The NRBC School of Theology: Systematic Theology Course 2

25. OF CREATION 4:1:
The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith

This course is based on the text, 'The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith,' with notes by Kevin Matthews. Please feel free to print these notes to allow you to study the text online/offline. This lesson may be used in other study situations if you like (eg. Groups, Bible Studies, etc).

1. In the beginning it pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (a), for the manifestation of the glory of His eternal power (b), wisdom, and goodness, to create or make the world, and all things therein, whether visible and invisible, in the space of six days, and all very good (c).

a. Job 26:13; John 1:2,3; Hebrews 1:2
b. Romans 1:20
c. Genesis 1:31; Colossians 1:16

Throughout the history of the world there have been many various accounts and theories regarding the origins of the world. Ancient peoples had their ‘creation’ accounts, with many similarities to the Bible, but also much falsehood. Many of these ancient accounts ascribe ‘creation’ to fierce struggles between various ‘gods’ (eg the Babylonian account). One thing seems certain to the Christian mind concerning all of these ancient stories, and that is that each of them have come from a common primitive source that was corrupted through the passing of time.

Creation is not as easy a doctrine to understand as first thought. Today there are many theories entertained within the church, and surprisingly enough, this seems to have been the case throughout the history of the church. Certainly there has never been as many differing views as now, yet there have been differing views. The six-calendar day view has certainly been the most popular of these various viewpoints, but is it the right viewpoint?

As Christians who believe the Bible, we are required to accept what the Bible says regarding creation. All other viewpoints that come from other sources, whether they are geology, history, or mythology, must all submit to the final authority of the Word of God. If they are contrary to this standard, then these theories are to be cast aside, no matter how attractive they may first appear.

25.1 Various Views of Creation

25.1.1 Dualistic Theory

There are various forms of the Dualistic Theory of Creation, yet all include the idea of both a distinct and eternal God, and of distinct and eternal matter. Matter is usually regarded as evil, or at the very least, a negative substance. Matter is also subject to God, though God is not the Creator God in Dualistic Theory, but only the former of the world.

25.1.2 Emanation (Pantheism) Theory

According to Pantheism, the world is a necessary emanation out of the Divine Being. What this means is that the world came out of God, or evolved from God. Creation is essentially a manifestation of God. Therefore God and the world are essentially one, and God is therefore continually evolving, growing, and making progress.

25.1.3 Evolution

The theory of evolution more-or-less calls for the eternity of matter, and spontaneous generation, for what is made must come from something that has always existed. It is generally regarded as a ‘fact,’ rather than a theory. However, the non-existent cannot develop into existence.

25.1.4 Theistic Evolution

Theistic Evolution seeks to combine ‘science’ with the Bible, achieving neither science nor Biblicism. God is seen as the one who begins the evolution process, stepping in at periodic intervals to help nature cross the impossible gaps. In this theory, ‘the missing links’ of evolution are the periodic interventions of God.

25.2 Biblical Creationism

The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith clearly understands creation as recorded in the Bible, to be both literal and historical. In other words, the confession states that God did create everything within the literal period stated within Genesis six, and that creation is an historical fact.

There are of course those who merely see the creation account as symbolic truth, along with the entire portion of Genesis 1-11. However, the text of the Genesis account is clearly to be understood as historical narrative, for both geographical (Gen 2:8-17) and genealogical (Gen 5; 10; 11) material is included in the text. It is written as a simple eyewitness account, and not a scientific manual or textbook.

Elsewhere in Scripture, the Genesis account is also regarded as historical fact (1 Chron 1; Job 38:4ff; Ps 33:6,9; 90:2; 102:25; Is 40:26,28; 42:5; 45:18; Jer 10:12-16; Lk 3:23-38; Jn 1:1ff; Acts 17:24; Rom 1:20,25; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2; 11:3).

25.2.1 Definition

Creation is the free act of God whereby He, according to His own sovereign will and for His own glory, in the beginning brought forth the whole visible and invisible universe, without the use of pre-existent material and thus gave it an existence, distinct from His own and yet always dependent upon Him.

