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Do Genesis 1 and 2 Contradict? Explaining the Order of Creation.
Many critics attack the inerrancy of Scripture by claiming that Genesis 2 contradicts the creation sequence of Genesis 1. Genesis 1 presents a broad, structured chronology: land animals are created, and then humanity is created as the climax of Day 6 (Gen 1:24–31). By contrast, critics often read Genesis 2 as a different chronological sequence: (1) the creation of the man (Gen 2:7), (2) the planting of the garden and the growth of its trees (Gen 2:8–9), and (3) the formation of the animals and birds (Gen 2:19). On a surface-level reading, that ordering can appear to conflict with Genesis 1. What should we make of this? The Relationship of the Garden to the Creation Account A key assumption in the “contradiction” argument is that when Genesis 2:8–9 describes God planting a garden and causing trees to grow, it must be describing the same event as the creation of vegetation…
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“Where Did Cain Get His Wife?”—And Why the Question Still Matters
In the summer of 1925, the Scopes “Monkey” Trial turned a Tennessee courtroom into a national stage for debating the Bible and origins. One of the most memorable barbs came when Clarence Darrow pressed William Jennings Bryan with a line that has echoed through popular culture ever since: “Where did Cain get his wife?” The insinuation—delivered to laughter and headlines—was that anyone who believes Genesis must accept an absurdity (or worse, a moral outrage). That exchange helped cement the cultural narrative that Christianity is anti-intellectual and ethically inconsistent. A century later, the same argument still circulates on social media and in classrooms. Do Christians have a good answer to the question of where Cain got his wife? This is a legitimate question. If Adam and Eve are the fountainhead of humanity (Gen 3:20; Acts 17:26), whom did their son Cain marry (Gen 4:17)? If the only available partners were siblings…
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What Does the Image of God Mean?
Both men and women are made in the image of God (Gen 1:27) and are created with physical and spiritual components of their humanity. This is why human life is sacred and protected (Gen 9:5-6). Being created in the image of God is in contrast to the rest of creation. Only humanity has the privilege and honor of being created in God’s image. Hence, humanity’s value is infinitely more than animals or plants. But what does it mean to be made in the image of God? Various Views on the Image of God We can list at least five different views on what it might mean to be made in God’s image. I think it’s helpful to divide these views into two overall categories: (1) the ontological view and (2) the functional view. The ontological view teaches that being made in the image of God means we are like God…
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Creation and the Distant Starlight Problem
A common objection to the young earth creation position is the distant starlight problem. This starlight problem is usually framed with the following information. First, starlight travels approximately 186,000 miles per second. Therefore, the distance starlight can travel in a year is approximately 6 trillion miles, and is referred to in astronomical measurements as a light year. Thanks to the Hubble Telescope, we are able to see many stars which are invisible to the naked eye. One such star, named Icarus, is 9 billion light years from earth. In simple terms, the above information means the light from Icarus took 9 billion years (traveling at 186k miles per second) to reach earth. That is a long distance and a long time! However, at the same time, this seems to be incongruent with a young earth creation position, which posits a young age for the earth (usually defined as 6-10k years…
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Does the Bible Affirm 24-hr Days in Genesis 1?
Justin Taylor has stirred the pot recently with a post on Creation in Genesis 1-2 and whether or not the days referred to in Genesis 1-2 are actual 24-hr days, or just indefinite periods of time. Justin’s post reminded me of an article that I had read a few months ago by Robert McCabe that I think is worth summarizing his main points with my own comments. The context of Genesis 1 indicates a 24-hr day. Its true that day (yom) can refer to periods of time, like in the phrase “Day of the Lord.” But in Genesis 1, day is modified by “evening and morning” and also used in opposition to night. These are clear signals from the context of Genesis 1 that these are normal days with a normal sequence of day and night rotations. When yom is modified by a number, it always refers to a literal…