By Joseph Annor
It is an understatement to describe the universe as a vast and complex place. It is estimated that the universe contains over 200 billion galaxies made up of at least 1 billion trillion stars. Incredibly, some of these stars are extremely oversized. For example, NML Cygni and UY Scuti are estimated to have diameters of at least 2.29 and 2.4 billion kilometers respectively compared to the diameters of only 12,742 km and 1.39 million km of the earth and the sun respectively. All these stars and galaxies are constantly spinning on their axis and some revolve around others, etc. and etc.

Despite these extreme complexities, many scientists postulate that God didn't create the universe but the universe emerged as a result of an explosion of a "dense mass of matter" in about 13.7 billion years ago. However, the scientists cannot explain where the original "dense mass of matter" came from. Nevertheless, the Bible states plainly in Hebrews 11:3 that God formed the universe out of nothing (see also Col. 1:16 and Neh. 9:6). In my previous article—"Does God exist and did he create the universe?" I discussed that God created the universe and time.

Accordingly, this article discusses the following three different views about when God created the universe:

§ the Young Creationism (i.e. God created the entire universe about 6,000 years ago);
§ the Old Creationism (i.e. God created the universe millions or even billions of years ago); and
§ the Hybrid view (i.e. God created the human world about 6,000 years ago but the planet Earth and outer space, God created an earlier period not disclosed).
1. The Young Creationism

Firstly, the Bible dose not specifically state when God created the universe. However, it is believed that in the mid-17th century, Archbishop James Ussher and Theologian John Lightfoot examined the genealogies and the creation stories in Genesis and concluded that God created the universe and life in six days in 4004 B.C. Therefore, their works laid the foundation for the most predominant creationist view among Christians. However, some argue that the genealogies cannot be used to accurately predict the age of the universe because there are gaps in the genealogies as some names are omitted from the biblical narratives. Nevertheless, it appears that any names omitted from the genealogies are not significant enough to have caused substantial error to the works of Archbishop Ussher and Theologian Lightfoot. Therefore, the creation activities described in Genesis 1 and 2 most likely occurred circa 6,000 years ago.
1. The Old Creationism

The proponents of this view use both scientific and biblical arguments to support their positions and these are discussed in turn.
Scientific

a. Fossil data indicate that the earth is considerably older than 6,000 years old. For instance, a team of academics from the University of Western Australia and Oxford University identified an Australian microscopic fossil evidencing cells living in an oxygen-free world over 3.4 billion years ago. The weakness of this proposition is that no one can confirm the reliability of the assumptions used to estimate the age of the fossils. For example, it is assumed that fossil material measured has been in a closed system and that no outside factors have altered the normal ratios, and the rate of decomposition has always remained absolute constant; but the reliability of these assumptions cannot be guaranteed. However, there appears some evidence that the rate of radioactive decay can change. Moreover, it is postulated that the intensity of Noah's flood had impact on fossil materials and consequently, their assumed ages.
a. The existence of common fossil deposits and other geological formations between the South American and African tectonic plates indicate that the two continents were part of the same landmass in the past. However, satellite data show that tectonic drift is a very slow process and that the two continents are still moving (further apart) at a rate of roughly 2 cm per year. Based on this observation, it would have taken about 200 million years for the two continents to have drifted into their current positions after their separation. Again, using the current drifting speed to speculate the drifting speed in the past assumes that the drifting speed has always remained constant but no one can guarantee that. Furthermore, Genesis 1:9-10 states that at the time of creation, God regrouped the water covered the earth into oceans (seas) to create land. It appears that the continents were formed during this period. Also, the impact of Noah's worldwide flood might have caused the fossil material to be transported between continents.
a. Light travels at an amazing speed of approximately 300,000 kilometres (186,000 miles) per second and light from the sun about 93 kilometres away takes approximately 8.17 minutes to reach the earth. However, the light from the most remote areas (galaxies) of the universe can take several billions years to travel to the earth. In fact, these galaxies and their stars are so far away that their distances are measured in light years (that is how long per year it will take a light travelling 300,000 kilometres per second to reach earth). And the light we see is an image of an object from the past because speed of light is finite. It is therefore argued that if light of some stars have to travel millions or billions of years to reach us, then they cannot be seen if the universe was only created 6,000 years ago. However, some have suggested that light from these remote areas of the universe could still reach earth even if the universe was created 6,000 years ago. For example, John G. Hartnett has discussed the following:
I. The language in Genesis may in some cases describe only appearance. Therefore, stars were made millions or billions of years before Day 4, but by the command of God, the light from all stars no matter how far away, all arrived and seen first at the Earth on the 4th day of the creation. The problem with this view is whether it is consistent with Ex. 20:9, 11, which reads, "... For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them, and rested the seventh day ..."
I. God created the entire universe 6,000 years ago, but by his miraculous power caused light to reach the earth from anywhere of the universe at the time of creation.
I. That clocks in the cosmos in the past have run at much faster rates (especially during creation week) than clocks on Earth, and therefore light from such regions had plenty of time to get to Earth in a matter of days, not millions or billions of years. It is suggested however that observational evidence does not support this hypothesis.
I. The clocks on Earth in the past have run at much slower rates than clocks in the cosmos, especially during creation week. Therefore light from the remote parts of the universe had plenty of time to get to Earth in a matter of days as recorded by Earth clocks, not millions or billions of years. The hypothesis is simpler than number III. It is noted that this view requires that the universe has a preferred frame of reference, and there is evidence that this is the case as Earth appears to be near the centre of the universe.
Biblical information
Some of the Christians who uphold the old creationist view postulate that the creation days referred to in Genesis 1 are not literally 24 hour solar days but an unspecified period of time and can be as long as millions or billions of years. The weakness of this view is that the wordings such as "day and night," "evening and morning," "light and darkness" can hardly be understood as indefinite periods of time, particularly, as God described any passing of an evening and a morning as one complete day.

