Creation of the Earth
Earth time and cosmological time are best explained by considering two twins, one of whom traveled into space at near the speed of light for a few minutes while his twin remained on earth. After returning to earth a few minutes later the space age twin would find several decades had elapsed on earth and his twin brother would be an old man. What took a short time when the universe expanded faster than the speed of light at the Big Bang can take millions of years measured by earth time. The Bible bears an uncanny similarity to creation as understood by science when it is compared with the fossil record where one day in God’s time as recorded in the Bible equates to the major geological era.
Day 1 of Creation
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."
DAY 2 (Ediacaran Era, began about 600 million years ago.)
The Bible says: "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."
DAY 3 (Prechmbrian Era, began about 542 million years ago.
The Bible says: "Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day."
DAY 4 (Paleozoic Era From the Greek meaning "Old Animals." It includes the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Mississippian, Pennsylvanian, and Permian periods and is characterized by the appearance of marine invertebrates, primitive fishes, land plants, and reptiles that ended about 251 million years ago. Most species became extinct but the tree and plant life remained.)
The Paleozoic is bracketed by two of the most important events in the history of animal life. At its beginning, multi-celled animals underwent a dramatic explosion in diversity, and almost all living animal phyla appeared within a few millions of years.
At the other end of the Paleozoic Era, the largest mass extinction in history wiped out approximately 90% of all marine animal species. The causes of both these events are still not fully understood and the subject of much research and controversy, some say it was due to a meteorite hitting the earth and blotting out the sun which accounts for the reappearance of the sun and moon on day four.
The Bible says about day 4: "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day."
DAY 5 (Mesozoic Era, ended about 65 million years ago. Popular name: Age of Reptiles that evolved from the reptiles of the Paleozoic Era becoming increasingly adapted to life on dry land.)
The Bible says: "Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day."
DAY 6 Cenozoic Era. This era began about 65 million years ago and includes the geological present including humankind. Popular name: Age of Mammals.
The Bible says: "Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."
