Some believe the Bible says the heavens and the earth were created only about 6000 years ago. Even many scientists assume this is what the Bible teaches. And they scoff. But is this really what Genesis 1:1 teaches?
The truth is plain. Without realizing it, some have been believing a fable that sprang from the dark ages — when people knew little about the Bible except what was taught to them by churchmen, who themselves were ignorant of what the Bible really taught!
Genesis 1:1, in the King James translation, says: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
First, notice what it does NOT say. It does not say “About 6000 years ago …” — or “in 4004 B.C., God created the heaven and the earth.” It says: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
When was “the beginning”? Genesis 1:1 just doesn’t tell us! And there is a reason.
What Genesis 1:1 does reveal is that the heaven and the earth had a beginning. This scripture makes it plain that the universe was created. Genesis 1:1 emphasizes who (in the beginning) created the heaven and the earth! It points us to God, as Creator of the universe.
Genesis 1:1 has been universally misinterpreted. Here is how it happened.
“… Archbishop Ussher … in the years 1650 to 1654, published a chronology {supposedly} based upon the biblical record. His dates were accepted for nearly two centuries, though geologists reading the record of the rocks were early convinced that he had seriously erred when he stated that the earth had been created in the year 4004 B.C., on the 26th of October, at 9 o’clock in the morning!” (H. E. Vokes, “How Old is the Earth?” from “The Illustrated Library of the Natural Sciences”, Vol. II, p. 1155.) (more…)
The Apple Of God's Eye 