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Biblical Case for an Old Earth, A

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People of all persuasions, conservative, liberal, and skeptic, will find this book useful as a carefully reasoned exposition of what the Bible actually *says*.

All too often, we bring modern presuppositions to the Bible and misunderstand it. For example, we see the word "earth" and immediately imagine a globe seen from outer space. That was not part of the ancient Hebrew mindset. On that basis, Snoke argues convincingly that the Bible says Noah's flood was local (it covered "the land," not the entire planet). Also, the creation story in Genesis 1 is clearer if we understand that it describes the appearance of things seen by a person on the ground, not an aerial or outer-space view.

Snoke is very conservative; he does not accept Darwinian evolution at all. His conservatism makes the book all the more useful because he obviously is not trying to impose Darwinism or anything else onto the Bible. He is just trying to read it in the light of present-day knowledge of history, archeology, and physical science.

He does a good job of disposing of fundamentalist folklore. Young-earthers often add to the Bible a remarkable assortment of notions not explicitly taught there, such as the vapor canopy theory, an assortment of miracles associated with Noah's Ark, and so forth.

He also makes an interesting observation about the "appearance of age" theory (that God created the earth with the appearance of age). Suppose God created Adam miraculously with a 30-year-old body. That would make sense because in order to exist, Adam had to exist at *some* stage of physical maturity. But if God had created Adam with 30 years of false memories, that would make God a deceiver. In the same way, it does not seem plausible that God would create the universe with spurious evidence for huge numbers of specific prehistoric events, from supernovae down to the life and death of individual animals.

In passing, he remarks that it is a breach of scientific ethics for young-earthers, presenting themselves as scientists, to take their claims directly to popular audiences, often with church sanction, without submitting them to any kind of expert criticism (even from their allies). He also suggests a possible reason for widespread ancient belief in dragons: a few dinosaur skeletons must have been found, and recognized as reptiles, at various places in ancient times.

In short: This book is very strong on logic in a field where shoddy reasoning is common. It is the best exegesis of Genesis 1-2 that I've ever seen.

Since Young Earth Creationists believe that God's Word trumps God's works every time, the only approach that would have a chance of succeeding in getting YECs to consider the possibility of Old Earth Creationism would be to demonstrate that the Bible can be interpreted to support (or at least not preclude) OEC.

David Snoke's "A Biblical Case for an Old Earth" takes a giant step in this direction. First he builds a case for the legitimacy of allowing experience to affect our interpretation of the Bible. After a chapter in the scientific case for an old earth, he presents an extensive and well-reasoned discussion of animal death before the fall, which he perceives as one of the significant issues in the YEC vs. OEC debate.

He then covers the leviathan, the Sabbath rest, miracles, interpreting Genesis 1 & 2, and Noah's Flood, using all of these discussions to gently support Old Earth Creationism. He clearly states his own personal views on each issue.

Throughout the book, he demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the entire Bible, particularly in bringing out relevant parallelisms in Hebrew Scripture. His knowledge of science (Ph.D. in physics) benefits the text on numerous occasions.

This book is written for the Christian layman, both YEC and OEC.

In this book, David Snoke, a professor of Physics at the University of Pittsburgh, presents a case for a "day-age" view of Genesis 1. Snoke's twin goals are to establish that the "day-age" view is a valid alternative for Christians who hold to Biblical inerrancy and to argue for a concordist understanding of the Genesis texts and modern science. He succeeds admirably at the first goal, but is less persuasive concerning the second.

The book is organized into nine chapters and includes an appendix with a "literal" translation of Genesis 1-12. The first two chapters identify Snoke's underlying assumptions and recite the scientific evidence for an old earth. Snoke does an excellent job of explaining why and when extra-Biblical evidence can be used to interpret the Bible, and provides a calm, concise summary of the physical evidence against the young earth view. These chapters are particularly useful and admirable because they avoid the argumentative tone that so often creeps into this sort of discussion.

After laying this groundwork, Snoke responds to two key objections against the old earth view: the problem of death before the fall and the relationship between the creation week and the Sabbath. His insights concerning animal death before the fall are particularly helpful. In particular, he suggests that the wild, untamed aspects of creation, including things such as carnivorous animals, may have served before the Fall as a reminder to Adam and Eve of God's power, and as a sort of warning about life outside the protected confines of Eden. Just as Aslan in C.S. Lewis' Narnia books is not a "tame Lion," he notes, these aspects of creation that don't seem "nice" to us remind us that God is also a "dangerous" God.

