In today’s episode, I’ll be continuing our discussion about the origins of life. If you didn’t watch the first video, then I encourage you to watch it before you watch this one because each video in this series builds on the previous one.

As I mentioned in the first video, to rightly read and understand the creation account as recorded in Genesis chapter one, you must enter into an ancient worldview. Part of this ancient worldview is a geocentric solar system in which the sun, the moon, and the stars all revolve around the earth. Only when we consider this ancient worldview, can we rightly read and understand the Bible, especially, the creation account as recorded in Genesis chapter one.

Now, you might be asking: why take the time to make a video about the creation account in Genesis? I mean, aren’t there already a ton of videos on YouTube about Genesis chapter one? As a matter of fact, there are dozens if not hundreds of books and videos that say pretty much the same thing that I’m saying. So, why am I doing it? To make a long story short, I’m talking about the creation story because I have a burden for people who have been told that they can’t believe in science because it goes against the Bible. Or they’ve been told that they can’t believe the Bible because it goes against science. I’m here to tell you that these are false choices. You can believe the Bible and science.

We should not have to force people to reject science in order to believe the Bible. What needs to happen is for people to stop being afraid of science and take an honest look at what the scientific community is saying, particularly about the age of the earth. And if there is scientific proof that the earth is millions of years old, we must fit that truth into our belief system.

Now wait a minute, Pastor Steve. Are you saying that science is more reliable than the Bible? I’m saying that we should not be afraid of science, and we should allow science to speak to us as we interpret the Bible.

The role of a scientist is similar to the role of a theologian. A theologian’s job is to study the Bible in order to understand the Bible, especially what the Bible says about God. From their study, the theologians form a particular interpretation of the Bible. This interpretation may or may not be accurate. Similarly, a scientist’s job is to study the natural universe—what Christians call natural revelation. Scientists may not be looking for God or trying to prove the existence of God; nevertheless, God reveals himself in nature as we read in Psalm 19:1: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

Scientists study nature by using the scientific method, a process of asking questions about observable facts, forming an opinion about those facts related to their causes and effects, and then testing the opinions to see if the causes and effects can be duplicated. Once the opinions have been substantiated, the scientist forms a theory. Scientific theories can be modified or even discarded if new information invalidates the original opinion.

Theologians use similar methods to arrive at biblical doctrine. First, a theologian will make observations about the Bible, then they will form opinions about those observations, and then they will sift through the Bible to learn as much as they can about their opinion. If they find enough biblical evidence to support their opinion, they will form a doctrine. Doctrines can be modified or even discarded if new information invalidates the original opinion.

For example, for the first few hundred years of Christianity, Christians believed a variety of ideas about Jesus. Some Christians believed that Jesus was God in the flesh. Others believed that Jesus was not God but only an angel. There were these and other beliefs about Jesus, and it took years and years of debate before a majority opinion won out. This opinion is now a fundamental doctrine of Christianity that we believe today: Jesus is God incarnate.

What does this have to do with the origins of life and the creation story in Genesis? Well, the origins of life and the creation story as recorded in Genesis are still under debate.

During the Christological controversy, the battles were waged on the field of linguistics. In the current controversy over creation and the age of the earth, the battle is being fought mostly in the field of science, particularly geology, astrophysics, biology, and archaeology.

For example, young earth creationists sometimes use the current population and the current rate of population growth to calculate the date for a young earth. Answers in Genesis says: “We can calculate the years of human existence with the population doubling every 150 years (a very conservative figure) to get an estimate of what the world’s population should be after any given period of time.”¹

What is amazing about this quote is that it is based on a consistent and steady rate of population growth. These calculations, however, do not allow for the many variables that have affected population growth over the millennia. Although archaeologists and sociologists can give us rough estimates about the world’s past population, it is difficult to impossible to extrapolate from those estimates the age of the earth. As young-earth creationist Ken Ham has often said, “We weren’t there.” And since we were not there, it is precarious to use the current rate of population growth to date the age of the Earth. What we do know for a fact is that for tens of thousands of years, the world’s population was very small.

Some of the factors that kept the world’s population small include the scarcity of food. Early humans were primarily hunters and gatherers. Finding enough food was a real problem. It wasn’t until we learned animal husbandry and how to cultivate crops that food became less of a problem. The scarcity of food would have prevented the kind of population growth imagined by young-earth creationists. Secondly, natural disasters such as floods, fires, droughts, and plagues of insects, and diseases have caused famine and starvation throughout the centuries. Even today, these natural disasters cause famines and starvation, which results in low population growth. Just think of what happened to the Aztecs. In 1545, a mysterious disease killed 15 million Aztecs – an estimated 80% of the population.

Third, human activity such as mass migrations, invasions, and wars of aggression has resulted in the displacement and destruction of entire people groups. Great civilizations have sometimes vanished from the face of the earth. Even the Bible talks about the Hebrews wiping out tens of thousands of people, in some cases obliterating these people groups from existence. Just read the book of Joshua.

There are other factors that prevented the kind of growth postulated by young-earth creationists, such as deforestation and soil erosion. Sometimes a society simply did not have the infrastructure capable of supporting large populations.

What does this have to do with the origins of life and the creation story as recorded in Genesis? It means that it is folly to try to calculate the age of the earth by the rate of population growth. There are just too many variables. It also means that some young-earth creationists use unverifiable science to arrive at their belief in a young earth. What we do know from archaeology is that humans have been on the earth for over a hundred thousand years—far longer than young-earth creationists claim.

1. Answers In Genesis, “Six Evidences of a Young Earth,” accessed April 15, 2026, https://answersingenesis.org/evidence-for-creation/six-evidences-of-young-earth/ ↩︎