Perspectives Between Young Earth and Old Earth

During my time in this class, the opposing conflict between Young Earth Creationism versus Old Earth Creationism has both intrigued me and subsequently compelled me to formulate a stronger opinion and perspective upon which I base my faith. In understanding that both views have their strengths and weaknesses, the aspect of Progressive Creationism within the Old Earth Theory struck me as most intriguing. The guise that geology and creationism can function together in a scientific and religious realm portrayed to me the realism that faith can extend if only perspectives were shifted. Progressive Creationism withholds the notion that God, in His divine providence, accounts for the natural processes such as natural selection and gene mutation, to help guide life on Earth. However, even amidst doing so, the theory holds that God had directly intervened in crucial moments of development to ensure the orthodoxy of his creation.

In this sense, controversial topics as evolution and geology, which many may argue contest Biblical statements, become stratified with that of which the Bible has documented. This has immensely helped to discern the inner opinion that I have held from which earthly origins have been conflicted between the religious and scientific communities. Consequentially, I have adapted and grown in my faith from this stance considering that I am now able to correlate the Bible with that of scientific fact.

However, when taking the opposing stance on creationism with the Young Earth Theory, I have learned that the Omphalos Hypothesis withholds the literal undertaking of Scripture as historical documentation and that gestation, as a means to suggest a precedent for prenatal development, were not such evidence to prove so. Young Earth Creationists, in this sense, argue that the Earth’s scientific age and origin, though riddled with archaeological and geographic evidence, could not thoroughly be taken as fact unless the Bible directly supported such statements. In this day and age, when science is the primary manner from which many derive their opinions and perspectives, I have begun to understand that Young Earth Creationism directly opposes my opinions on creationism, and other creation myths, and could not implicate any growth in my faith.

Because I yearn for my faith to grow from both strong opinion and fact, the Young Earth Creationism theory of pondering the Bible’s literal sense, whilst ignoring the pleas of the scientific community, inflicts me negatively and causes me to place doubt upon the theory. Furthermore, considering that I have held little knowledge of Young-Earth Creationism before this class, my perspective on this theory is not changed, but rather, slanted towards disbelief in its claims. Conclusively, I withhold that from the conflicts between the dynamics of Young Earth Creationism and Old Earth Creationism, I understand that science and faith can function together to direct a more thorough understanding of the Earth’s origins, therefore bolstering my faith and assuaging any doubt I may have previously held about creationism.