25.2.2 An Act of the Trinity

The Triune God is the Author of Creation, with creation being attributed to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is in the foreground of creation (Gen 1:1; Ps 33:6; Is 44:24; 45:12; 1 Cor 8:6), but it is also recognized in Scripture as a work of the Son as the Father’s agent in creation (Jn 1:3,10; 1 Cor 8:6; Col 1:15-17), and of the Holy Spirit (Gen 1:2; Job 26:13; Ps 104:30; Is 40:12,13).

Though the distinct Person’s of the Godhead are mentioned individually through out the Scriptures, the work was not divided among them, for the whole is to be attributed to each, and is properly to be viewed as a work of the Trinity.

25.2.3 A Free Act of God

God is transcendent, and is therefore well out of creation’s ‘league (Rom 9:5; Eph 4:6).’ God is far above creation, and as we have seen in earlier studies on the doctrine of God, He is self-existent and self-sufficient. Because of this, it is obvious that God did not need to create anything. Creation was determined by God’s sovereign will, and in no way therefore, was it necessary for God to create anything (Job 22:2,3; Acts 17:25; Eph 1:11; Rev 4:11).

25.2.4 Ex-Nihilo

Creation was not formed from any pre-existent matter, but the materials of which it was formed were brought into existence at the time when the things themselves were created (Gen 1:1; Heb 11:3).

Creation came about simply by the Word of God’s power, called ‘The Divine Fiat (Ps 33:6,9; 148:5; Heb 11:3).’ God spoke, and it came into existence out of His command. Previous to God’s command nothing existed. Therefore all theories of origins regarding the eternity of matter are false.

However, a point is to be made for secondary creation, where something is made out of pre-created matter. For example, man was made out of the dust (Gen 2:7), and the animals and birds from the ground (Gen 2:19).

The only reason we know of creation is because God told us about it (Divine Revelation), hence the existence of the theory of evolution among unsaved man. It is important to note that Creation Science will never be able to convince a single unsaved person of the truth of Biblical Creationism. The truth of creation can only be believed by those who exercise faith in God, and cannot be understood by the natural man (1 Cor 2:14; Heb 11:3).

25.2.5 Creation is Distinct yet Dependent

The world is not God, nor any part of God, but absolutely distinct from God (Is 42:5; Acts 17:24). God is self-existent, self-sufficient, infinite and eternal, while the world is dependent, finite, and temporal. Therefore Biblical Creationism is obviously opposed to all the various views of Pantheism.

However God has not withdrawn Himself from Creation, but remains to maintain and sustain it (Col 1:17). He is present in all His creatures, but not present in every one of them in the same manner (Ps 51:11; Is 57:15; 1 Cor 3:16; 6:19; Eph 2:22; 4:6). God is Spirit, and is omnipresent (Ps 139:7-10; Jer 23:24; Acts 17:28).

25.2.6 The Final End of Creation

The purpose of creation is the eternal manifestation of God’s inherent excellency. God did not principally create to receive glory, but to make His glory extant and manifest. Creation is designed to declare the glory of God (Ps 19:1ff). The entire creation declares the glorious perfections of God (Pr 16:4; Col 1:16; Rom 1:20; 11:36; Eph 1:5,6,12). It displays His eternal power and divinity (Ps 19:1; 104:24; Jer 10:12;Rom 1:20); His goodness (Gen 1:31; Ps 33:5; Acts 14:7); and also aims at promoting the welfare and happiness of His creatures, as well as to elicit gratitude and praise from them (Is 43:7; 60:21; 61:3; Ezek 36:21,22; 39:7; Lk 2:14; Rom 9:17; 1 Cor 15:58; Eph 1:9,14; 3:9,10).

Creation also has the purpose of leaving the ungodly without excuse for not believing and obeying God, as Romans 1 makes abundantly clear.

25.3 The Stages of Creation

25.3.1 Geological Days Theory

The Geological Days Theory assumes that the ‘days’ of Genesis 1 are ‘geological days,’ or great periods of time (ages). This theory sometimes appears to be based not on Scripture, but ‘science.’ However there are varying views even within this area of belief.

