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inclined to think that God created all things in a moment of time, and that the thought of days
was simply introduced to aid the finite intelligence. The Scholastics debated a great deal about
the possibility of eternal creation; some, such as, Alexander of Hales, Bonaventura, Albertus
Magnus, Henry of Ghent, and the great majority of the Scholastics denying this; and others,
such as Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, Durandus, Biel, and others affirming it. Yet the doctrine
of creation with or in time carried the day. Erigena and Eckhart were exceptional in teaching
that the world originated by emanation. Seemingly the days of creation were regarded as
ordinary days, though Anselm suggested that it might be necessary to conceive of them as
different from our present days. The Reformers held firmly to the doctrine of creation out of
nothing by a free act of God in or with time, and regarded the days of creation as six literal
days. This view is also generally maintained in the Post-Reformation literature of the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, though a few theologians (as Maresius) occasionally speak of
continuous creation. In the eighteenth century, however, under the dominating influence of
Pantheism and Materialism, science launched an attack on the Church’s doctrine of creation. It
substituted the idea of evolution or development for that of absolute origination by a divine
fiat. The world was often represented as a necessary manifestation of the Absolute. Its origin
was pushed back thousands and even millions of years into an unknown past. And soon
theologians were engaged in various attempts to harmonize the doctrine of creation with the
teachings of science and philosophy. Some suggested that the first chapters of Genesis should
be interpreted allegorically or mythically; others, that a long period elapsed between the
primary creation of Gen. 1:1,2 and the secondary creation of the following verses; and still
others, that the days of creation were in fact long periods of time.
B. Scriptural Proof for the Doctrine of Creation.
The Scriptural proof for the doctrine of creation is not found in a single and limited portion of
the Bible, but is found in every part of the Word of God. It does not consist of a few scattered
passages of doubtful interpretation, but of a large number of clear and unequivocal statements,
which speak of the creation of the world as a historical fact. We have first of all the extended
narrative of creation found in the first two chapters of Genesis, which will be discussed in detail
when the creation of the material universe is considered. These chapters certainly appear to
the unbiased reader as a historical narrative, and as the record of a historical fact. And the
many cross-references scattered throughout the Bible do not regard them in any other light.
They all refer to creation as a fact of history. The various passages in which they are found may
be classified as follows: (1) Passages which stress the omnipotence of God in the work of
creation, Isa. 40:26,28; Amos 4:13. (2) Passages which point to His exaltation above nature as
the great and infinite God, Ps. 90:2; 102:26,27; Acts 17:24. (3) Passages which refer to the
wisdom of God in the work of creation, Isa. 40:12-14; Jer. 10:12-16; John 1:3; (4) Passages