Below are some comments as I ponder & react to the OLD EARTH THEORY (I believe in the young earth/6000+ yrs) with thoughts about what the food chain (which involves constant 'death') could have been at Creation, a GREAT puzzlement to me.  Know too that I think a belief in an Old Earth (millions of yrs) is damaging to the believer as the theory encourages belief in evolution (which gravitates to atheism).  

The first thing that died after the fall of man was the slain animal killed by God (1st time blood was spilled/perhaps a lamb......who knows!) to cover Adam and Eve.  Before sin, blood wasn't shed.

Mosquitoes suck our blood for the oxygen (40% (?) less oxygen than before the fall/flood, etc); and before the fall, WHO knows how they behaved......perhaps buzzing/singing to humans.  Bees make honey, sting if bothered; but who knows what ELSE they could have been made for that has not yet been observed?.....honey and much more!?

In the Millennium a child will play at the hole of an asp (poisonous snake); but to play with snakes could involve them crawling comfortably (as a massage) all over a person (could be fun).....or hanging from trees in beautiful designs.  Anti-venom material is an example of how the toxic substance of the killer snake is a healing material as well.

I actually think that our fallen, sinful mind (even though we are saved) CANNOT even PICTURE PERFECTION.  

Every thought that comes out the human mind, believe it or not, is sin and selfishness; but thankfully our INTENT to accept the blood of Christ and our INTENT to follow the Lord is honored by God and we are COVERED by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS!......a greater privilege than we realize!  But WE are not perfect and do NOT understand perfection.

After the fall, thorns grew on the rose bushes and on the cactuses; animals changed their behavior for survival's sake.  

At Creation, everything was meant to last forever and we cannot even begin to picture such a system.  There was no decay and everything stayed new and eternal. The fall of man into sin changed the way EVERYTHING worked.  

At Creation the plants were given for food; but the food was digested differently (without bacteria to break down the food) because JESUS ate food AFTER the resurrection and he didn't have blood anymore! (strange digestive system in His new body......the same body WE will have some day!).  EVERYTHING was different at Creation and the curse upon this earth is MUCH MORE HORRIFIC than we can fathom.  We are surrounded and immersed in death and decay (mentally and physically) but our sinful human minds are fooled and call much of creation beauty and loveliness; but it is SO FAR below what it once was.

When you look at a peacock with spread feathers, you are looking at a gorgeous bird that is in the process of dying in the next 15 or 20 years.....i.e. you're looking at death; but our minds, deceived in our fallen state, don't register that fact. Instead we are determined (in our rebellion) to call these things LIFE!

Humans know very well (in their innermost spirit) that they are guilty of the curse brought upon nature and they feel it, trying constantly to mask the truth with thoughts of beauty, life and eternity because that's what was LOST at the fall and we know who did it (ME!).  We yearn for perfection because we are made in God's image, meant to be PERFECT but presently in a horrible state.  To tell the truth, our spirits yearn for all that's beautiful and eternal because we know what was lost; but the Devil is so tremendously clever that we think WE KNOW BEAUTY & LIFE!......NO we don't!  The most beautiful thing on this entire earth was the mangled, blood-dripped, swollen, gut-protruding body of Jesus on the cross.  Until we realize what He had to do to lift earth's horrendous curse, we will continue to think we understand perfection.  Only 'eating' His Word (Bible), praying and putting forth daily effort to show Him how much we love Him (by obedience) will bring us nearer to this wisdom......and even then we only 'TOUCH' upon a mere, slight image of perfection (maybe!).

You do know that a fish that has been caught will wiggle violently because it is dying.  Today's youth/culture....etc is DYING.....wiggling like crazy!

The Bible also says that "It hasn't even ENTERED the MIND the things that God has prepared for those who love Him."  What hasn't entered the mind???? The PERFECTION that exists in Heaven!; and earth was perfect at Creation; and if we cannot understand the perfection of Heaven, why do we think we can understand what a perfect earth used to be?....including how the food chain functioned (if there was such a thing) and whether there was ruin & rot as plants were consumed.  The bodies of the eaters worked differently.

As we feed upon the Word of God......the supernatural power in the words, the letters, in between the letters AND the Holy Sprit's application of the words upon our mind and body (MIRACULOUS, LIFE-CHANGING WORDS)......we begin to get an idea of the wretched creatures we are, and the astounding beauty of the Savior outshines all
else that we think is beautiful......J.H.

