One of the most controversial subjects in the church is that of creation. Did God create the world in billions of years, or six, 24-hour days? Did it happen by a Big Bang, or did God breath creation into existence a few thousand years ago? Did animals evolve on their own, under God’s direction, or were they created in less than a week? What kind of day is “yom” referring to? How does a believer reconcile faith and science?

When it comes to these questions, most Christians have a strong belief on the topic—we just don’t all see eye to eye. Things can become contentious, arguments dissolve into name-calling, and some even question the salvation of those they disagree with.

I definitely have an opinion, but I realize it’s just that—my opinion. I could be wrong. Thankfully, my eternal destiny doesn’t depend on getting this one right. Still, when I get to heaven, this is one of the first questions I’m planning to ask. (I have a strong hunch that once I see God face to face, I may not care very much about His explanation.)

I had more or less decided to simply acknowledge that I don’t have all the answers, and to move on while avoiding any arguments, when Pete came across the most fascinating website. SixDay Science says its goal is “To promote and preserve the integrity of modern science while exploring the harmony between science and the Christian faith.”

This got me pretty excited, as my biology background is firmly in the realm of science, while at the same time I’m a Bible-believing Christian. Since the day I first met Jesus, back in 1973, I’ve been convinced that the creator God and His creation tell the same story, and that any seeming discrepancies are due to our lack of understanding. And here’s a group of scientists who share that conviction!

The site goes on to explain what they mean by “Six Day Science”:

The ancient biblical scholar Nahmanides said that the six days of creation (Genesis 1) contain “all the secrets and ages of the universe.” In other words, Nahmanides was claiming Genesis 1 as a work of scientific literature. “SixDay Science” is a reference to how developments in modern scientific fields like relativity, cosmology, and particle physics are supporting this claim.

I’m not a physicist or cosmologist, and I admit that much of the online discussion here leaves me totally confused, but even though I don’t understand the details, I can grasp the basic conclusions. It’s all based on Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, the expansion of the universe (and the subsequent slowing of time), and the Big Bang. If you took more physics than I did, please click on over to their very clear slide presentation for a good explanation. (My husband , who has an engineering degree, says it makes total sense to him.)

Six Days of Creation Presentation

Whether you follow every part of the presentation or not, you can recognize that it leads us to a startling conclusion. While the universe appears to us to be around 14 billion years old, to God it’s more like… six days!

Could both the “young earth” and “old earth” believers be correct? This is a good reminder to me that maybe we don’t know as much as we think we do.