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My Journey to Life - Daily Study Guide

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Q6. Does the Bible identify a starting point for our world’s history?

Picture: Q6. Does the Bible identify a starting point for our world’s history? JTLD 168.1

The Old Testament does not give a precise date for the events of the Creation week of Genesis 1. It does, however, give some data that can be used to develop a general and approximate date for those events. JTLD 168.2

Biblical chronology must work backward from the known (the Old Testament kings) to the unknown. Using the dates for the reigns of kings, the birth of Abraham, the Exodus, and the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11, we can affirm that Creation took place more recently than the proposed billions-of-years evolutionary theory—probably in the fifth millennium B.C. JTLD 168.3

In contrast, theistic evolutionists who try to harmonize God’s creation activities with the theory of natural evolution argue for a beginning several million years ago. Biblical archeologists, who read the biblical text from the perspective of the extrabiblical Egyptian, Assyrian, and Babylonian chronologies, propose some 10,000 years ago. Based on the information provided in the biblical genealogies, some interpreters have suggested around 6,000 years for the history of this world. We are on safe ground by simply recognizing that Bible authors support a literal creation week and a short earth chronology (Psalms 33:6, 9). JTLD 168.4