 This is NOT from biblical teaching, but my own thoughts... So take with a large dose of discernment... LOL

I view the original beginning as that of the Heavenly nature, no filth, dirt, etc..  I think that Lucifer was put in charge over the earth with angels.

In the beginning, I do NOT believe that there was darkness either because as the ending, there will be no darkness and no need for the sun or moon..

Re 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

We only read about Lucifer (Satan) in two areas in the Bible with very little information about why and how his fall..  Isa.14:12 and Eze.28:12-15...

Ok, when God started the seven day creation of what we view today, note on day four God put the sun, moon, stars, and planets in the sky for a sign of redemption...

This was before sin from mankind even entered the earth..  So to me Adam and Eve were a sting operation to destroy Satan and to take the title deed of earth from him back to God who gave it..  

God did this through his only begotten son, Jesus...   The title to earth now belongs to Jesus..

Again,,  this is just my own thoughts.... Which means absolutely nothing....

Joseph

Here's part of a study,  I did a couple of months ago.

Genises 1:1 = Perfection / Order

Genesis 1:2 = Disorder / Result of Judgment...Also Correlates Flood of Noah / Judgment  Genesis 6:11-17

Genesis 1:3 = Regeneration...As to Re-New...  Correlation Revelation 21:1

I also correlate with numeric's (In Context) With my Research...

If you don't what to read through my study,  Here's a good site,  Rightly Dividing The Word...

http://www.kjvbible.org/

beginning=81 source=81 start=78 Genesis=78 Calculate=78 Genesis
1:1 beginning=81 problem=81
spirit=91 darkness=91 Gen. 1:2 Hovering=98 Rev. 22:20 Quickly=98
Gen.1:1 First Letter I=9 Last H=8

wisdom=83 numeric=83 author=83 faithful=83 For they willfully
overlook and forget this [fact], that the heavens [came into] existence
long ago by the word of God, and the earth also which was formed out of
water and by means of water,
6 Through which the world that then [existed] was deluged with water
and perished.
7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been stored
up (reserved) for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and
destruction of the ungodly people. 2 PETER CH.3

Jesus=74 Time=47 Number=73 Place=37

format=73 Number=73 Count=73 Perfect=73 Kingdom=73

JESUS WORDS=153 NUMBER LETTER=153
6 And angels who did not
keep (care for, guard, and hold to) their own first place of power but
abandoned their proper dwelling place—these He has reserved in custody
in eternal chains (bonds) under the thick gloom of utter darkness until
the judgment and doom of the great day. JUDE

NUMERIC PROOF=153 GOD SET IN ORDER=153

Genesis=78 + Revelation=121 + =199 Adam=19 Spirit=91 Gen. 1:9 (Dry
Land=78) (Genesis=78)4 Where were you when I laid the foundation of
the earth? Declare to Me, if you have and know understanding.
5 Who determined the measures of the earth, if you know? Or who
stretched the measuring line upon it?
6 Upon what were the foundations of it fastened, or who laid its
cornerstone,
7 When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?  Job 38

 Two passages on the OT -- Is. 14:12-22 and Ezekiel 28:12-19 -- are
often suggested as providing a "biography" of Satan; from thence come
other presumptions.

Is this a valid interpretation? To start, here are the passages in
question:

Isaiah 14:12-22 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the
nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the
mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend
above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou
shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see
thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this
the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; That
made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that
opened not the house of his prisoners? All the kings of the nations,
even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. But thou
art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment
of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to
the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. Thou shalt not
be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land,
and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.
Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers;
that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the
world with cities. For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of
hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and
nephew, saith the LORD.
Ezekiel 28:12-19 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of
Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the
sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the
garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius,
topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the
sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of
thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou
wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have
set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked
up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in
thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found
in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst  

of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee
as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O
covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was
lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by
reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay
thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy
sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of
thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of
thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the
earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know
thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a
terror, and never shalt thou be any more........
18 And He said to them, I saw Satan falling like a lightning [flash]
from heaven. Luke 10:18
2 The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon
the face of the very great deep. The Spirit of God was moving
(hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters. Gen. 1:2

18 For thus says the Lord—Who created the heavens, God Himself, Who
formed the earth and made it, Who established it and did not create it
to be a worthless waste; He formed it to be inhabited—I am the Lord,
and there is no one else.Isaiah 45:18

