Christian Creationism: New Earth vs. Old Earth/Gap

The book Arrival of the Prince offers an acceptable storyline about the ancient origination of the Antichrist and his impact on the human race. It has created quite a stir with the Christian creationists. In order to better respond to the tons of mail that I'm getting, and to inform my readers, I thought I would define the different forms of Christian Creationism so that I can better understand their issues and respond to them.
 

Archaic Creationists

This branch of Creationists believes that God created the universe, the earth, and all life upon the earth ten thousand years ago in six twenty-four-hour days. They do not believe that evolution can account for one species evolving into another. They believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible as both an historic and scientific document. They do not believe in evolution in any form.

Young Earth Creationists

This group comprises the largest group of Christian Creationists. They believe everything that the Archaic Creationists believe, but do accept some scientific evidence that the universe and the earth are older than ten thousand years. They also do not believe in evolution in any form.

Old Earth Creationists

Old Earth Creationists believe that the universe and the earth are billions of years old. They generally believe in a more liberal translation of the Bible. In order to reconcile the Bible with science they either attribute longer lengths of the days in Genesis, or talk of a 'gap.' The gap accounts for an older earth and the more recent (ten thousand years) creation of Adam in the Garden of Eden. They also do not believe in any form of evolution.

Intelligent Design Creationists

This group is recognized as the newer generation of Creationists. My impression is that they avoid the arguments about the age of the universe, the earth, and all life on the earth with the following:  There is a personal supernatural creator who initiated creation and continues to control creation to some divine purpose.

The Theology of the Arrival of the Prince

The theology that underlies the Arrival of the Prince is as follows (actually this is defined in the first five paragraphs of the book):
  1. That the universe and the earth are as old as our science says.
  2. That a species of hominids in southeast Africa had evolved to the point that they were ready to become human, but after one hundred and thirty thousand years had not taken the final step.
  3. That thirty thousand years ago God sent an angel to one of the ancient females with an embryo designed in heaven and mysteriously placed it into her womb. (The ancient female contributed no DNA to the fetus in her womb! In the book, the first genetically modern human did not evolve from the hominids, but was designed in heaven. This explanation fits with both genetic science and Genesis!)
  4. That Lucifer was a mortal—and therefore had DNA. This fact is also in the Bible.

 

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James Rutledge
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