In several respects, I am not a likely sort of person to have become persuaded of a literal reading of the creation account in Genesis 1, including six-day creationism. My journey to these beliefs began, naturally, with my conversion to faith in Christ at the age of thirty. My conversion – which took place in a church through the preaching of God’s Word – resulted in a strong persuasion as to the power and authority of God’s Word. And it has been my concern for the upholding of Scripture’s inerrancy and authority that has led me to an embrace of biblical creationism.

I know that different people come to their views about creation along different routes. For me, both as a biblicallymotivated Christian and then as a preacher of God’s Word, the vital issues of Bible interpretation have motivated my understanding of the creation account. In seminary, I encountered virtually no one who believed in a literal six-day, twentyfour hour view of creation. This was at a famous, conservative, and Reformed seminary renowned for its commitment to God’s Word. But along the way, more modern approaches to creation had come to prevail. It was impressed to me, especially, that the approach to time shown in Genesis 2:4-5 showed an ambiguity, at a minimum, in the creation account’s approach to chronology. This encouraged me to leave aside matters of creation theology for supposedly more relevant and fruitful fields of interest.

I would credit two factors with leading me to reconsider my stance on creation during the early years of my ministry. The first was broad concern over the church’s creeping capitulation to secular thinking. This tendency is strongly seen in few places more than evangelical Christians’ attitudes towards the creation account. Most Biblebelieving Christians reject evolutionism (indeed, most surveys I have seen show that most secular people do, too). But, to stand up against the scientific community’s confident assurances regarding the ancient dating of the world seems too much for many Christians. I began to wonder if Christians’ weakness regarding the biblical account of creation might be due more to cultural intimidation than to clear biblical convictions.

The second, and deciding factor, in my “conversion” to six-day creationism was the text of Scripture itself. During the late 1990’s my denomination endured a brief controversy regarding the days of creation, with the result that I took the time to read some materials arguing the various sides. One of the chief issues was the meaning of the word “day” in Genesis 1. My thinking had previously been influenced by the fact that “day” can be used in a number of ways — meaning not only a twenty-four hour period, but also an indeterminate length of time, such as in the expression “back in the old days.” Therefore, I reasoned, we should not insist that Genesis 1 requires a particular reading of the word “day.” The problem with this view, I learned, was the parallel teaching of Moses on the days of creation found in the Fourth Commandment, Exodus 20:8-11. I quickly realized that the question was this: “Is it possible to know if Moses had a particular meaning for the word ‘day’ with respect to the creation narrative? And if it is possible, what is the meaning?” The answer to the first question is “Yes.” In his teaching on the Sabbath day, Moses tells that when he was speaking of the creation days in Genesis 1, he was referring to literally 24-hour days. Moses justified the on-going observance of the Sabbath with these words: “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Ex. 20:11). This statement tells us not merely that there is some analogy between the days of creation and the days of the week. It goes further and tells us what Moses meant by “day” in the creation account of Genesis 1: he meant a normal 24-hour period.

With this realization, I had a problem. I had previously been taught to argue that the Bible does not specify the meaning of “day” in creation, and that the creation account has nothing to say about science but only theology. Under this view, I was also able to avoid the societal scorn associated with traditional conservative creation teaching. Now I found that this teaching was false, for the Bible does specify what “day” means. The answer was obvious to me. For whatever questions and concerns I might have about young-earth, six-day, twenty-four hour creation, it was my duty as a Christian to submit my mind to the clear teaching of God’s Word. Since that time I have learned much that has strengthened my belief in creation theology, and I am grateful for the clear witness of God’s Word to this matter.

I look forward to speaking at the next meeting of the Creation Study Group, on the topic of six-day creationism and Bible interpretation. A number of serious challenges have arisen to the classic reading of Genesis 1, challenges that threaten not only creation theology but a sound approach to Bible interpretation as a whole. I intend to discuss these challenges in order to show how the Bible must be properly interpreted and how such proper hermeneutics yield a strong conclusion in favor of creation theology.