It is suggested further that while the Hebrew word for day, "yom" can denote an indefinite period of time such as in the expression "For the day of the Lord is at hand" (in Joel 1:15), the word yom always means a twenty-four-hour literal day when it is used with a numeral—day one, day two, first day, second day and etc. Furthermore, Genesis says God created the plants, sunlight and insects on the 3rd day, 4th day and 6th day respectively. Therefore, if the 3rd day was actually such a long period, the plants created on the 3rd day could not have survived before God created the sunlight and insects on the 4th day and 6th day respectively, since plants require sunlight and pollination by insects to survive and/or reproduce.

1. The hybrid view

This third view is somehow a blend of the first two views. It postulates that the creation activities recorded in Genesis 1:3ff actually occurred in 6 literal days in about 6,000 years ago but do not include the planet earth and the outer space, which God created at an earlier period not specified in the Bible. This view is better understood by examining McGowan's analysis of the literary structure of the creation account (the Literary Structure).
Literary Structure of Gen1:1 - 2:3 (Culled from Peter McGowan)

Prelude/prologue: Gen 1:1-2: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth formless and void, the Spirit of God hovering over the waters

Light

Separation

Population

Day 1: Gen 1:3, 4.

"Let there be light." "It was good"

Light separates light from darkness

Light = day, darkness = night

And there was evening and there was morning - the first day.

Day 4: Gen 1:14-19.

"Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens..." Lights separates day from night etc.

"It was good"

And there was evening and there was morning - the fourth day.

Water

Day 2: Gen 1:6-8.

"Let there be an expanse to separate the waters above from the water below...

Expanse = sky ("heaven")

And there was evening and there was morning - the second day.

Day 5: Gen 1:20-23.

"Let the water produce living creatures and let the birds fly across the expanse of the heavens"

"It was good"

And there was evening and there was morning - the fifth day.

Land

Day 3: Gen 1:9-13.

A: "Let there be dry ground separated from the sea.

Dry ground = Land, waters = sea

"It was good"

B: "Let the dry land produce vegetation"

"It was good"

And there was evening and there was morning - the third day.

Day 6: Gen 1:24-31.

A: "Let the earth produce animals... after their kind..."

"It was good"

B: "Let us make man in our image..."

"It was very good"

And there was evening and there was morning - the sixth day.

