Answers to Questions - Creation vs. Evolution

How can plants and seed bearing plants survive before the sun was created on day four?

Despite popular misunderstanding, this is not what the original Bible's Hebrew says. The original Hebrew uses the word "bara" to mean to create something from nothing. Bara is used on day one, for the creation of the heavens (including the sun, and other heavenly bodies) and the word "amah" was used on day four which means either "made" in the past tense or "made to appear".

Regarding day four, it is vital to recognize that God's spirit is the reference point which is "hovering over the surface of the waters" (Gen. 1:2). In early planetary development dark dense gases surround a planet and when God said "Let there be light" (day 1 - Gen 1:3) electromagnetic waves of light were enabled to reach earth--this may have been done rather quickly. Such light is ample to allow plant growth, but like a very cloudy day, the sun could not be seen. As plants proliferate, they produce more oxygen, which is one factor in adding to the increasing transparency of the atmosphere until finally on "day" four, the heavenly bodies are visible. The Bible even clarifies "why" they became visible--for man's needs--to serve as signs to mark the days, the seasons, the years. Again, the key to understanding this apparent problem is to understand that the heavenly bodies were created before day four, otherwise the word "bara" would have been used on day four, as it was used in the creation of other "things from nothing", (including man).

[Note: This answer would apply to anyone accepting either the "young earth" viewpoint (that creation was completed in six literal 24-hour days) or the "old earth" viewpoint (that creation was in 6 periods of millions of years). Both are 100% consistent with the Bible. See Creation vs. Evolution by Ralph O. Muncaster, pp. 43, 44;or the videotape by the same name, for a complete summary of the fit of science with the biblical Creation account.]

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