As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9
In the early to middle 1800’s, many Christian theologians, educators and commentators were willing to show great deference to the scientific community due in part to a series of events that transpired in the 1600’s. The dominant church at that time was the Roman Catholic Church which zealously advocated and defended geocentrism, a model that states the earth is at the orbital center of the solar system. Several scientists of that day, including Copernicus and later Galileo, supported the idea of heliocentrism, a model that states all celestial bodies within the solar system orbit around the sun. Galileo was put on trial before the Roman Inquisition and was found to be “vehemently suspect of heresy.” He was forced to recant and placed under house arrest for the rest of his life.
The ideas of Copernicus and Galileo were ultimately proved correct based on observational science. The position of the church was shown to be inaccurate, and therefore in many minds by extension, the Scriptures. This historical event created an environment in which the authority of science, whether observational or philosophical, preempted the authority of Scripture with regard to the Genesis account of creation and the flood in Noah’s day.
European Origins
British theologian, geologist and paleontologist, William Buckland (1784–1856), originally believed that the earth’s crust bore evidence of a universal flood as Genesis states. But as the theories of modern geology continued to progress and influence the thinking of his contemporaries, Buckland abandoned his long-held beliefs and succumbed to the ideas of Hutton, Lyell and others. In 1836 he published Bridgewater Treatise acknowledging that geological evidence did not confirm the Biblical account of Noah’s flood.
Scottish minister and professor, Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847), began preaching in 1804 that the earth had an indefinite age. He popularized the Gap Theory which inserts a gap of indefinite time between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 thereby accommodating the new geology of his day. Anglican theologian and author, George Stanley Faber (1773-1854), began to advocate the Day-Age Theory which declares that the days of creation were not literal but figurative spanning long ages of time. Congregational theologian, John Pye Smith (1774-1851), promoted a localized flood in the area of modern-day Iraq rather than a world-wide flood as recorded in the Bible. Scottish geologist and writer, Hugh Miller (1802-1856), believed the earth was of great age and that many species had occupied it and gone extinct. Anglican clergyman and commentator, Ethelbert William Bullinger (1837-1913), author of the side notes contained in the present day Companion Bible, advocated long ages of earth history. Appendixes 8 and 145 to the Companion Bible indicate his reliance upon the Gap Theory in understanding when creation occurred.
British baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892), having been influenced by contemporary European geologists, uncritically accepted modern geologies old-earth theories. In an 1855 sermon he stated: “Can any man tell me when the beginning was? Years ago we thought the beginning of this world was when Adam came upon it; but we have discovered that thousands of years before that God was preparing chaotic matter to make it a fit abode for man, putting races of creatures upon it, who might die and leave behind the marks of his handiwork and marvelous skill, before he tried his hand on man.”
Modern Geology and Evolution Come to America
In the middle 1800’s, the teachings of modern geology and the opinions of those mentioned above, began to influence their counterparts in the United States. Presbyterian theologian and principal of Princeton Theological Seminary, Charles Hodge (1797–1878), came to believe that the age of the earth was not important. Initially he supported the Gap Theory, but later became an advocate of the Day-Age Theory. Congregationalist clergyman and social reformer, Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887), embraced Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and considered it compatible with Christianity. His sermons and writings were influential in the acceptance of Darwin’s theory in the United States.
American geologist and Yale professor, James Dana (1813-1895), published many articles in an effort to reconcile the Bible with the findings of modern science. One article is entitled Science and the Bible: A Review of the Six Days of Creation. It states: “What now are the special points which God’s testimonies in nature have made clear? Time was lengthened back by geology to ages unmeasured. This before had been suspected: geology made it positive knowledge… Geology proves it (the earth) was, at one time, a fiery ball in space… Geology has opened out the fact that the earliest animals and plants of the globe were wholly water species… Thus the world took its successive steps onward, towards the Golden Age, in the then distant future. The earlier races were of lower types, not because the Creative Hand was weak, but for the reason that the times, that is the temperature and condition of the globe, were just fitted, in each case, for the races produced, and the progress of the plan of creation, correspondingly required it.”
American pastor and educator, R. A. Torrey (1856–1928), was a colleague of Evangelist Dwight Moody and the second president of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. He authored the book Difficulties In The Bible in which he wrote,”… everyone who is familiar with modern science knows that the world as it now stands was millions of years in the making… Anyone who is familiar with the nebular hypothesis, commonly accepted among scientific men today, knows that there was cosmic light ages before the sun… It was the writer’s privilege to study geology under that prince of geologists, who was pronounced by competent authority to be the greatest scientific thinker of the nineteenth century with the exception of Charles Darwin, namely, Professor James D. Dana of Yale… There is grave reason to doubt if anything in Genesis 1 after verse 1 relates to the original creation of the universe. All the verses after the first seem rather to refer to a refitting of the world that had been created and had afterward been plunged into chaos by the sin of some pre- Adamic race, to be the abode of the present race that inhabits it, the Adamic race.”
American theologian and commentator, C. I. Scofield (1843–1921), was the author of the influential Scofield Reference Bible published in 1909. His notes on Genesis 1 state, “The first creative act refers to the dateless past, and gives scope for all the geologic ages.” American theologian and commentator, Merrill Unger (1909–1980), was the author of Unger’s Bible Dictionary. He writes in the Dictionary under the heading of “History: Creation of the World. Dateless Past. Events in Contemporary History – Various Geologic Ages. Prehistoric Stone Ages.” Unger writes under the heading of “Creation: Acute present day problems hinge on the interpretation of the creative six days of Genesis 1 in the light of modern scientific findings, especially in the field of geology. The Naive View that creation was effected in one ordinary week about 4,000 B.C. is shaky on hermeneutical grounds and absurd on scientific grounds.” American evangelist and writer, Finis Dake (1902–1987), authored the Dake Annotated Reference Bible in which he writes, “When men finally agree on the age of the earth, then place the many years (over the historical 6,000) between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, there will be no conflict between the Book of Genesis and science.”
It is clear that the underlying motivation of the above authors, educators and commentators, with regard to the date of creation, was the desire to harmonize Scripture and the theories of modern geology. Unfortunately a choice was made to interpret Scripture using the speculations of Hutton, Lyell, Darwin and others, individuals who were looking for a reason to eliminate the Creator of Scripture.
Elijah came unto all the people, and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions?
If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him.” (1 Kings 18.21)