[Glossary] Creation, Days of

1. (Clark 1965, 59):

"Then there is the matter of the six creative days. Does the word day necessarily mean twenty-four hours? In English day most frequently means about twelve hours. We also say that there were no telephones in George Washington's day. Further, Genesis 2:4 seems to refer to all six days as one day. And again, can we speak of six days of creation when the first chapter of Genesis uses the verb create only three times? Bernard Ramm has written a very interesting book, The Christian View of Science and the Scripture. I cannot agree with some of the things he says, but it is worth reading."

"The suspicion that the days of creation were not twenty-four hour days is not a recent attempt to harmonize modern science and the Bible. Perhaps some Christians whose faith has been shaken by naturalistic science have been so motivated. But our opponents, who are so quick to ridicule Bishop Ussher, usually fail to mention the fact that Augustine, the great theologian of the early fifth century, considered the six creative days to be six periods of time -- and he was not motivated by nineteenth century science."

 
Reference:

Clark, Gordon H. 1965. What Do Presbyterians Believe? The Westminster Confession: Yesterday and Today. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company.

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