Gen. 1:1 created = bara= From Nothing... For in six days the LORD-
made- the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but
he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath
day and made it holy. Exodus 20:11 

                        =6213. עָשָׂה (asah) -- accomplish
concordances.org/hebrew/6213.htm
I. עָשָׂה2622 verb do, make (Late Hebrew = Biblical Hebrew; MI23, 26
עשתי, l.3 .... 2Chron 2:11; Psalm 95:5 +; making man Psalm 100:3; Psalm
119:73 (made by ...
`asah - Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon - New American Standard<br /><br />
http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/nas/asah.html<br /><br />
`asah. The NAS Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon ... to be done; to be made;
to be produced; to be offered; to be observed; to be used. (Pual) to be
made. (Piel) to ...
`asah - Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon - King James Version<br /><br />
http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/kjv/asah.html<br /><br />
`asah. The KJV Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon ... to be done; to be made;
to be produced; to be offered; to be observed; to be used. (Pual) to be
made. (Piel) to ...
Did God create (bara) or make (asah) in Genesis 1? - Answers in ...
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/aid/v2/.../did-god-create-or-make
Aug 15, 2007 – Keywords: create, bara, make, asah, theistic
evolutionists, old-earth .... Hebrews 1:2 says He made (ἐποίησεν,
epoiaysen) the original creation ...
heritagebbc/archive3/0223.html
http://www.heritagebbc.com/archive3/0223.html
"And God MADE (Hebrew "asah") the beast of the earth after his kind,
and cattle after their kind; and every thing that creepeth upon the
earth after his kind: and ...
Created vs. Made - Heritage Baptist Bible Church
http://www.heritagebbc.com/archive2/0111.html
You will notice that the word used in this verse is “made” from the
Hebrew “asah” meaning a use of pre-existing materials; and not
“created”, or “bara” in the ... "Beginning"  Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven's and the earth.

Some Examples of Structure - Modern English Has Perfect Correlation (In Context)

http://www.asis.com/users/stag/englishg.html

http://scripturecode.com/ov.html

http://www.light56.com/
  ...

If God created Adam as a fully-grown man who was never an infant and never had a childhood (and likely no belly button), then it doesn't boggle the imagination to think God created the earth with a certain "age", meaning, seeds didn't need to germinate and grow, He merely created trees from the get-go.  The chicken came first, not the egg.  The sun didn't need to coalesce it's gasses to become a star, it merely was.  Mountains didn't need eons to form, they were created.  Obviously, God wanted us to see the stars, therefore He made it so we could see them, a billion light years away or not.

That's my opinion, anyhow.  Nothing is impossible for God.

~~Becka

I find myself 'hung up' on this subject (for WHATEVER reason)……but perhaps the laws of physics were different at Creation. We study geology and archaeology according to the PRE-FLOOD earth, NOT the Pre-Fall, Perfect Earth. Sound can produce light with enough speed (“Let there be light”….thus the start of all Creation) and time warps with enough distance and there are supposed to be 14 different dimensions……….all things that stretch or exceed the laws of physics. Does a human understand the laws of physics?……yes. But didn’t God say that absolute PERFECTION (Heaven) hasn’t entered the human mind yet?…..and if the earth was PERFECT (before the Fall), can a human understand it?…….No. When a person is born again, he becomes a BRAND NEW CREATURE and we don’t really know what that is; but somehow the soul takes on an eternal identity that was dead but now it is alive……WAY beyond the laws of physics.

Let’s see now, how many people are willing to entertain this subject?…..and how many think there’s a reason to ponder it?

After 7,000 yrs of this present earth’s existence, God will “make a New Heaven and the New Earth” and the Greek word means ‘new in quality/new in atomic structure.’ At present the way the atom is arranged makes it prone to ignite (a study I can’t remember the details of); and the protons, neutrons, etc have to apparently be rearranged for the curse to be lifted.

'The thought is this: If the earth was PERFECT at CREATION, why would a NEW EARTH need to be made? And why would the atomic structure need to be changed? I think it’s for the purpose of creating the same earth that existed in its perfection at creation BEFORE THE FALL. The Millennium will not be the PERFECT earth, but a pre-flood earth under Messiah’s control. What I am inferring is that the present laws of physics are different from those that will exist in the New Heaven and New Earth……the same as those laws in the ORIGINAL, perfect earth before the Fall. The universe “rolling up like a scroll” probably has something to do with the future change in atomic structure also including such a change in the entire universe.

