutionist Believes

The Darwinian Evolutionist Believes
(1) Personal beings come from the impersonal
(2) The rational comes from the irrational
(3) Design and order arose without an intelligent designer
(4) Life comes from non life
(5) Something comes from nothing

But of course the evolutionists are considered the intellectual heavyweights while those who believe in the Biblical account of creation are considered foolish.  The debate is usually framed as science versus religion, but this is incorrect.  Were there any scientists around to observe the beginning of the world?  It is really a battle of worldviews, naturalism versus Christianity.  Each side starts with certain assumptions and then interprets the evidence. 

Darwinian evolution is not so much science as it is philosophy.  It is really part of the naturalistic worldview.  Naturalism assumes that this world is all there is.  They believe there is no God, no miracles, and no spiritual world.  It sees the universe  as merely materialistic.  Evolution is simply there to try to explain the world without God.  After all Darwin made it comfortable to be an atheist.  

Darwinian evolution is not the objective science it pretends to be.  It is part of the naturalistic worldview that does not hold up. Only the Christian worldview makes sense of your world.  Only in the Christian worldview are intelligibility, rationality, and even science possible.  

Evolutionists simply suppress the truth.  They know God exists but refuse to honor him as God.  They have exchanged the truth about God for a lie.  Their thinking has become futile and their hearts darkened.  Claiming to be wise, they have become fools (See Romans 1:18-32).  

(Psalm 14:1) "The fool says in his heart, There is no God." (ESV)  

Biblical Creationism

When it comes to the issue of origins where should we look?  Scientists were not there to observe the beginning of creation.  So maybe we should look to the only one who was there.  God himself is the only one who was there and is the only one who can give us an accurate account of it.  God has revealed himself to us in the Bible.  It is the very Word of God and is therefore authoritative and inerrant.  

We must read Genesis as historical narrative because that is the way it was meant to be taken.  We must go with a straightforward interpretation of it.  God created out of nothing and he spoke the world into existence.  So how long were the creation days?  

The Hebrew word for day is yom.  It can mean the light period of a 24 hour day, an extended period, or a 24 hour day.  The natural straightforward interpretation seems to be a literal 24 hour day.  Each of the creation days features the words evening and morning as well as a numerical adjective for each day.  This provides supportive evidence for creation in six literal 24 hour days.  Also Exodus 20:11 and Exodus 31:12-18 support the interpretation of a literal 24 hour day. The Bible does not calculate the age of the earth but young earth creationism does seem to be correct.  

Old earth creationists employ either the gap theory or the day age theory.  The gap theory puts millions of years before Genesis 1:3.  This seems to be read into the text and there is no reason to believe there were millions of years before Genesis 1:3.  The day age theory see the creation days as long periods of time and not literal 24 hour days.  This does not seem to be the straightforward, natural interpretation of the text.  It seems to be an example of reading our own views into the Biblical text.    

The old earth creationists attempt to get millions of years to explain the fossil record.  They end up having death and suffering in the world before the sin of Adam.  The Bible plainly teaches that death entered the world because of sin.  Also God called all that he had created very good.  If he originally created a world of death and suffering would it be very good?  Much of the fossil record was laid down during the Genesis Flood.  

Attempts to get millions of years into the creation account of the Bible seems to be a compromise with secularism.  It is an attempt to get credibility with the secular academic world.  The natural reading of Scripture is for six literal 24 hour days.  The earth seems to be thousands of years old and not millions of years old.  Young earth creationism seems to be the Biblical position.   

A Look At Theistic Evolution

The issue of origins is foundational to all that we believe.  Since the Bible is the inerrant, Word of God it is authoritative on all issues including creation.  The Bible is not a science text book but it does speak to issues of science.  The Bible and science are not opposed to each other, if we had full knowledge and understanding we would see that they are in perfect harmony.   The book of Genesis must be read as historical narrative because that is the way it was meant to be read.  

But theistic evolutionists interpret Genesis 1-11 in a non literal or allegorical way. They would say that God used evolution in creation.  They believe we went from molecules to ape-like creatures to humans.  The Bible clearly does not teach evolution.  Evolution and Biblical Christianity cannot be reconciled.  Evolution is the theory of origins that is foundational for atheism.  It has been said that Darwin made it comfortable to be an atheist.  With theistic evolution you have death occurring before the sin of Adam.  The Bible teaches that death came about because of man's sin.  God called all that he had created very good.  If death and suffering were part of his original creation it would not have been good at all. 

The Bible also plainly teaches that Adam and Eve were actual, historical people.  Humans were made distinct from the rest of creation, being made in the image of God.  They did not evolve from lower forms of life.  The rest of the Bible views Adam and Eve as actual, historical, people.  For sin to have entered the world through Adam he must have been an actual, historical person.  In fact the gospel itself depends on it (Romans 5, 1 Corinthians 15).  Also the Bible teaches the Genesis Flood as being worldwide and global in nature.  The theistic evolutionist sees it as merely a local or regional flood.  God promised not to destroy the earth again with a flood.  There have obviously been other regional floods.  

The theistic evolutionist sees the earth as being millions of years old because it would have to be for evolution to be true.  The Bible does not teach the earth to be millions of years old but thousands of years old.  Teaching that Adam and Eve were not real people and that the Genesis Flood was local and not global are just compromise positions.  Theistic evolution is an attempt by those in the Christian community to gain respect with secularists.  They have taken their naturalistic worldview and tried to read it into the Bible.  But we must stand with the Bible and what it actually says. 

 

Evangelical Views On Creation And Evolution

There are several views on creation and evolution among evangelicals.  Evangelicals are those who profess to believe in the authority of Scripture.  There is disagreement about how to interpret Genesis 1-11.  Creation, origins, and evolution are very important issues that deal with the foundational questions.  Evangelical Christians hold to three main views.  There are young earth creationists, old earth creationists, and theistic evolutionists.  

Young earth creationists interpret Genesis 1-11 as literal and historical.  They view the book of Genesis as historical narrative. Young earth creationists view the creation days as literal 24 hour days.  God created the world in 6 actual days.  They believe that the earth is thousands of years old and not millions of years old.  Young earth creationists also view Adam and Eve as actual, historic people.  The Genesis Flood is also viewed as an actual historical event and is seen as being a global flood.  Young earth creationism is the traditional view of the church.   

Next there are old earth creationists.  There are basically three different groups of old earth creationists.  First there are those who hold to the gap theory.  They believe there was a long period of time, millions of years before Genesis 1:3.  They believe a previous earth existed before Genesis 1:3.  This earth was ruled by Lucifer who then rebelled against God.  God then judged this earth with a flood.  Then in Genesis 1:3 and following God created the current earth.  This view was actually taught in the Scofield Reference Bible.  

Second among old earth creationists is historic creationism.  They see a long period of time, millions of years, taking place between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2.  After this they believe God created in six literal 24 hour days.  Finally there are those who hold to the day age theory.  They believe the creation days were long periods of time and not literal 24 hour days.  They view the earth as being millions of years old.  All old earth creationists view the earth as being millions of years old and not thousands of years old.  Some view Adam and Eve as actual historical figures and others do not. Some also view the Genesis Flood as global, but others view it as only a local flood.  

Finally there is theistic evolution.  This view accepts the theory of evolution but  believes God guided the process.  They believe we went from molecules to ape-like creatures to human beings.   Theistic evolutionists do not view Genesis 1-11 as literal history but as symbolic.  They believe the earth is millions of years old and the creation days were not literal 24 hour days.   They do not view Adam and Eve as actual historic people and see the Genesis Flood as local and not global.