Changes

''Creation Week'', as mentioned in the [[Bible]], refers to the week that He created the universe.  The length of time that people believe Creation Week to take is a good test of orthodoxy.

The '''Creation Week''' is the seven days described in the [[Bible]] during which God created the universe, including the day of rest.  The length of time that people believe Creation Week to take is a good test of orthodoxy.

While there is no reference in the Bible that each day was 24 hours, it is easy to show what the chronology for the creation week should be, and where the confirming Bible stories are found. The answer is surprising because the creation week story is likley pointing at God's creation of mankind, even though he uses rather strange language.

The Bible does not of course say that each day was 24 hours, because hours are a later human invention, but there is sufficient reason for believing the days to be normal days.  These reasons include:

* God used the seven days of creation as a basis for keeping the [[sabbath]] every seven days, in the [[Ten Commandments]].

* Each day is ''defined'' as comprising a morning and an evening.

 

That the pasage describes normal days is the consensus of the experts. Professor James Barr, former Oriel Professor of the interpretation of the Holy Scripture at Oxford University, wrote:

<blockquote>...probably, so far as I know, there is no professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any world-class university who does not believe that the writer(s) of Genesis 1–11 intended to convey to their readers the ideas that: ... creation took place in a series of six days which were the same as the days of 24 hours we now experience ... Or, to put it negatively, the apologetic arguments which suppose the "days" of creation to be long eras of time ... are not taken seriously by any such professors, as far as I know.<ref>Letter from Professor James Barr to David C.C. Watson, quoted in [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/943/ Should Genesis be taken literally?] by Russell Grigg, ''Creation'', vol. 16 No. 1 p. 38.</ref></blockquote>

==The Sabbath Rest==

==The Sabbath Rest==

The theology behind this change in literary structure is important. Mankind was created in day six, likely the last thing created in that day. Mankind then fell. God, in his mercy is at rest in this day of mankind's fall, but he is working doing one thing: Rescuing fallen mankind.

The theology behind this change in literary structure is important. Mankind was created in day six, likely the last thing created in that day. Mankind then fell. God, in his mercy is at rest in this day of mankind's fall, but he is working doing one thing: Rescuing fallen mankind.