Anyway, enough of this senseless pondering.  The reason for this 'tangent' is that I discovered a very respectable website called the OLD EARTH and it bothers me tremendously that there are Christians that believe in an old earth.  Thus, I'm saying everything possible to persuade them to see the sense of a young earth theory.

"Janet"   Have you seen and studied,  This Information...?   http://www.kjvbible.org/

Grumpy old Christian » 

Still I don't think God created faux dinasaur and Neanderthal bones to trick us into questioning the recent creation.

I agree.  I don't think He did that either, although that view was proposed by some after Darwin's theory was proposed.  Actually, instead of God having done it, there were those who thought it was the work of the devil. 

The problem I have with that is that if Satan had that kind of power, why did he leave so many gaps in the record? 

Not to be disagreeable about it, or to say the age of the earth is irrefutably established, but usually those who argue for a recent creation hold that the geological dating techniques are in error, not that the bones aren't genuine. 

Noah's Flood (which isn't accepted by geologists, either) is usually held to be the cause of what we now see in the geological record.  Unless you put the dinosaurs in a previous creation, then you have to find a place for them before the Flood.

Edit to add:  unbelieving geologists, not all of them.

Any way you slice it, there are a lot of really hard problems to reconcile.

I didn't have time to comb through all the posts but here is my thought.

The earth and universe could be millions or billions years old.Time wasn't existed until the six days of creation.

The first creation is the cosmic light.And on the second day God separates the waterAnd time wasn't created until the fourth day.

Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

From verse 16 we learn that God created the sun and moon  to govern the day and night.

I can give an example.If we ask the CEO of GM,how long does it take to build a Buick?He will come back with the answer of 2 days.

But wait,what about the material that makes up the Buick,like aluminun?Aren't they existed for millions of years?

To make my point simple,the universe and the earth has been around for millions of years.But it wasn't until 6000 years ago that God began his creation.

And regarding Noah's flood,the water that God has separated from the earth was broken,and started pouring on the earth for 40 days and nights.

My belief is after this flood,the earth entered into a glacier age.The earth was originaly protected by the "water in the sky" and having a Greenhouse effect.But the breaking of this water in heaven (Genesis 7:11) changed the climate of the earth into a glacier age.

Most of the water absorbed by the earth,but some part of it formed the north and south arctic zone,and being stored as iceberg.

Archaeologists have found the fossils of dinosaurs,fish species who used to live in the deep sea up in the high mountain range.This is explained by the flood rising above all mountains,raising all the creatures including dinosaurs and fishes in the deep sea to 10,000 meters high.But when the water rapidly retreated,and the temperature rapidly dropped,it gave the conditions for the fossils of dinasaur and fishes to be formed,and left in the high mountain.

I, too believe this earth is only 6,000 years old ~

I do question whether peacocks will be extinct in 15 years if we're still here ~~ these birds roam this street in abundant groups  . . hatching babies every year   . .  I say 'nuff already' . .

although they're pretty,  the 'living art work' here feasts on my plants ~~

Genesis 1:1 In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the Earth became desolate and chaotic, and darkness was on the face of the deep.

I believe in old earth theory. not evolution. i believe pre-adamite creation rebelled against God and God destroyed them. I believe there is compelling evidence that supports this theory. here is a cool video from bigwhammyrocks on youtube. Chuck Missler even goes into detail on this theory.

i believe in the old earth theory. can God make a young earth look old like He did with adam? yes, but there is too much evidence to suggest otherwise. it's like atheists who won't accept solid evidences about the existence of God but instead ignore those evidences. believers are the same way about the old earth theory.

I think the big bang theory hold it's merit because scientists are still finding the universe is expanding.

And from the first expansion til the state of void,or still,it may take millions of years,before God's creation begins,including the cosmic light,separating the water,and ordains the sun and moon being the light governs the day and night.

The state of void could last millions of years,but time wasn't existed then.

And finally he created Adam and Eve 6000 years ago.

One of the aspects of creation study that has fascinated me involves mitochondrial DNA.  Scientists use this DNA from the mother's line to track populations and how they have spread.

If there was a Biblical Flood (and we know there was), then what we would expect to find is a recent "bottleneck" in the DNA evidence, as opposed to millions of years of uninterupted evolution.

