Old Earth Creationism

Definition and Meaning

Old earth creationism holds that God created the world while accepting the long ages that science proposes for the universe (about 13.8 billion years) and the earth (about 4.6 billion years). It differs from young earth creationism, which regards the earth as only thousands of years old. Its adherents generally do not accept the theory that all living things evolved from a common ancestor, and in this respect the view is also distinct from theistic evolution.

Progressive creationism, a term sometimes used as an alternative name, is strictly speaking one branch of this view. It holds that God directly created new kinds of living things at successive stages over a long period of time.

Biblical and Historical Background

Proponents point out that the Hebrew word yom, translated "day" in Genesis 1, can also denote a long period of time elsewhere in Scripture. They also note that Psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8 describe God's time as different from human time. Interpretive approaches include the day-age theory, which reads each day of Genesis 1 as a long era, and the gap theory, which holds that a long span of time elapsed between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2.

When geology in the early nineteenth century proposed a long history for the earth, the Scottish theologian Thomas Chalmers advocated the gap theory. After it appeared in the notes of the Scofield Reference Bible in 1909, the theory spread widely in dispensationalist circles. The American theologians Charles Hodge and B. B. Warfield are also known to have allowed room for long ages in interpreting Genesis.

The view draws criticism from both sides. Young earth creationists argue that it requires acknowledging animal death before the fall of humanity, which conflicts with the teaching that death entered the world through sin (Romans 5:12). They also criticize it for departing from a plain reading of the text. Proponents of theistic evolution, for their part, argue that it does not fit the biological evidence for common ancestry. Supporters respond that nature is also a revelation from God, so that Scripture and natural science, when rightly interpreted, do not conflict.

In the Korean Church

After the Korea Association of Creation Research was founded in 1981, young earth creationism was widely promoted through church lectures and Sunday school instruction. As a result, many Korean churchgoers understand "creationism" to mean young earth creationism. Old earth creationism has been discussed mainly among theologians and Christians working in the sciences. With the appearance of translated works and debates that present the various interpretations of creation side by side, it is becoming known as one of the available options.

No major denomination is widely known to have fixed the age of the earth by official resolution. Even within the same denomination or seminary, views differ among professors and pastors.