After presenting his Biblical case for an old earth, Snoke turns to the case for a concordist view of science and scripture. He defines "science" as "nothing but a way to organize and analyze the things of the world around us," and concludes that since the Bible also makes observations about the physical world, there should be areas of overlap where "things in the Bible are open to scientific investigation."

Many readers will take issue with this definition of "science." At first blush, it seems as though this definition is too broad, as "science" is a specific and limited way of analyzing the world around us. In fact, those in the theistic evolution camp argue that "science" is limited to investigating natural causes and that it cannot therefore be applied to the questions raised by the Bible. Many readers also will question why Snoke discounts Darwinian evolution based on an a priori reading of the creation story concerning Adam and Eve, while remaining willing to consider alternative interpretations of related texts that superficially seem to suggest a recent creation. Nevertheless, on the question of the age of the earth, this is a fair and well-balanced book that deserves a wide reading, particularly in the evangelical community.

David Snoke is an associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh and is an elder in the Presbyterian Church in America, in which denomination he also is licensed to preach. As is true in many evangelical denominations in America, the PCA has gone through a struggle between young earth and old earth creationists, with many young earth creationists declaring that those holding to an old earth should not be allowed to preach or hold office. The PCA has decided against this exclusive policy, but the controversy continues. Snoke has written this book as a defense of the old earth position.

Snoke spends some time with the scientific arguments for an old earth, which he summarizes quite well. These include arguments from starlight, from magnetic domains on the ocean floor, and from other well known phenomena on Earth showing the passage of time. He also spends some time showing how flood geology will not account for the geological layers we observe.

However, most of the book, as the title indicates, deals with biblical and theological arguments. Snoke demonstrates how it is necessary to use our experience in the world, including our observations, when interpreting the Bible--the Bible was not written in a vacuum. The fullest and most helpful discussions in the book, in my opinion, describe the very good creation of Genesis as containing both positive, helpful, parts, and dark, dangerous parts. He does a good job explaining the place of the "sea" and "sea monsters" in Hebrew biblical thought. Snokes is very convincing showing that the "very good" creation included danger and death in the plant and animal kingdom, and danger for the human kingdom. This "dark side" also glorifies God in many OT texts.

Somewhat detracting is the lengthy appendix consisting of his own translation of Genesis 1-11. Snoke's translation is indiosyncratic, and his linguistic procedures are poor when handling idioms or handling the same Hebrew term in contexts where it has different meanings. He admits not being a Hebrew expert. A better procedure would have been to take a standard translation and suggest changes or make clarifications in parentheses. Yet, in spite of this anti-climactic appendix, the book is very valuable showing how the Hebrew and the OT world would have understood the text much differently than modern young earth creationists do.

Ironically, as from the examination of this book, I tend to agree with Mr. Snoke and Old Earth theology on the beginning and I agree with John MacArthur and PreMill on the ending. I have to say I tend to be an Old Earth theologian when dealing with the first eleven to twelve chapters or so in the book of Genesis. While there are a lot of books out there on young earth theology, there are only a few really good books on Old Earth theology--and Mr. Snoke's book is one of them. The first two or so chapters are fairly boring. I hate to say. He examines arguments that I really already know a great deal about having studied OT theology in my Seminary studies. But after a bit, Snoke truly brings you into argument after argument as to why the world must be an Old Earth world. He does so pithily, intrinsically, and with a lot of wisdom toward what Scripture has to offer. He doesn't just fly off the scope of Scripture, he bridges science and Scripture together as they should be bridged. Some of his arguments deal with why there had to be animal (not human, mind you) death before and during the time of Adam and Eve in the Garden. And, building on that, why there was death to begin with for animals, but not humans. What I mean by that is this, humans received death out of punishment for Adam's sin. Animals died before and during and up to the time of the bitten apple because this death was to show as an object lesson to Adam and Eve. Not that Scripture says this out right, but Snokes does a fairly good job using meticulous exegesis on Scripture to bring us this message. Even if you do not agree with Old Earth theology, you should read this book because it will help you understand why those like myself are Old Earth Christians.

Most of the book was exceptionally well written, well edited, and mature, as you would expect for a new edition of an old book. Dr. Snoke's discussion of animal death before The Fall masterfully covers this controversial subject. His discussion of the Sabbath issue only missed one minor point, the law was given on Pentecost, the end of a week of weeks, but his comparison of Genesis 1 to the judgments of Revelation was a completely new insight. His chapter on concordance between science and Scripture should be required reading for Christians who call themselves scientists. His translation of Genesis 1-12 is especially helpful to those who want to carefully deal with Genesis but can not read Hebrew.

