“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” — Ephesians 4:1-6 ESV

Series: Truths Worth Repeating

Truth 1: The age of the Earth is important, but some things are more important.

Summary: Our unity in Christ and love for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ are more important than being right about the age of the Earth. Christians on all sides of these origins debates sometimes forget this.

Every single Christian is united with Christ and is therefore united with every other Christian. There is only one body of Christ. At the most fundamental levels of theology, Christians agree on certain things about God, Christ, man, sin, and salvation. Whether we summarize our beliefs in creeds such as the Nicene Creed, or in doctrinal statements in our local churches, we agree that there is only one God, yet that God is three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We agree that Jesus Christ is the second person of this trinity, that he became human through the action of the Holy Spirit, was born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, performed miracles, was crucified for sins, that he really died, and that he really rose from the dead. Teachings contrary to these things are unorthodox and often place churches or individuals outside the Christian faith.

Despite our agreements on these things, we also disagree with one another about some rather critical details. Do we baptize only professing believers or also infant children of believers? What does it mean that Christ emptied himself when he came to Earth as a human? What is the meaning and timing of the rapture? How does sanctification work? Do we trust in Christ because the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual rebirth, or are we spiritually reborn because we trust in Christ? These are all very important questions. Being right brings blessing, and being wrong has serious implications for our understanding of the gospel and of the Christian life. Sometimes Christians disagree charitably, but sadly we often fight over these things like stray cats, with lots of hissing and scratching.

Another thing Christians disagree about is how to interpret Genesis 1-11 regarding things like the age of the Earth and the extent and geological work of Noah’s flood. Some insist that Genesis requires a very young Earth, on the order of six thousand years, and others believe that Genesis does not specify an age for the Earth. Some believe that the flood account in Genesis 6-9 requires a truly global flood and infer that this flood created many of Earth’s geological features, and others believe that Genesis does not require a global flood in the way modern people understand global. Those on each side of debates about the age of the Earth and the extent and work of Noah’s flood use biblical arguments to support their view.

Chances are, we Christians are going to keep on disagreeing about these things, so what are we to do?

First, we need to recognize that young-Earth creationists and old-Earth creationists, and even many theistic evolutionists, agree about many things in our doctrines of creation, and that the things we agree about are more important than the things we disagree about. “We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible” (Nicene Creed). We believe that humans are made in the image of God, that we are morally accountable to him, and that we are fallen into sin. We believe in a historical Adam and fall.

The things we disagree about are important. What genres are found in Genesis 1-11 and how does this affect interpretation? What is the relationship between Genesis 1:1-2 and the six days of creation in Genesis 1:3-2:3? Do the days of creation have to be literal days? What was the world like outside the garden? What was the role of the Tree of Life? What is the origin of animal death? Who was Cain’s wife? What was the extent of Noah’s flood? What was the geologic work of Noah’s flood? These are all important, but none of them are You-are-an-agent-of-the-devil-if-you-disagree-with-me important.

I have young-Earth creationist friends and acquaintances—some of whom are well known—with whom I can have peaceful, reasonable discussions, followed by rich fellowship based on what we have in common in Christ. They defend their young-Earth views vigorously, and I defend my views. We don’t convince the other to switch sides, but sometimes we learn from one another. This illustrates the truth of Psalm 133:1, which says, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (ESV) God is glorified when Baptists and Presbyterians, amillennialists and premillennialists, Calvinists and Arminians, young-Earthers and old-Earthers can love and accept one another despite our important differences.

All too often, however, this is not what we see, especially in social media. If you dig for the right (or wrong) Facebook debate groups, you will see KJV-onlyists accusing everyone else of reading satanic Bibles, Arminians accusing Calvinists of being of the devil (and vice versa), young-Earth creationists accusing old-Earth creationists of being lovers of praise from men rather than from God, and worse.

An example of the sort of slander that’s been thrown at me by a young-Earth creationist is, “You are a wicked, evil, satanic puppet who knows ABSOLUTELY NOTHING… Depart from me, Satan, for you do not have the thoughts of God but of men.” This same man has handed me “over to Satan so I would be taught not to blaspheme.” This is from a man who writes a lot of good, sound, edifying, Christ-centered stuff on his Facebook page and elsewhere, but who becomes a different man when the topic is Genesis. James 3:10a applies: “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing” (ESV). I’ve been told rather bluntly that I don’t really believe the Bible, that I am listening to the hissing of the serpent, that I couldn’t possibly be a real Christian, and much more. I won’t quote the accusations from professing Christians that use foul language directed at me and others.

