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Day-Age Difficulty
In my last post I discussed John A. Widtsoe's enthusiasm for the day-age theory and his rooting it in the Book of Abraham. However the day-age theory did not originate with the Book of Abraham and it appears that Latter-day Saints did not adopt it for about 30 years after the Book of Abraham was published.
But is the day-age theory helpful?
On Thursday, October 19, 1899, a person identified as "A.W." published an editorial in the Millenial Star about science and the scriptures. After asserting a day-age interpretation of the days in Genesis chapter 1, the piece states:
One thing is most certain, and that is that the order of creation as described in Genesis is strictly in line with that recorded in the "great stone book." First vegetation, then aquatic animal life, and following that the fowls of the air, next the land animals, and last of all, the crowning work, man.This statement brings up one of the chief difficulties with the day-age theory--the order of the days. I'm not enough of a historian of science to know whether the statement was accurate in 1899, but I know that it is not accurate now. Some conflicts between the order of days and the order in the fossil record (not to mention cosmology) might be explained away depending on the assumptions and interpretations one makes, but a rather recalcitrant fact is that fowls appear relatively late in the fossil record as descendants of the dinosaurs, and with insects and mammals already on the scene. Another difficulty is the fact that sea creatures appear prior to terrestrial vegetation. (For the major events of the geologic time scale, see this Wikipedia entry.)
This account, written thousands of years before geology was ever thought of as a science, and agreeing so exactly in order, should put an indelible stamp of authenticity on the Bible account of creation. (p.665)
On the simple matter of chronology, the day-age theory is insufficient for reconciling Genesis 1 with the fossil record.
(More to come.)
3 comments:
I remember hearing an interpretation of the Creation account in Genesis claiming that the days were not meant to be interpreted as chronological events, rather as demonstrations of YHVW's "creative power." For example, competing theologies had different deities for the earth, the sun, the sea, animals, etc. The Creation account in Genesis points out that instead of these individual deities being responsible for parts of creation, YHVW created all of it. I just wish I could find a reference to it.
Capt. O,
At least one such reference will be forthcoming.
After poking around a bit in the archives, I would guess that "A.W." refers to Attewall Wootton (1839-1912), a Utah educator who served as a Millennial Star editor for several years at the turn of the century.
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