Such a bottleneck exists; as might be expected, the secularists claim the "molecular clock" indicates a time span of hundreds of thousands of years.  Those who believe in a recent creation challenge the time-frame and point out the genetic bottleneck fits the model of a recent flood in which only eight people survived.

This does not directly settle the old earth/young earth question presented here.  But it does have some bearing upon such things as Neanderthal bones and whether those fossils might have been closer relatives than non-creationist scientists are willing to give them credit.

(This is some meaty stuff to consider, and I wasn't sure what level the references should be.  You may want to start out with the basic overview and if interested, then check out some of the more technical material.  I didn't know if we had any genetic scientists reading, so I thought simplicity would work better.)

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v3/n2/four-women-boat-kids

http://creation.com/genetics-and-biblical-demographic-events

http://www.icr.org/i/pdf/technical/The-Eve-Mitochondrial-Consensus-Sequence.pdf

Incidentally, Neanderthals have undergone a "makeover" in recent years.

From this:

To this:

Tracy,

I have at times considered the merits of the Gap Theory, and have found elements of it to be very appealing.  I would not altogether dismiss it, and yet after many years of studying the textual arguments still cannot find sufficient proof in the Hebrew that would indicate it is the correct model.

Yes, it does suggest some solutions to some difficult problems.  But like so many other efforts, it also raises other issues in the process.  Therefore I find myself not being 100% sure, although I am currently leaning more toward the recent creation view. 

We should remember that neither the Young Earth Creation model nor the Gap Theory of Creation are satisfactory to secular critics.  If the goal is to reconcile Genesis and what "science" tell us, they're not buying it anyway.

Have you considered some of the criticisms that have been raised toward the Gap Theory as well?  If you have answers for those, then I respect your position and would like to hear how you have dealt with them.  In any event, as GOC said earlier, I won't be taking it personally.  In truth, I do not know the final answer.  But if you uphold the Gap Theory, you should be able to address the problems others have found with the view.

One of my concerns is found in the use of the word was to be taken as became.  That is no small grammatical issue to translators.

Another is the use of the word and; in Hebrew it is represented by a hook, indicating a direct connection between one thing and another, something not very plausible if there was a lengthy gap between the first and second verses of Genesis.

That "vaw," between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 means this is only one complete sentence, rather than two and is not supportive of reading in a gap there.

http://www.faithdefenders.com/news/genesis_part1.html

Fair Use For Educational and Discussion Purposes

When the Beginning began,
God created out of nothing the heavens and the earth,
and the earth was a wasteland and devoid of life,
and darkness covered the surface of the deep,
and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

 

Critical remarks:  Gen. 1:1 is not a completed sentence and should not have been given a period by the KJV translators. The grammar and syntax of the Hebrew text has verses 1 &2 as one sentence. The vaw consecutives ["and"] that follow Gen. 1:1 explain the condition of the planet after God spoke it into being.

http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0101.htm

Notice the "vaw" at the beginning of verse 2 (all the way to the right side of the Hebrew text).  It is the same character that begins verse 3-31.  That hook is telling us the thoughts are inseparably hinged.

Here are a couple of sites that go into detail about it:

http://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/stewart.cfm?id=654

http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=9&article=575

So, with that information, let us continue to be scholarly and discuss the merits of the case, pros and cons.  And by all means, we will do so in Christian love and fellowship.  Agreed?

I am more inclined to believe the gap theory. I don't believe in evolution. But there might be a possibility that when satan rebelled against God, he was cast into the earth along with one third of the angels. The earth became their habitation, rendering it formless and void. Could the dinosaurs have existed pre-creation? Possibly. The Bible describes satan as leviathan = a dragon, a dinosaur. Perhaps that is the corrupted version of his Cherubim image. Take note that the Four Creatures before God's throne has a distinctive appearance: man, lion, ox, and eagle. Since satan used to be one of these creatures, maybe his image was that of a glorious version of a dragon, the most beautiful of all creation. But since his downfall, he was likened into what we now know as a scary, icky-looking dragon.

The gap theory can also explain why the universe is ever-expanding. There was no space prior to Creation. There was only earth and water, until God carried out His plan of redemption and called the cosmic light and created the sun, moon, and stars.