But three chapters struck me as if Dr. Snoke got some new ideas at the last moment and hurriedily inserted them into his book. Snoke's eschatology greatly adds to the confusion in these places. [...] It basically makes for a confused mess that was not well thought out in much of Chapters 1, 3 (predators before The Fall), and 8 (The Flood). These chapters are still very useful, but not as good as they should have been.

Hopefully the book will do well enough that Baker will do another printing and Snoke can improve those chapters to the quality of the rest of the book.

Im a commited conservative Christian and this is one of the best books i have ever read, I have just ordered another copy to loan to Christian friends who presently dont hold to his views. I loaned one to my friend who is an Scientist and he liked it so much he read it in one sitting. Mr Snoke is very smart but writes with simplicity and without bagging those who hold aguments he refutes well. I like him he is humble and very smart in a kindhearted way. In one part of the book he made me feel as if i had witnessed the very first sunrise, i will never forget it, I love him for that, Im sad he doesnt seem to have written anymore books. This book has altered my world view, it simply is GREAT.

A friend of mine who believes in young Earth creationism recently informed me,
"When it comes to matters of what to believe concerning God and His word, I tend to be very careful to consider first the Biblical interpretations before considering other man's ideas, even if the men profess to be Christians." I had one major question after reading this book, and it was not whether author David Snoke had presented his case that Earth was "old", created by God many ages ago. Instead, my question was whether his position could be defended by a Christian having a solid understanding of God's word, using the Bible alone.

The core of this book presents what Snoke calls a "possible" interpretation of Scripture, helping the reader put together different passages to understand what the Father actually said in His Word, without "filling in the blanks" where He is silent. (Recall that Satan's original attempt to deceive Eve involved extending what the Father had said about trees in the Garden of Eden.) For example, Scripture says the curse placed upon Adam and Eve following their sin spread to all of mankind, but it does not say it condemned the rest of creation, which was already subject to its own "futility" in accordance with God's plan. As such, one can deduce that plants and animals both lived and died prior to the fall. Snoke provides a convincing Biblical proof on the subject of the Sabbath to show that the days of creation were not 24 hours long, but "God's days" of indeterminate length. He points out that we shouldn't interpret Scripture in a way that demands extreme miracles from God, when there is no Biblical evidence to suggest such events actually occurred. For example, the great flood of Noah, which wiped out almost all of mankind, was most likely a highly localized catastrophe. The Bible describes water rising to cover the high hills, not a uniform, six mile deep flood engulfing everything including Mount Everest, a half world away from where the people of those times lived.

In making his case for an old Earth, the author frequently applied deductive reasoning to relevant Scripture passages. The Biblical evidence alone, while implicit in its nature, convinced me that the Earth really is old. I could stop right there, and give this book a positive rating for a job well done. As a scientist, though, I also appreciate much of the physical evidence that God has created for us to observe and understand, left over from coral reefs, sedimentary rock layers, the stars in the heavens, the movement of the continents, and so forth. Snoke points out that God's creation is itself a miracle. Just as in the Gospel, the disciples of Jesus were asked to count the twelve baskets full of leftovers so they would remember His miraculous feeding of 5,000 hungry people, we ought not to turn our backs upon what nature reveals to us today about His creative work from long ago.

I didn't give this book five stars, because I thought a few of Snoke's views weren't detailed well enough to satisfy my curiosity. For example, why does Genesis say that the sun, moon and stars were "made" by God on day four, when vegetative life (requiring light) began on day three? It does seem plausible that on day one, God commanded the ignition of our sun by proclaiming, "Let there by light," but only later visually revealed celestial bodies to Earth's inhabitants. Explaining this, Snoke notes the absence of the past perfect tense of verb forms in modern translations of Genesis, but ignores the fact that different English translations apply these unevenly. Later when describing the great flood, Snoke doesn't explain how just 20 feet of vertical water displacement could cover high hills, drowning all of humanity. Where could such a devastating flood take place? The author makes no comment. Snoke stirred my interest by speculating where the Garden of Eden might have been located, which also could have supported his argument for a regional flood, but the discussion was cut short and the map he provided was poorly labeled. One should keep in mind that the author is a Christian trained as a Physicist, not an Anthropologist. Nonetheless, I find these shortcomings do not detract much from his central argument, which is that the young Earth creationist movement presents a viewpoint based on a false theology, typically backed by untenable scientific methods.

In spite of a few shortcomings related to details, I still highly recommend this book. It bolstered my long-standing belief that the Earth is old, and gave me new Biblical insights that support my belief in creationism. Perhaps because of my Earth Science background, young-Earth believers have engaged me on this subject at least three times in recent years. I feel that the next time I am approached by someone with news that the universe, the Earth, and all its inhabitants were created in less than a week around the year 4,000 B.C., I will be better prepared to conduct a fruitful discussion.

