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What Does the Image of God Mean?
Both men and women are made in the image of God (Gen 1:27), and are created with physical and spiritual components of their humanity. This is why human life is sacred and protected (Gen 9:5-6). This is in contrast to the rest of creation. Only humanity has the privilege and honor of being created in the image of God. Hence humanity’s value is infinitely more than animals or plants. But what does it actually mean to be made in the image of God? We can list at least five different views on what it might mean to be made in the image of God. The image of God describes natural qualities within man which liken him to God. The image of God is mental or spiritual qualities shared with the Creator. The image of God refers to physical resemblance with God. The image of God refers to the capacity to…
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Creation and the Distant Starlight Problem
A common objection to the young earth creation position is the distant starlight problem. This starlight problem is usually framed with the following information. First, starlight travels approximately 186,000 miles per second. Therefore, the distance starlight can travel in a year is approximately 6 trillion miles, and is referred to in astronomical measurements as a light year. Thanks to the Hubble Telescope, we are able to see many stars which are invisible to the naked eye. One such star, named Icarus, is 9 billion light years from earth. In simple terms, the above information means the light from Icarus took 9 billion years (traveling at 186k miles per second) to reach earth. That is a long distance and a long time! However, at the same time, this seems to be incongruent with a young earth creation position, which posits a young age for the earth (usually defined as 6-10k years…
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Does the Bible Affirm 24-hr Days in Genesis 1?
Justin Taylor has stirred the pot recently with a post on Creation in Genesis 1-2 and whether or not the days referred to in Genesis 1-2 are actual 24-hr days, or just indefinite periods of time. Justin’s post reminded me of an article that I had read a few months ago by Robert McCabe that I think is worth summarizing his main points with my own comments. The context of Genesis 1 indicates a 24-hr day. Its true that day (yom) can refer to periods of time, like in the phrase “Day of the Lord.” But in Genesis 1, day is modified by “evening and morning” and also used in opposition to night. These are clear signals from the context of Genesis 1 that these are normal days with a normal sequence of day and night rotations. When yom is modified by a number, it always refers to a literal…