Dr. Michael Brown: ‘I Could Go Either Way’ on Young-Earth vs. Old-Earth Creationism
Dr. Michael Brown says that while the topic of creationism frequently comes up on his radio show, he does not have a strong opinion about the creation account. He says there are compelling argument for both young-earth creationism and old-earth creationism, which assumes God guided the evolutionary process over millions of years.
“Honestly, this is one subject where I say I could go either way in terms of my understanding of Scripture, as far as young-earth versus old-earth, and I don’t have the scientific acumen to debate,” Brown says in a recent video. “Most things I like to come down with a definite position and say ‘This is my view,’ but in my humble view, the Scriptures could be read either way in terms of young earth or old. But this much I know: the main message is to tell us who God is and the nature of God. That’s what we should focus on.”
Brown says he has heard thought-provoking points from people on both sides of the debate and does not have a clear opinion.
“I’ve had on my Line of Fire radio show old-earth creationists who believe the Earth is millions of years old and that’s the best way to reconcile biblical data with scientific data,” Brown says. “And I’ve had on the show young earth creationists who say, ‘No, no, we are misreading the biblical data to make it conform to what we think science is saying. The best science indicates that the earth is young and that’s what Scripture plainly teaches.’
“The question is, what’s my view? Because I’m asked that all the time. Well, we read in the book of Exodus, Exodus 20, in the Ten Commandments, we read a forthright statement: For in six days, the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. So there it is. In six days, the Lord made heaven, the earth, the sea and all that is in them. Now I fully understand where young earth creationists come from. I understand that they would say this is the most plain and natural reading of the text. They would also point to the biblical genealogies, and the biblical genealogies, you could also argue, make a good case for saying that the earth is young. I respect that view and understand it. I am not a scientist though, and I cannot decide what science says or not, so for me, the ultimate question is what does Scripture say? You can make a good case for young earth creation based on what you would say is a plain meaning of Scripture.
“I also look at other verses and I look at them seriously. So we put the genealogies aside for the moment and ask could they be read differently, and some would say yes. I recognize that God’s Word does tell us that one day with the Lord is like a thousand years, and I see that the word ‘yom’—day in the book of Genesis—it can be used for daytime—day and night, right?—or it can be used for day and night together—that’s a yom—or it he second chapter, the phrase ‘beyom’—literally in the day of—simply means when. And then we know there’s the day of the Lord that can be a longer period of time, and then there are other passages in Scripture that seem to speak of God working in a way that is over a period.”
Watch the full video here.