One controversial topic among Christian believers is that of creation theology, especially concerning the age of God's creation. Is the earth only about 6,000 years old as most "young-earthers" insist the Bible states (seven literal 24 hour days occuring 6,000 years ago according to the geneologies in Genesis)? Or, is the earth much older, perhaps billions of years old, with the universe even older?

Dr. David W. Snoke PhD, the author of this somewhat scholarly book, is a Physics professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He presents many scientific (data) proofs to show conclusively that the earth is ancient, and insists that the Bible supports the notion of an ancient earth. Snoke writes that "young-earthers" impose their particular young-earth creation theology upon the Genesis account (insisting on a literal 7-day, 24 hour creation period)- an effort that Snoke claims does not fit the text.

If you have interest in this subject, this book will hold your interest from start to finish. Caution - it is not a book to casually read in one's spare time! Rather, this is a book to study, to work through slowly, much like a textbook. The scientific proofs of an ancient earth are explained in detail, and it takes time to "digest" these proofs, to learn them and understand them. After Dr. Snoke presents the scientific case for an ancient earth, he then gives a three chapter treatise on the Biblical case for an ancient earth (citing Biblical texts that support the notion that the earth is indeed ancient). He wraps up the book with the obvious (and not so obvious) implications of his evidence. (I won't list the implications here, as these would be considered "spoilers").

I consider this book an important text in the on-going debate between young and old earther Christian believers. As a student of the sciences myself, I never accepted the notion of a "young" earth, a literal 24-hour, 7-day creation week. I don't beleive Genesis should be interpreted that way, as it does not make sense scientifically, and since the Creator created both the earth and science, the two must be in harmony. As an aside, I am most grateful for the writings of Dr. Hugh Ross, Christian believer, Physicist and Astronomer. Dr. Ross's many books present the case for a "Day-Age" interpretation of Genesis, which has allowed me to understand Genesis 1 and 2 for the first time (without compromising my scientific background). (Some Hugh Ross books I highly recommend are Genesis One: A Scientific Perspective, Why the Universe Is the Way It Is, and The Genesis Question: Scientific Advances and the Accuracy of Genesis.

Science and the Bible are not contradicatory (but sometimes our flawed interpretations of the scriptures are contradicatory). The God that created our world also created all the scientific principles of physics, biology, chemistry, and geology, that definitively prove we live in an ancient earth, and a much more ancient universe.

Dr. Snokes' book is clear and concise, explained so that the layperson and scientist can clearly understand his reasoning on the age of the earth and why the Bible supports an ancient earth. It is well worth the time to read, especially if you have been taught in religious training (like me) that the earth is only 6,000 years old. Many youg-earth groups dogmatically teach a young earth, and even go so far as to suggest blasphemy to those that do not accept their teaching. I liken them to the Catholic Church that insisted Galileo was wrong about the eath-sun-planetary model.

konedog

this book makes a good starting case for an old earth. Its chapter on animal death is particularly good, as is the one on the theological implications of his argument. To be clear, he adamantly disavows theistic evolution, affirms the historicity of Adam and Noah, and does not claim that science has the right to dictate biblical interpretation. What he does affirm on the relatonship between faith and science is that yes, modern geology, astronomy etc. did prompt him to re-examine his understanding of Genesis to see if it was correct, and despite the protests of Ken Ham and the like, therereally are exegetical problems with the young earth view. Serious ones.

Some of the material is a bit dated. Most YEC's avoid the appearance of age argument now, and They have dropped the idea of light being slower now than in the past. But overall the points he addresses are still important and his arguments are convincing. His points about how God's character fits into the Old Earth view are especially important.

I would recommend that as soon as you read this book, read the commentary on Gen. 1-4 by C. John Collins. He was the Chief editor of the Old Testament translating committee for the English Standard Version and has the Theological and Hebrew expertise that Snoke does not. He holds a slightly different view called the Analogical Day view,which differs from the Day Age view in only one respect: the days of creation are analagous to human days, not synomynous or long ages as strictly interpreted grammatically. They probably were in fact long ages, but to Collins the word day here is simply a literary device not a concrete term. Interestingly he shows how one major problem with how YEC's handle Gen. 1 is that they misinterpret the first verse ad actually end up doing real harm to the doctrine of creation ex nihilo (creation out of nothing) which is prehaps the biggest single theological aim Moses was aiming for when he wrote the book!

So if you or a friend are starting to consider moving outside the confines of an Earth that's 6000 years old but need to first see if that can be done biblically, read this one, then read Collins. Afterwards if you want to really dig into the science aspect, read Hugh Ross' stuff.