What does old-earth creationism teach?

from the old testament

• The Big Bang is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. It is not a theory of the creation of the universe. OECs believe the Big Bang model supports the creation account in Genesis 1:1 with God speaking the universe into existence, creating it from nothing (creatio ex nihilo). William Lane Craig notes:
• “This cosmological singularity, from which the universe sprang, marked the beginning, not only of all matter and energy in the universe, but of physical space and time themselves. The Big Bang model thus dramatically and unexpectedly supported the biblical doctrine of creatio ex nihilo."
• The word “day” as used in Genesis 1 translates the Hebrew word yôm, which can refer to 24-hour days, or to an unspecified period of time. We see this in Genesis 2:4: “…in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.” Here, “day” refers to the entire creative work of the six days of creation. OECs interpret yôm in Genesis 1 as an unspecified period of time.
• In Genesis 2:17, God warned Adam in the garden, “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” There was no mention of animal death, just Adam’s death. Both John MacArthur (YEC) and Gleason Archer (OEC) agree this was spiritual death for Adam, followed hundreds of years later by Adam’s physical death.
• In the 1650s, Irish archbishop James Ussher, a distinguished historian and biblical scholar, argued that the date of God’s creative work in Genesis 1 was October 22, 4004 BC. To arrive at this extremely specific conclusion, he used the genealogies in Genesis 5 and 11 along with extrabiblical historical sources. More recently scholars have shown that the biblical genealogies contain gaps and omissions, making the accuracy of this method doubtful.
• Psalm 139:13 tells us God created our inmost being, our soul, while we were in the womb (Genesis 2:7; Isaiah 42:5). Despite decades of intense research, materialistic neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology have failed to explain the existence of the human soul. The problem of consciousness has exposed the limits of materialistic naturalism, prompting renewed interest in creationism.

from the new testament

• Romans 5:12 states that “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” This verse is sometimes used by YECs to suggest that animal death could not have occurred prior to Adam's sin. But this verse only indicates that death came to men. The Greek word anthropos specifically refers to human beings, not animals. Only man sins; animals are amoral and do not “sin.” Animal death is excluded by Paul’s use of the word anthropos. OECs believe animal death was part of God’s creation long before Adam was even created, since some of the created animals were carnivorous (e.g., lion, vulture, shark, wasp). Scripture does not indicate that animal diets changed after the Fall.
• 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 is sometimes used by YECs to suggest Adam’s sin brought about all death, including animal death. “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” However, the context clearly pertains only to mankind, with humanity’s death being defeated through the resurrection of Christ. The passage states those who die are the same as those resurrected and made alive in Christ. If ‘all’ that die in Adam includes animals, then the ‘all’ made alive by Christ must also include the animals. Nowhere does Scripture suggest a spiritual nature of animals and their need for redemption.
• By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible (Hebrews 11:3).

implications for today

Fine-tuning of the universe to support human life is an incredible proof of divine design. OEC more easily incorporates natural observations, such as the speed of light compared to the distance of stars, than does YEC.

Astronomers use two primary methods to estimate the age of the universe: by studying the oldest stars, and by measuring the expansion rate of the universe and then extrapolating back to the beginning. Observations of the cosmic microwave background are also used to independently confirm an estimated age of about 13.7 billion years, which most OECs accept. Old-earth creationists also accept the geological and cosmological estimates of a 4.5 billion-year-old Earth.

Some other teachings of biblical OEC beliefs:

God miraculously created the universe from nothing, created life from non-life, and progressively intervened in history to supernaturally form new life. Genesis 1 is a faithful, reliable account of God’s creation.

OEC is opposed to materialistic naturalism, which maintains that the universe created itself.

The age of the Earth has no bearing on the creation of life. An ancient Earth does not equate with atheistic evolution, which OECs reject.

Change through mindless, unintentional processes is unbiblical and not part of OEC.

God miraculously created Adam and Eve, who were uniquely made in the image of God, and from whom humanity’s sin originated.

Earth’s geologic features formed over long ages through both gradual and catastrophic processes.

Proponents holding to an OEC point of view include: John Lennox, William Lane Craig, C.S. Lewis, Norm Geisler, Greg Koukl, J.P. Moreland, Hugh Ross, Stephen Meyer, Wayne Grudem, and Lee Strobel, to name a few.