Misconception: Biblical Creationism and Evolution oppose each other.
I'm actually a little intimidated by this one myself. It's somewhat heavier of a topic and it might take quite a few extra words to explain. I am very curious about other positions on this so I strongly encourage you to comment if you want to.
If we look at both stories of the inception of the universe and the earth, the closeness of
creationism and evolution reveals itself. Rather than go through a lengthy narrative based on Genesis, I'm going to reduce the story of Creation down to a list. However, I encourage everyone to read it in Genesis; it's a marvelous story.
The order of the events of Genesis, organized by days, is as follows:
1. Light/Dark, Day/Night 4. Sun/Moon/Stars
2. The sky 5. Birds/Sea Creatures
3. Earth/Seas/Vegetation 6. Ground animals/Man
Notice how I've arranged the days, so that 1 and 4 are across from each other, as are 2 and 5, and 3 and 6. One important part of the historical context of the Bible is the arrangement of events in Hebrew literature. In our Western minds, we arrange events (and other sequences) in terms of linear steps. We tend to tell stories sequentially from beginning to end, moving along with time. However, Hebrew literature often told stories that had cyclical elements. These cyclical elements often highlighted important concepts. In the creation story, the cycle restarts on the 4th day. The cycle creates 3 realms that ultimately point to the fact that it was God who created everything.
1. Light/Dark, Day/Night 4. Sun/Moon/Stars
2. The sky 5. Birds/Sea Creatures
3. Earth/Seas/Vegetation 6. Ground animals/Man
The first realm here is the heavenly realm. On days 1 and 4, God creates everything in space.
1. Light/Dark, Day/Night 4. Sun/Moon/Stars
2. The sky 5. Birds/Sea Creatures
3. Earth/Seas/Vegetation 6. Ground animals/Man
The second realm is the sky. On days 2 and 5 God creates everything in the atmosphere. Now, it seems the sea creatures being created on the 5th day is inconsistent with this arrangement. However, if you look at how the creation of the sky was described ("Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.") you can see how the water enters this realm.
1. Light/Dark, Day/Night 4. Sun/Moon/Stars
2. The sky 5. Birds/Sea Creatures
3. Earth/Seas/Vegetation 6. Ground animals/Man
The third realm here is the ground. Again the sea seems to have crept into this realm in day 3. This makes sense according to the description in Genesis ("Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.") and according to the fact that water tends to be found at or below ground level. Interestingly, water is one of the few compounds found in the atmosphere as well as a liquid on the ground.
Looking at this arrangement, we see that the realms make sense of the seemingly strange order of events in Genesis, and point to the fact that it was God who created it. The actual objects and their order are less important than who it was who created everything.
Let's look at the story of the universe that Evolution (with help from other topics) tells. First, physicists determined that the Big Bang caused a sudden exponential increase in the size of the universe. All of the planets and stars we now know have their origin from this explosion of matter. Next, clumps of mass began to collide and form planets that orbited around the sun. It seems that this steps contradicts the Genesis story where the sky was created before the ground. However, the gases that made up the atmosphere were already present in a spinning disk that eventually became the solar system. The creation of the sky then coincides with this step.
Finally, evolution explains how biological variety developed last, once the earth was established in its orbital position. The story of the universe according to scientists at least roughly coincides with the story in Genesis. However, the story in Genesis emphasizes the Creator of everything, not the method of creation. Thus, Evolution and Creationism can completely exist together without opposition. Evolution simply tells us how everything was created, whereas Genesis tells us by whom.