Postlude: Gen 2:1-3

Conclusion: "Thus, the heavens and the earth were complete" - God finished

Purpose: God rests on, and sanctifies the seventh day in celebration of creation

Analysing the Literary Structure
According to McGowan, the Literary Structure indicates that:

§ the creation consisted of two halves with the same pattern. The first half consisted mainly with the act of separating (e.g. dry ground separated from the sea) and the second half mainly involved the populating of the separated habitats with living creatures or lights, except Day 3 where land is separated from the sea and land also produces vegetation;
§ the creation had three phases involving light, water, and dry ground, with each requiring two steps separated by three days. In the case of the land (the third phase of day 3 and day 6), two distinct creation acts are recorded each time;
§ the creation account contains several definition statements introduced by the phrase, "God called the..." "day", "night" , "sky", "heaven", "land", "earth", "seas" (1:10), with all these definition statements occurring only in the first three days; and
§ the prelude (introduction) and postlude (conclusion) while integral parts of the creation account, do not appear to be part of the six days creation as explained below.
In the beginning
Firstly, there is no explicit statement in Gen1:1-2:3 about when God created our rocky planet (Earth) and the water that initially submerged the planet. Most people assume that this occurred on the first day but the Bible does not state that. Thus, while Genesis 1:1 provides that "in the beginning" God created the heavens and earth", there is no explicit statement that the period "the beginning" formed part of the first day. The only specific statement about the first day is that God created light and separated it from the darkness. Similarly, all the things that God created on each of the subsequent 5 days are clearly documented. Accordingly:

§ the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges states that there is no record of when God created the "darkness", and the '"waters" also existed before the formation of the seas. Therefore "Light" (upon which all life and growth known on earth depends) was the first created thing (and not darkness). However, Isaiah 45:7 and Psalm 104:20 state that God created darkness but don't provide the time that it occurred.
§ McGowan argues that the first day of the creation week begins in Gen 1:3 and the sixth day ends at Gen 1:31 because "each day follows the strict formula, And God said, 'Let...' ... And there was evening and morning - the nth day."
§ the Pulpit (Bible) Commentary states that while the phrase "in the beginning" can mean "at the commencement of time" and Exodus 20:11 appears to imply that this was the initiation of the first day's work, '[t]he formula, "And God said," with which each day opens, rather points to ver. 3 as its proper terminus a quo, which the beginning absolute may have antedated by an indefinite period."
§ the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary stipulates that the phrase "in the beginning" implies "a period of remote and unknown antiquity, hid in the depths of eternal ages; and so the phrase is used in Proverbs 8:22, 23."

Consequently, the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges stipulates that "The Hebrew notion that, before the Creation, the universe (i.e. the earth) was enveloped in the waters of the great deep is possibly referred to in Psalm 104:6 " ("You covered it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains" ). Accordingly, it is generally accepted on the basis of Psalm 104:6 that God moulded the earth into hills and valley submerged in deep water before separating the land from the water to form the earth and seas (see commentaries by Barnes' Notes on the Bible , Benson Commentary , Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers and Pulpit Commentary ).

It appears therefore that the phrase "in the beginning" refers to a period that occurred before the start of the first day. Thus, God created the formless earth submerged in water in deep darkness, the outer space, angels and some other things in an earlier period not specified in the Bible. Also, the use of a similar phrase (the beginning) in Proverbs 8:22-24 to indicate that the personified wisdom existed before the creation of the universe supports this view.

"Heaven" and "Earth"
Also, an examination of the usage and meaning of the words—"heaven" and "earth" suggest that the creation account is not about God's creation of the entire universe but our human world. The word heaven(s) comes from the Hebrew word shamayim and can mean any of the following three:

§ the sky or any place above the ground. This usage was clearly the case in 2 Samuel 18:9, when Absalom was described as hanging between "heaven and earth" when his head was caught hanging in an oak tree (see also Gen 1:20).
§ the second usage is found in Psalm 8:3-4 where David used the word "heavens" interchangeably with "the moon and the stars" to represent the starry heaven/outer space.
§ lastly, in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, Paul described God's residence (the paradise) as the "third heaven".
Accordingly, the context determines which of the three heavens is being discussed. It appears that in Genesis 1:1, Moses used the term heaven to denote the starry heaven because the creation account states plainly that God created the sky and atmosphere on the second day. Thus, the sky was not the heaven that God created in the beginning. It is also highly unlikely that Moses referred to the 3rd heaven because God would already be living there before "the beginning" and indeed, Job 38:4-7 states that even angels existed before the earth was created. Accordingly, the term "heaven" in Genesis 1:1 denotes the starry heaven or outer space.

