What Does Six Creation Days Really Mean?

Over the years, I have had many people tell me that they asked their pastor or other Christian leaders whether they believed in six literal days of creation. They would tell me the answer was often “yes” and therefore these leaders (apparently) agreed with Answers in Genesis. But sadly, these leaders may not agree with AiG’s stand on six literal days, young earth, no death and disease before sin, etc. How is that possible?

I have found that some people (like Hugh Ross, for instance) will say they believe that God created in six days, but you have to ask very specific questions and discover that they really mean millions of years! Even though Hugh Ross uses the word “day,” his understanding of what that means can be very different to what the person asking the question understands it to be. Also, there are many Christian leaders who will say they believe in six literal days of creation according to the literature of Genesis, but they may believe in millions of years and adopt a compromise position like the Gap Theory, Framework Hypothesis, or views like that of John Sailhammer (the billions of years for the universe supposedly fit in Genesis 1:1).

Here is a good case in point. Many people over the past couple of years have told me how great it is that R.C. Sproul—a very fine Bible teacher whose resources have been a blessing to many—changed his mind about Genesis and would now agree with the stand AiG takes on the six days of creation and the age of the earth and universe. However, having read recent articles and heard R.C Sproul discuss this issue, I was really skeptical that he would agree with the stand that AiG takes. Tim Challies, a blogger, author, and reviewer recently published an interview he had with R.C. Sproul. Here is the section pertaining to the question about the days of creation and the age of the earth.  Continue at AnswerInGenesis