Framework hypothesis claims that Genesis is a topical account but not a literal account of how God created all things. The author's claim that it overcomes the problems with the Gap theory but it still doesn't hold the Bible as being the sole authority. The Gap theory says there is a gap of millions of years between Genesis 1:1 and v.2. They can't put millions of years in the genealogies of the Bible because they are pretty well authenticated by scholars. The Day Age hypothesis claims that the days listed in Genesis are really ages or long periods of time. The Hebrew word for day (yom) is explained later in this book.
Many Christians (Seminaries, Colleges, Prominent Pastors and teachers) are teaching theistic evolution, or that the Bible is an allegory, or that Genesis is just a spiritual idea but not literal or there is a gap of millions of years between verse 1 and 2 of Genesis Chapter 1. They are taught the days are not literal days, but epochs. In Genesis it says "morning and evening . . . number . . day. Also it is backed up in Exodus 20:11 . . in six days the Lord created the heaven and earth. Hugh Ross, an astronomer and recent addition to the heretical teaching arena, has a ministry 'Reasons to Believe'. Dr. James Dobson (Focus on the Family) makes no apologies about his old earth theistic evolutionary ideas. John Ankerburg is in agreement with Dobson and Ross. Ross says that nature is likened to the Sixty Seventh book of the Bible. He also believes in a local flood. He says that since sin was not over the entire earth God did not have to kill off all those "other" animals that had not come into contact with man so therefore the flood was local. These are a few of the more visible ones. There are professors in universities like Princeton, Yale and Harvard (which used to be Christian) that teach millions of years. Charles Templeton was a great evangelist many years ago, equaling Billy Graham, who after studying at Princeton, renounced his Christian beliefs and wrote a book on why he no longer believed in God. It was due to the millions of years he was taught by his professors at Princeton.
Here are some famous quotes from theistic evolutionists(some are Bible Teachers):
"It is apparent that the most straightforward understanding of the Genesis record, without regard to all of the hermeneutical considerations suggested by science, is that God created heaven and earth in six solar days, that man was created in the sixth day, that death and chaos entered the world after the fall of Adam and Eve,"
Pattle P. T. Pun, "A Theology of Progressive Creationism", Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, Vol. 39, No. 1, March 1987
"From a superficial reading of Genesis 1, the impression would seem to be that the entire creative process took place in six twenty-four-hour days. If this was the true intent of the Hebrew author...this seems to run counter to modern scientific research, which indicates that the planet Earth was created several billion years ago..."
A Survey Of Old Testament Introduction, Gleason L. Archer, pgs. 196-197.
"If any one is in search of accurate information regarding the age of the earth, or its relation to the sun, moon and stars, or regarding the order in which plants and animals have appeared upon it, he is referred to recent text-books in astronomy, geology, and paleontology. No one for a moment dreams of referring a serious student of these subjects to the Bible as a source of information. It is not the object of writers of Scripture to impart physical instruction or to enlarge the bounds of scientific knowledge."
Expositor's Bible, Marcus Dods, Eerdmans Publishing, 1947, Pg. 5.
'As far as I know there is no Professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any world-class university who does not believe that the writer(s) of Genesis 1 through 11 intended to convey to their readers the idea that:
(a) Creation took place in a series of six days, which were the same as the days of 24 hours we now experience;
(b) The figures contained in the Genesis genealogies provided by simple addition a chronology from the beginning of the world up to later stages in the Biblical story;
(c) Noah's flood was understood to be world-wide and extinguished all human and animal life except for those in the ark.'
Professor James Barr, Hebrew scholar and Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scriptures at Oxford University. Personal letter dated April 23, 1984 to Answers in Genesis.
Here are a small list of the many men in history who have supported the creation view of the world:
Tertullian (c. 150-240), Basil the Great(329-379), Augustine (354-430), Martin Luther(1483-1546), Calvin(1509-1564), Wesley (1703-1791). and The Anglican Archbishop James Ussher (1581-1656).
Ussher wrote a huge book outlining many noteworthy events since the first act of creation. His studies brought him to believe the earth was created on October 23, 4004 B.C. He painstakingly chronicled these events in Latin. It has since been translated into English and is available on the Answers in Genesis website. There are a lot of others who give their educated opinion on the actual date and they are all very close to the same time.
In the famous court trial of 1925 "The Scopes Trial" William Jenning Bryan, the Christian representative was asked by Clarence Darrow, the ACLU lawyer, if he knew how old the earth was and he would not even guess. He had the same Bible that we have today, yet he did not believe the literal account in Genesis about 6 days. When asked where Cain got his wife, Bryan did not have an answer. The court transcript gives a detailed account of what was asked and what Bryan answered. For further study you may wish to consult other sources. It is obvious that Bryan did not believe in a literal Genesis account.
The problem is the difference between eisegesis and exegesis. One is reading into, the other is reading out of. When you bring mans fallible opinion to the Bible instead of taking Gods word from the Bible you can really get some erroneous ideas and be led astray.
I like this quote used by Answers in Genesis from Martin Luther:
How Long Did the Work of Creation Take? When Moses writes that God created heaven and earth and whatever is in them in six days, then let this period continue to have been six days, and do not venture to devise any comment according to which six days were one day. But, if you cannot understand how this could have been done in six days, then grant the Holy Spirit the honor of being more learned than you are.
What Martin Luther Says - A Practical In-Home Anthology for the Active, p. 1523
In reading the account of creation in Genesis it is very specific.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. . . . and the evening and the morning were the first day. Genesis 1:1-5
Stated again:
For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, . . . and rested on the seventh. Exodus 20:11
The Hebrew word yom is used over 2300 times outside of Genesis. 410 times with a number plus day, always means an ordinary day. In the 38 times it is used with morning and evening without day, it always means an ordinary day. There are 23 times evening and morning with day and it means an ordinary day. Night is used 52 times with day to mean an ordinary day. You must ask yourself, where did we get our definition of a week. The day is determined by the rotation of the sun, one day. The month is determined by the rotation of the moon, one month. The year is determined by the rotation of the earth around the sun, a year, but where is the week defined other than in the Bible. Nowhere! Who would have thought 7 days equaled a week; why not ten days? That sounds logical. Then 3 weeks makes 30 days equals one month.