The universe during Creation was perfect and beautiful. But it wasn't as perfect as the future universe that God will replace it with. Remember that satan had an access to the garden, which means that it wasn't really perfect at all and God has never intended this current universe to be the final destination of mankind. When He created the present time or age, He intended it to be a "testing" period of some sort, before transitioning into ultimate perfection. 

Interesting discussion.   One of the things that struck me from Genesis 1 is that when God created this world it was a place of light and dark.  God pronounces the 'light' 'good', but not the darkness.  It is curious and suggestive, and it of course bookends nicely with God's new world which will be a place only of 'light'.   So there is some strong possibility that this place was flawed from the get-go, either in intention/foresight or in fact.  So it does not particularly bother me that animals may have been eating each other for eons prior to our arrival (as fossils would seem to indicate).   There are many many places in scripture where God says in effect, "I have placed good and evil before you -- choose good."

God is patient, and seems content to use slow and apparently mundane processes to achieve much of his work.  Israel gestated in Egypt for 450 years before coming out as a nation.  Which is to say that there is much about that story which seems (at least from a purely historical standpoint) to be perfectly mundane.  I don't see any reason why he should not have been as patient in the gestation of the universe/earth.  

The only other thing I'll point out is that the greatest theologians of medieval and ancient times did not interpret the days of Genesis as ordinary human days, and amongst these were Philo, Origen, Augustine, and Aquinus -- none theological wet noodles.  There are many examples in scripture where the word 'day' simply cannot mean an ordinary human day.  We should not oppose an old earth merely because the atheists prefer it -- they prefer anything which allows them to see a universe absent of God.   They are wrong, but not because of old/new earth, or God's use/not use of evolution.  They are wrong because they do not believe in God. They want to see man as an animal and only an animal; they are wrong, for he has a soul and an immortal destiny;   but why should we care how God brought about our birth?  scripture says God formed us out of dirt: is this more dignified than descending from mud via an ape?   I think not.  The important verse is not the one that tells us how we physically came to be, but the one that states, "and God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and he became a living soul."

There is a lot of important information in Genesis, but it is not the material details of creation that are important, but what it tells us about God's character and our character.  The actual material details are veiled behind a screen of compressed poetic language; I think there was purpose in this.  When God spoke to Abraham he said I will make of you a great nation, numberless, and in you shall all nations be blessed.  This is no less than a highly compressed and poetic description of the spiritual history of the world from Abraham's time, up through the end of the millenial kindgom.  But, living at the time and not knowing anything else, if you asked me what I thought it meant, I would have imagined something like a virtuous version of Rome or Babylon.  And I'd have been totally wrong.  So, how do we know that God's statement that he "formed man of the dust of the earth" is not a similarly compressed and poetic statement?  We cannot know.  Why do we need to claim certainty when there may be none?   There is no virtue in doing so.  Scripture occasional implies the world has four corners: does anyone expect applause for insisting that the earth is like a table top? 

Genesis is perfectly compatible with an old earth;  it's also compatible with a young one.  The question is really not worth getting worked up over.  Personally, I subscribe to an old earth, mostly because I think its true;  I think it conforms better to scripture and God's character, and what I observe in the world around me.   But it also has this great benefit: it allows me to talk to many more unbelievers about truly important scriptural things (like salvation) without getting immediately shut out as a "crazy person."

Scipio

While I'm at it, here is an article from Chuck Missler on darkness and light, or "erev" and "boker."  The words actually refer to disorder and order, and by extension,  night and day.

http://www.khouse.org/articles/1998/62/

Fair Use For Educational and Discussion Purposes

<font face="Arial" size="4">Erev and Boker

Erev is dark, obscure randomness; it is maximum entropy. As darkness envelopes our horizon, we lose the ability to discern order or patterns. The darkness is "without form and void."

From this term we derive the current sememe for "evening," when the encroaching darkness begins to deny us the ability to discern forms,shapes, and identities.

Boker is the advent of light, where things begin to become discernible and visible; order begins to appear.

This relief of obscurity, and the attendant ability to begin to discern forms, shapes, and identities has become associated with dawn or "morning," as the early twilight begins to reveal order and design. Evening and mornings constituted the principal stages of creation. Six "evenings" and "mornings" became the "days" constituting the creation "week." However, what we know about the physical universe is only from observing the universe after the upheavals of Genesis 3.

Also, there is this:

http://www.khouse.org/articles/2004/528/