In contrast, it appears from the immediate context that in Gen 1:6-8, 9, 14-15,17 and 20, Moses used the term heaven to denote the sky because both terms (the heaven and the sky) are used interchangeably to refer to the expense/fault/space that God created on the 2nd day. Accordingly, McGowan claims that other than the introductory statement in Genesis 1:1, the term heaven is defined as sky at its first appearance—exactly as it is expected in Hebrew literature.

On the hand, the word "earth" comes from the Hebrew word "erets". God defined the word as "dry land" or "Earth" in Gen 1:10 ('God called the dry ground "land" or "earth" and the gathered waters he called "seas"). It is imperative to note that in this definition statement the earth excludes the seas contrary to our understanding today; a point that 2 Peter 3:5 reiterated later that "... the earth [i.e. the land] was formed out of water and by water." It appears therefore that the Bible only specifies the time that God separated the land from the water but not the time that he created the original formless earth. Thus, it appears that God created the formless earth in the beginning, a period that antedated the first day of creation. It also appears that the earth remained in the formless state for a considerable period of time. For instance, Gen 1:2 states that the Spirit of God hovered over the water submerging the land. This appears to mean that a considerable time lag occurred between when God formed the planet earth submerged in water and when God created the human world described in Gen 1:3ff and the movement of the Spirit of God over the water linked the two periods together. Accordingly, the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges states that the act of the Spirit of God hovering over the water (with the Bible margin rendered as brooding upon) portrays a picture of a bird spreading its wings over its nest and implies a continuous action (i.e. a long period in action).

The Great Lights (the Sun and the Moon)
The creation account states that on the 4th day, God created the great lights and placed them in the expanse of the "heaven" (i.e. in the sky). It is imperative to emphasise that the passage does not mean that God created the sun and moon (as objects) on this day but their lights. However, as discussed earlier on, Gen 1:1 appears to indicate that God created the starry heaven including the sun and moon in the beginning (i.e. before the first day); accordingly, it appears that what God created on the 4th day was to enable the sun, the moon and the stars to provide light and/or regulate the seasons. This view makes sense for the following reasons. Firstly, to argue that God created the sun and moon as objects on the 4th day will also mean that God created all the stars on day 4. Also, unlike places such Deuteronomy 17:3, Moses did not even mention the sun and the moon by their names, presumably, to let the focus be on the light or the function they perform rather than the object themselves. In addition, while the sun and moon are definitely not the largest objects in the outer space, their visual appearance are more prominent than any other objects in the space and can be seen visibly with the naked eye. Thus, it appears God strategically put them where they are when he established their rotational patterns (see Gen 1:17), and their distances from earth are perfect for life to exist. It appears therefore that God formed the starry heaven including the sun and moon as well as the Earth at a period that preceded the start of the creation period, but on the 4th day God enabled the sun and the moon to provide lights and/or energy to the earth.

The relevance of the 24 hours rotational cycle and regulation of seasons

Furthermore, the activities or things described in the six days creation appear to be relevant to the human world and not any other part of the universe. For instance, within the solar system, the earth is the only planet that has twenty four hour rotational cycle. Therefore, the light that God created and separated form darkness to provide a 24 hour day appears relevant to only earth, as other planets take different times to rotate on their axis. For instance, Jupiter, Mercury and Venus take 10 hours, 58 days and 243 days respectively to rotate on their axis. It is clear therefore that when God created the 24 solar hour day by separating the light from darkness it only related to the earth and no other planet because the length of their days are completely different from ours . In any case, the sun is only relevant to our solar system and within our own Milky Way galaxy, there are several other stars like sun that other planet like objects revolve around. Moreover, the moon (lesser light) that God created is only relevant to and rotates only around the earth as some other plants have their own moons.

Similarly, the regulation of the seasons, days and years by the sun and the moon appears relevant to the earth because the seasons and years of the other planets are completely different from that of the earth. For instance, Mercury, Mars, Neptune and Pluto takes 0.24, 1.88, 164.8 and 248 equivalent of earth years respectively to revolve around the sun (i.e. to achieve their own one year). It appears therefore that when God set the sun, the moon and stars to regulate the seasons and years on earth, it was very much relevant to our earth despite that the sun may be providing similar activities to the other planets in our solar system. It seems therefore that God's creative activities in Gen 1:3ff pertain to things relevant to our planet.

