dcomin
Psalm Singa
From my friend, Paul Brace...
Confession of a 12-hour Creationist
I am a Creationist – I believe God created all things. There are two camps of creationist, I don’t fit into either camp. On the one hand are the day-age folks, who believe God created, but took His time. The days of Genesis, they say, were not literal 24hour days, and could be long ages. They often quote Peter that a day is like a thousand years. This is an absurd distortion of Scripture, unworthy of rebuttal.
Yet I find a literal interpretation of Genesis’ ‘days’ to be equally absurd. That a ‘day’ in Genesis could actually mean 24 hours is not only ridiculous, but the practical implications are incomprehensible! I mean, think of it like this – Sunday is the Lord’s Day, the Christian Sabbath. There is a connection between Creation and the Sabbath, the fourth commandment is actually based on the creation account. But no one I know keeps all of Sunday holy to the Lord! Yes, I know lot of people who give God an hour on Sunday morning, going to church. And most of the really religious people I know go to Sunday School, too. So then, their Lord’s DAY only consists of 2 hours of religious activity. The rest of the day is for football, family picnics, and yard work. Thus, it is plain to anyone with half a brain that the DAY in ‘Lord’s Day’ is not to be taken as a literal 24 hour day, but instead it only symbolically means 2 hours. Thus, if God took 6 days (of 2 hours each) to create, I come to my position of 12-Hour Creationism. (Now, since some crazy radical fundamentalists actually go to evening worship services at church, bringing the total time to 3 hours, one could argue the merits of 18-Hour Creationism — but that much religion is unhealthy and impractical.)
I should also note, in coming to this position, that I have run across some outrageous people who do believe that the Lord’s Day should actually be taken as an entire day of religious activities and rest. But I have simply written off their silliness. After all, I have already given Christ my heart, and surrendered my life to His Lordship. I draw the line at giving Him half of MY weekend!
[Paul Brace serves as pastor of the Rimersburg Reformed Presbyterian Church]
Confession of a 12-hour Creationist
I am a Creationist – I believe God created all things. There are two camps of creationist, I don’t fit into either camp. On the one hand are the day-age folks, who believe God created, but took His time. The days of Genesis, they say, were not literal 24hour days, and could be long ages. They often quote Peter that a day is like a thousand years. This is an absurd distortion of Scripture, unworthy of rebuttal.
Yet I find a literal interpretation of Genesis’ ‘days’ to be equally absurd. That a ‘day’ in Genesis could actually mean 24 hours is not only ridiculous, but the practical implications are incomprehensible! I mean, think of it like this – Sunday is the Lord’s Day, the Christian Sabbath. There is a connection between Creation and the Sabbath, the fourth commandment is actually based on the creation account. But no one I know keeps all of Sunday holy to the Lord! Yes, I know lot of people who give God an hour on Sunday morning, going to church. And most of the really religious people I know go to Sunday School, too. So then, their Lord’s DAY only consists of 2 hours of religious activity. The rest of the day is for football, family picnics, and yard work. Thus, it is plain to anyone with half a brain that the DAY in ‘Lord’s Day’ is not to be taken as a literal 24 hour day, but instead it only symbolically means 2 hours. Thus, if God took 6 days (of 2 hours each) to create, I come to my position of 12-Hour Creationism. (Now, since some crazy radical fundamentalists actually go to evening worship services at church, bringing the total time to 3 hours, one could argue the merits of 18-Hour Creationism — but that much religion is unhealthy and impractical.)
I should also note, in coming to this position, that I have run across some outrageous people who do believe that the Lord’s Day should actually be taken as an entire day of religious activities and rest. But I have simply written off their silliness. After all, I have already given Christ my heart, and surrendered my life to His Lordship. I draw the line at giving Him half of MY weekend!
[Paul Brace serves as pastor of the Rimersburg Reformed Presbyterian Church]
