The Day-Age Theory states that the creation days of Genesis were in actuality long periods of time during which evolution could have occurred. It is an attempt to reconcile the creation account with modern evolutionary thought.

Please see the other creation/evolution articles for further reason to dismiss the Day-Age theory, especially regarding evolution and death.

The meaning of yom

The Hebrew word yom (translated "day") can be used to mean something other than our familiar (roughly) 24-hour day. However, in the creation account, the term yom is used with the phrase "morning and evening", accompanied by a number, which indicates a literal day. Outside of Genesis, every time yom is used with a number (410 times), it refers to a literal day. Elsewhere, "evening" and "morning" show up with yom 23 times, and by themselves 38 times--each time referring to a literal 24-hour day. The term "night" is used with yom 53 times, similarly indicating a 24-hour day. Other Hebrew words (olam and qedem) could have been used to indicate periods of time here, but neither was used even once.

This context strongly suggests that Genesis is speaking of literal days.

Why not 6 days?

Why doubt what an infinite God has told you? That He, in His infinite wisdom and power, created the world in only 6 days? We have no reason to doubt that a god could do this. Some wonder why God took 6 days, instead of creating everything instantly. In Exodus 20:11, God commands the Israelites to keep the Sabbath day, viewing it in light of creation. It is possible, then, that God purposefully took 6 days to create the world in order to model how people should live--working and resting. Scholars have analyzed the writing and decided that it is clearly written to be understood not as allegorical, but as relating apples to apples--days to days.

A Day is Like a Thousand Years

a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day.2 Peter 3:8

This passage does not indicate that the creation days were long periods of time:

  1. This verse is not speaking of creation at all, but of the Second Coming, and it should be understood in that context.
  2. It is an analogy, saying something is like something else, not that something is something else.
  3. Even a literal interpretation would cancel itself out, as the second part of the verse teaches that a thousand years is like a day.

To be consistent, one would also have to interpret, for instance, Jonah's stay in the great fish as being 3 thousand years!

Other problems

  • How could plants exist millions of years before the animals needed to spread and pollinate them?
  • If the the creation days were at least a thousand years each, how could Adam, having been created on the 6th day and lived beyond the 7th, only have been 930 years old when he died (Genesis 5:5)?