Monday August 8, 2022

It was nice to be back at Ottawa First yesterday. Whenever I'm away, I miss my church family. Last Wednesday we began a discussion on the "Days of Creation," we are going to continue that today. I would encourage you to check out the rest of this series first, if you haven't already read them.
Genesis 1
21 God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

There is a big difference between the KJV translation of the creation account and the NASB translation of the creation account. At first glance, it may not appear that big, but in actuality, it's quite sizable. It was the KJV that theologians used to come up with the most literal creation theory-that the world was created in 6-24 hour days. If we read the creation account out of the KJV, it is understandable that one would think this is true. I've compared the verses in a previous blog, but let's look at them again real quick:
And the evening and the morning were the first day. KJV
And there was evening and there was morning, one day. NASB
First, let me tell you, the NASB is actually the better translation from the original Hebrew text (I encourage you to check this out yourself). That said, what is the difference between saying "the" and "a". Time for an English lesson. The word "the" is what is called a "definite article," while the word "a" is an "indefinite article". A definite article indicates something very specific, for example "the car." An indefinite article indicates something non-specific, for example "a car." Now, the NASB leaves out the word "a", but it omits the definite article "the." This is important. Many scholars believe the word "a" should have replaced the word "the." The NASB does the next best thing by not including either "a" or "the." Why is this important? This is important because the NASB opens a couple of possibilities: 1. That God did not use "the" 24 hour day we have today or 2. That lots of time passed between "the" days of creation. Either way, it is likely that the world is a lot older than many Christians profess-and are willing to defend, to the point of being ridiculous.
Perhaps you are asking, why is pastor Erik taking so much time talking about something that is not talked about very often amongst fellow Christians? The reason that understanding the creation account is important has little to do with our own faith, rather, it is all about being able to provide answers to those who do not believe. Many Christians have put up unnecessary roadblocks between themselves and unbelievers by insisting that the Bible teaches that the earth is only 10,000 or so years old. The purpose behind this blog series is to show you how that "roadblock" is not necessary.