Early Church Leaders on Creation

Although some of the early church leaders did think that God had made the world in six 24 hour days, this was not a widespread belief. The great apologists, Justin Martyr and Irenaeus both quote Psalm 90:4 to explain why Adam did not literally die on the same day that he ate of the ‘Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil’. They did not think that yom, the word translated day, should be understood literally, quoting this Psalm,

“For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by . . .” Psalm 90:4

Both Clement of Alexandria and Origen used Genesis 2:4 to persuade people that the days in Genesis 1 must also be understood figuratively, referring to the following verse,

“These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.” Genesis 2:4 (ESV)

Clement also uses the argument that as the sun and moon were only created on the fourth day, time was not in existence before then, so again a figurative explanation is necessary.

Origen (AD185 – 254) was an eminent early theologian and preacher. He made a defence of Christianity against pagan arguments in his book book, ‘Against Celsus’,

“. . . we found fault with those who, taking the words in their apparent signification, said that the time of six days was occupied in the creation of the world, and quoted these words, ‘These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.’”i

Augustine (portrait above) also rejected the notion that the six days were literal. In his ‘Commentary on the Book of Genesis’ he wrote,

“In all the sacred books, we should consider the eternal truths that are taught, the facts that are narrated, the future events that are predicted, and the precepts or counsels that are given. In the case of a narrative of events, the question arises as to whether everything must be taken according to the figurative sense only, or whether it must be expounded and defended also as a faithful record of what happened. No Christian will dare say that the
narrative must not be taken in a figurative sense. For St. Paul says: “Now all these things that happened to them were symbolic.”ii

Augustine recognised the difficulties that can arise when people differ over the interpretation of Scripture and warns against being too dogmatic in our discussions.

“In matters that are so obscure and far beyond our vision, we find in Holy Scripture passages which can be interpreted in very different ways without prejudice to the faith we have received. In such cases, we should not rush in headlong and so firmly take our stand on one side that, if further progress in the search for truth justly undermines this position, we too fall with it. That would be to battle not for the teaching of Holy Scripture but for our own, wishing its teaching to conform to ours, whereas we ought to wish ours to conform to that of Scripture.”iii

Too much weight can be placed on pitting the views of early church leaders against each other, as if they were opponents in a boxing ring. What is important is to listen to the wisdom of men such as Augustine who had seen the damage that can be done to the gospel by internal church conflicts.

BVP

iOrigen, ‘Against Celsus’, 6:60

iiAugustine, ‘Commentary on the Book of Genesis Chapter 1, Nos. 1, 21 (written in AD 415)

iiiAugustine, ‘Commentary on the Book of Genesis Chapter 1, Nos. 18, 37