I see the same sort of harmful rhetoric of from old-Earth Christians, including accusations that young-Earth creationists are imbeciles, liars, and even demon possessed. I find this to be just as wrong and harmful.

“Brothers, these things ought not to be so.” — James 3:10b ESV

I try hard to be gracious, kind, and respectful (Colossians 4:6, 1 Peter 3:15) in my interactions with belligerent young-Earth creationists but know I fall short.

Why are we like this? Perhaps not enough of “He must become greater, I must become less” (John 3:30 NIV 1984). Perhaps too much of the flesh, and not enough of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). Perhaps a quarrelsome spirit in our hearts (1 Timothy 3:3, 6:4; 2 Timothy 2:23-25). Perhaps we think we are zealous for God but really are just noisy gongs (1 Corinthians 13:1). Perhaps we make things into “gospel issues” that are not really gospel essentials (Romans 14:5). It could be for many reasons.

I recognize that not all our reasons for defending our Genesis convictions are worldly. My young-Earth friends are rightly concerned about the origin of sin and death (and I think I have answers to their objections). Old-Earth Christians have legitimate concerns about over-reading of Scripture by young-Earth creationists, and about some of the really bad science that comes out of the young-Earth movement.

My essay thesis is that there are things in Christian theology and life that are more important than the age of the Earth. Here are some things I am convinced are more important than winning a debate about Genesis:

• The Gospel (Good News) – The biblical story of salvation may be summarized with four stages: Creation, Fall, Redemption, Glory.
  • Creation – God is the creator of everything. Humans are created in the image of God, to be in relationship with God, and to be accountable to God.
  • Fall – Adam rebelled against God, leading to his spiritual, and ultimately, his physical death. We are all “in Adam,” and are likewise in rebellion against God and deserving eternal condemnation.
  • Redemption – It is God, in his grace and mercy, who saves sinners. We cannot save ourselves. The central event of human history is the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He died as a substitute for our sins and was raised victorious over death. Those who place their trust in Christ, who call on him as Lord and Savior, have their sins forgiven, are adopted as children of God, made into new creations, and will be heirs of eternal life.
  • Glory – Just as Christ was raised from the dead, those who believe in him will be raised with renewed, imperishable bodies. God will dwell with us and we with him, forever.
  • The age of the Earth is important, but not a single part of this gospel depends on how old Earth is.
• Unity in Christ – Our areas of agreement are more significant than our areas of disagreement. Being united in Christ trumps our disagreements about baptism, predestination, eschatology, gifts of the Holy Spirit, and… the age of the Earth, and Christians who disagree with one another can still have rich fellowship. Some of these things, sadly, divide us into different denominations and churches at present, but they do not break the fundamental unity we have in Christ.
• Love – Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Though our Genesis debates are about important things, Jesus did not say, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you crush your opponents in Facebook debates about Genesis.” No, it is “if you have love for one another.” I say this to myself and other old-Earthers just as much as to young-Earthers. The fact that some churches preach a false love that allows for heresy and immorality does not negate the command for young-Earthers and old-Earthers to love one another any more than we would be exempted from loving one another because of our differences about liturgical vs non-liturgical worship, premillennialism vs postmillennialism vs amillennialism, or types of church government.
• Witness – The world is watching. Will they see us having catfights with one another over secondary doctrines, or will they see us loving one another despite our strong disagreements?
• Youth – Our youth are watching us too. What do they see? Do they see graciousness and charity? Do they see love? Do they see proper theological prioritization? Or do they see us biting and devouring one another? (Galatians 5:15).

There are theological hills to die on; things that separate orthodoxy from heresy, Christianity from false religion. I am not united with Mormons, for example, because they have a different God, different Christ, different Scripture, and different way of salvation than what is presented in Scripture. Likewise, I am not united with those who ordain practicing homosexuals as pastors because sexual immorality is a clear sign in Scripture of being a false teacher.

The age of the Earth is not a hill to die on. Old-Earth and young-Earth Christians will dine and worship together in the heavenly feast. We all might as well start living like it now.

Grace and Peace

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My testimony of how I came to faith in Christ

God’s Global Plan of Salvation

Truths Worth Repeating:

• Introduction — New Series: Truths Worth Repeating
• Truth 1 — The Age of the Earth is Important, But Some Things Are More Important (this post)
• Truth 2 — Too Many Events, Too Little Time (coming soon)