A. A. Hodge, C. Hodge, and B. B. Warfield all held to this view in some form, even before the rise of Charles Darwin and his theories.

The days are understood as indefinite periods of time, in much the same way as some passages of the Old Testament (Is 11:10,11). The Hebrew word for day, ‘yom,’ does not always mean a literal day in Scripture (cf Gen 1:5,8,13,16,18; 2:4; Ps 20:1; Job 20:28; Lam 1:20; 2:21; Lk 7:14; 2 Cor 6:2), and this is used as evidence to support this view.

Other arguments of the Geological Days Theory include that the creation of the sun was during the fourth day, that God’s days are different (cf Ps 90:4; 2 Pet 3:8), and that the seventh day is said to continue till now, for it is not concluded with ‘and there was evening, and there was morning’ as the other days (Heb 4:1-11; cf Ps 95:1).

25.3.2 Calendar Days

The prevailing view over the centuries has been that the days of the Genesis account were calendar days. The Hebrew word ‘yom,’ has a primary meaning of a literal day, and proper exegesis requires it to be regarded as such, unless the context shows otherwise. The addition of, ‘and there was evening and there was morning’ confirms a literal day as the correct interpretation of the text. By comparing Scripture with Scripture, the same conclusion is reached (Ex 20:9-11; 31:15-17). Certainly from day four (creation of the sun), these were literal solar days.

Prior to day four the days could not have been solar days for the sun was not yet created. This being so, the calendar day theory has been a subject of almost constant controversy. Various views have been put forward to answer this problem, including those supporting the calendar days theory. Calvin believed that the light was interchanged with darkness, but was not sure whether this was the same as what we know in our experience as night and day. Perhaps the answer lies within God’s revealed Word (Rev 21:22).

The Biblical evidence certainly indicates that these first three days were of equal duration as the following three, and therefore it can be concluded that these were normal calendar days. A normal reading of the Genesis account clearly gives this impression.

25.3.3 The Work of the Separate Days

1. Creation of light, and separation from darkness. Day and night constituted.
   
   
2. Creation of expanse and separation of waters.
   
   
3. Separation of waters and dry land, and vegetation created.
   
   
4. Light-bearers created, eg sun, moon, stars; and the constitution of the seasons, etc.
   
   
5. Creation of the fowls of the air, and fish of the sea.
   
   
6. Creation of the beasts, cattle, and man.
   
   
7. God ceased from His creative work, and took delight in creation.

25.3.4 Elohist/Jehovist Accounts

Higher critics find in Genesis 2 a second account of creation (Jehovist), which doesn’t agree with the first account in Genesis 1 (Elohist).

However, chapter two is not meant to be an account of creation, but serves a different purpose. Chapter two is the beginning of ‘the history of man,’ and is marked by the ‘toledoth formula,’ used ten times in Genesis to divide different sections.

25.3.5 Restitution Theory

According to Restitution Theory, a long period of time elapsed between the primary creation (Gen 1:1), and the secondary creation (Gen 1:3-31). The earth was originally a place for the angels, and the fall of the angels resulted in the destruction and chaos of Genesis 1:2. Therefore the creation account in Genesis 1 is essentially a re-making of the universe.

The Gap Theory believes Genesis 1:2 should read, ‘and the earth became without form and void.’ The theory says that the world was created perfect long ago, before the judgment brought down upon the fallen angels, and the resulting chaos of destruction and rebirth. The whole period previous to the period of judgment accounts for the geology of our earth. The process following the judgment, or the account in Genesis 1, is how the earth was ‘restituted’ for man. The days of this theory are calendar days.

This view is held by the Schofield Reference Bible, which also holds the re-creative days of Genesis 1 as day-age periods.

NOTE: If you wish to email me regarding your answers to this first lesson, please copy and paste them into an email (Attachments will not be opened). I will then get back to you as soon as I can (expect a delay due to various committments).

Links to Online Texts

• 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith
• 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith

Add this search to your web page