Sections from a paper I am writing for graduate school about creation.

There are six popular views on the interpretation of the Genesis creation story. The views are Historic Creationism, Young-Earth Creationism, The Gap Theory, Literary Framework, Day-Age View, and Theistic Evolution. All of these views have some great God-fearing Christians holding to them. The main thing to remember is not to let this issue divide the church, but being comfortable with discussing and disagreeing on these views, yet not letting this lead to division.

The literary framework view of creation is the view that I hold to be true. Some of the reasons I hold to this view are: Genesis 1:14-19, 14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years;15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so.16 God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.17 God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,18 and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.¹

This takes place on the fourth “day” of creation. The two key points this brings to my mind in a literal twenty-four hour day interpretation are; Firstly, how was there evening and morning on “days prior to the sun and moon being created? Secondly, Gods sets in place at this time the days, years, and so on to be calculated off of the lights created at this time. This leads me to ask prior to the fourth “day” what was the unit of measure used for “days” one through three? The Hebrew word for day is the word “yom”, often this term is referencing a period of time longer then twenty-four hours.²

I read Genesis 1-3 in a more figurative sense. Some of the key verses that lead me to this type of reading are, Genesis 1:14-19, Genesis 2: 2-3, Genesis 2:9, Genesis 3: 1-6. Genesis 2:2-3 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. I do not believe this verse is telling us that God literally needs sleep or a break from His work. Genesis 2:9 Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If we take this verse literally then there is a tree somewhere on the planet that if we eat the fruit of it, we gain immortal life. Genesis 3:1-6 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"2 The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'"4 The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die!5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

In these verses if taken literally we must believe that at least serpents if not all animals can communicate with people. Verse 8 says God walked in the garden, if taken literally this leads us to the Mormon view of God in which He has an actual physical body.³

1The New American Standard Bible (Oregon, Harvest House Publishers)

2 Mark Driscoll What are the Various Christian Views of Creation? 2005