Furthermore, according to Job 38:4-7, angels were present when God created the planet earth. This indicates that God had created life somewhere before the earth was created and that the creation account does not pertain to God's creation of the whole universe.

It appears from above discussion that Genesis creation account simply records the creation of the human world and not the entire universe, and it is from other scriptures such as Revelation 4:11 , John 1:1-3 , Col 1:16 that we know that God created all other things. Thus while God created all the universe, it seems that the entire universe was not the subject of the Genesis creation account and that is why the account only mentions briefly the creation of the planet earth and outer space as an introduction in Gen 1:1 compared with the extensive details provided about the creation of the human world. Further, while the timing of the creation of the human world (consisting of atmosphere and dry ground) is clearly stated (i.e. about 6000 years ago), the Bible does not state the timing of the creation of the planet earth—consisting of land submerged in water. It could therefore have occurred anywhere from 6000+ years ago to many billions of years ago.

What about Exodus 20:11 and Exodus 31:17

The only scriptures that appears to indicate that God created the entire universe in six days (and not only our world) are Exodus 20:11 and Exodus 31:17 . The scriptures state as follows:

§ Ex 20:11, "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."
§ Ex 31:17, "...for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested."
It is significant to mention that the Exodus 20:11 passage is particularly important because it was part of the Ten Commandments, the only scriptures the Lord himself wrote. And since He created the universe he would definitely know when the entire universe was created. Therefore, we may interpret the Lord's statement at its face value that God created the whole universe in 6,000 years ago. Alternatively, the Lord might have only referred to our human world as discussed above; accordingly, McGowan has proposed the following explanation. Firstly, the Exodus passages resemble the Genesis creation account in several ways as they all discuss:

§ that God created the heavens and the earth;
§ six days as the creation period;
§ that God rested on the 7th day, blessed and sanctified the 7th day; and
§ seas and the contents.
Thus, according to McGowan, there is a very strong verbal and structural allusion of the Exodus passages to the Genesis creation account.

McGowan suggests further that it is a fundamental Biblical exegesis rule that the semantics of the primary passage must regulate the secondary passage and not the other way round. Thus, the meaning of the original passage in Genesis can be used to establish the meaning of the secondary passage in Exodus and not vice versa. Therefore, if the Genesis creation account discusses only the creation of the human world (i.e. the atmosphere and land) and not the entire universe, then the Exodus passages are also only concerned with that and not the creation of the entire universe. Against this background, Rev 21:1-2, Isaiah 65:17, 66:22, 2 Peter 3:13 all state that God will create again a new heaven and earth. This suggests that God's creative activities have not been entirely completed, and the Genesis account maybe discussing God's creation of the human world.

Conclusion

Firstly, the Bible states unequivocally that God created the universe. Accordingly, Paul stated in Romans 1:20 that "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." Similarly, 2 Peter 3:5 states that "For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God". Against this background, the focus of this article has been when God created the earth and the entire universe. Accordingly, I discussed the three creation views—the Young Creationism, the Old Creationism and the hybrid view. While the hybrid view appears very interesting and convincing, its own drawback is the Exodus passages that appear to indicate that God created the entire universe during the six days creation period in about 6,000 years ago. However, as discussed above, McGowan has explained why the Exodus passages may not be referring to the creation of the entire universe but the human world.

Lastly, it appears that the hybrid view is consistent with the scientific view that earth and the universe is older than 6,000 years.

References:

John G. Hartnett - A new cosmology: solution to the starlight travel time problem: http://creation.com/a-new-cosmology-solution-to-the-starlight-travel-time-problem

Oxford University Discovered: the oldest fossils on Earth (Published22 Aug 2011): http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2011-08-22-discovered-oldest-fossils-earth

Radioactive Age Estimation Methods—Do they prove the Earth is billions of years old? http://christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-radioactive.html

James Stambaugh - The Meaning of "Day" in Genesis - http://www.icr.org/article/meaning-day-genesis/ Institute of Creation

Gotquestions.org: Does Genesis chapter 1 mean literal 24-hour days? http://www.gotquestions.org/Genesis-days.html

Joseph Annor, Does God exist and did he create the universe? http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/religion/artikel.php?ID=207459

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges ; http://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/1-2.htm

Commentaries on Psalm 104:6: http://biblehub.com/commentaries/psalms/104-6.htm