Evolution on Trial
April 10, 2005
In the beginning God
created the Heaven
and the Earth…..
To subscribe to this
newsletter please send
an email to the following
address with the subject This viewpoint is many times called progressive creationism or even theistic evolution. According
to this view, it is acceptable to believe in God, and his creation, as long as the Bible is reinterpreted
“Subscribe”: to match “Scientific” data. They claim that the original Hebrew words were mistranslated and that
E-mail:
creation@bairdclan.com
We’re on the Web!
www.EvolutionOnTrial.com
http://www.all4hisglory.org/
Volume 1
Number3
24 Hours or Long Ages?
The church is in serious trouble today. More than ever we have allowed for secular society to come
into the church and influence our teachings. The church was set up to go and change secular society
and instead we have done just the opposite. This is nowhere more clearly seen than in the area of
evolution and creation. The Bible (the word of God) teaches us in Genesis 1 that everything we see
was created in 6 days. However, with the worldview pushing evolution on the church as “proven”
fact, the church has swayed and many people in an attempt to make their faith match up with secular
science, many have abandoned this teaching for that of long ages.
instead of 6 literal 24-hour days, they are really speaking of long ages, in order to conform to the
worlds view.
If the days of creation are really “geologic ages” of millions of years, then the gospel message is
undermined at its foundation because it puts death, disease, thorns, and suffering before the Fall.
This idea also shows an erroneous approach to Scripture--that the Word of God can be interpreted
on the basis of the fallible theories of sinful people. A study was conducted by Barnum research of
Christian youth raised in church and with Christian parents. What they found out was shocking.

80% believe that God created the universe and 84% believe the God is personally involved in
peoples lives, but despite this

63% believe that Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Jews all pray to the same God with different
names

87% believe Jesus was a real person and 78% believe he was born to a virgin, but 46% of them
believe he committed sins, and over 51% say he died but did not rise again.

48% believe that it doesn't matter what religious faith you are because they all teach the same
truth
Our kids are being attacked. They are being attacked within our very own school system. Here are
some examples of what they are being taught. In astronomy they learn how the solar system formed
by itself from a dust cloud over millions of years. In geology, they are taught that the earth is
billions of years old, and the fossil record is the history of the evolution of life. In biology, they are
shown pictures of apemen, considered to be their ancestors. In history, primitive man is presented as
going through a Stone Age in an onward, upward evolutionary process.’
Now, through people’s efforts to reinterpret the Bible, they are even being attacked within the
church. Much of the debate stems from a single Hebrew word mentioned throughout the Bible, but
it first appears in Genesis Chapter 1. That word is yom. When researchers are looking for ways to
make Scripture agree with man’s science they always start with the hope of mistranslations of the
original language.
The importance of this word to those that are trying to compromise Scripture, is that according to
any Hebrew concordance, the definition is stated as “day, age, epoch, or endless time.” So now
they claim that if we insert age or epoch instead of day, then the Bible agrees with what the world is
telling us. The problem is, that in order to properly translate a word you have to look at its context
and usage.

The rule states that the word “YOM” when modified by a ordinal or cardinal number (example:
one, two three, or first, second, third) the translation is always a day/a 24 hour period/or the light
portion of the day-night cycle. There is no exception to this rule. Also, another defining rule is
when the word is proceeded or followed with words that provide a boundary such as morning and
evening.

When Moses, under the inspiration of God, compiled the account of creation in Genesis 1, he used
the Hebrew word yôm for 'day'. He combined yôm with numbers ('first day', 'second day', 'third day',
etc.) and with the words 'evening and morning', and the first time he employed it he qualified the
meaning of yôm (used in this way) as being one night/day cycle (Genesis 1:5).

So let’s look at the context of this word throughout Scripture.

• A classical, well-respected Hebrew-English lexicon (a one-way dictionary) has seven

headings and many subheadings for the meaning of yom—but defines the creation days of
Genesis 1 as ordinary days under the heading ‘day as defined by evening and morning.’
• A number, and the phrase ‘evening and morning,’ are used for each of the six days of
creation (Genesis 1:5,8,13,19,23,31).
• Outside Genesis 1, yom is used with a number 410 times, and each time it means an
ordinary day—why would Genesis 1 be the exception?
• Outside Genesis 1, yom is used with the word ‘evening’ or ‘morning’ 23 times. ‘Evening’
and ‘morning’ appear in association, but without yom, 38 times. All 61 times the text refers
to an ordinary day—why would Genesis 1 be the exception?
• In Genesis 1:5, yom occurs in context with the word ‘night.’ Outside of Genesis 1, ‘night’
is used with yom 53 times—and each time it means an ordinary day. Why would Genesis 1
be the exception? Even the usage of the word ‘light’ with yom in this passage determines
the meaning as ordinary day.
• The plural of yom, which does not appear in Genesis 1, can be used to communicate a
longer time period, e.g. ‘in those days.’ Adding a number here would be nonsensical.
Clearly, in Exodus 20:11 where a number is used with days, it unambiguously refers to six
Earth-rotation days.
• There are words in biblical Hebrew (such as olam or qedem) that are very suitable for
communicating long periods of time, or indefinite time, but none of these words are used in
Genesis 1. Alternatively, the days or years could have been compared with grains of sand
if long periods were meant.

Those that would say that the earth is billions of years old and still claim to believe in the Biblical
account of creation are compromising. Those that compromise tell us that there was death, disease,
fossils, and millions of years of it, before Adam ever walked onto the scene. These people are
calling God a liar. The Bible is clear that death, decay and bloodshed are a result of sin and did not
exist before Adam and Eve sinned.

We need Jesus to take away the sin, death and decay that came into this world as a result of Adam’s
sin. If there was death and disease before Adam, then why do we need Jesus? This message of
compromise undermines the Authority of Scripture.

Jesus is God in human flesh. God cannot lie. Jesus says in Mark 10:6 “But at the beginning of
creation God made them male and female.” Here, Christ is referring to Adam and Eve.

In the beginning of Creation, not millions of years and then Adam and Eve.
Jesus asked Nicodemus: ‘I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then
will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?’ (John 3:12). So if we can’t trust the Bible about
earthly things (such as the timeframe of creation), why should we trust it on heavenly things (e.g.
faith and morals)?

If we are prepared to let the words of the language speak to us in accord with the context and normal
definitions, without being influenced by outside ideas, then the word for ‘day’ in Genesis 1—which
is qualified by a number, the phrase ‘evening and morning,’ and for day one the words ‘light and
darkness’—obviously means an ordinary day (about 24 hours).

Proverbs 30:5–6 states that ‘Every word of God is pure … do not add to His words, lest He reprove
you and you be found a liar.’ The Bible cannot be treated as just some great literary work. We need
to ‘tremble at his word’ (Isa. 66:5) and not forget that:

‘All Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfected,
thoroughly equipped for every good work.’ (2 Timothy 3:16–17)

Written by:

Steven Baird
Author of “Another Road to Damascus: A Journey from Evolution to Creation”

To subscribe to this newsletter please visit www.EvolutionOnTrial.com and

sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every couple of weeks or send
an email to creation@bairdclan.com with the title “Subscribe”