The cure for cults that want to deny others their freedom of speech is more freedom of speech -- Fredric Rice

Day Three

Day three brings to view a more familiar Earth, one composed of land, sea, and vegetation. At first mention, the Earth was a formless, watery object; now, in addition to illumination and atmosphere, the forming planet is given the feature of dry land. Evolutionary science offers a different view altogether. Isaac Asimov explains, "The Bible makes it seem that solid land appeared out of an initial liquid mass, but from the scientific view, it would seem that an ocean appeared out of an initial dry mass" (1981, p 38). This is an unambiguous example of the insuperable conflicts between evolution theory and revealed truth. The Bible says water first, then land; evolution says land first, then water. How can one agree with evolution on this point without flatly rejecting divine testimony?

The third day poses another conflict with evolution. After the dry land appears, God commands: "Let the earth put forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit trees..." (Genesis 1:11). Evolution places the origin of life in the seas, but Moses says the earth was to put forth the first life forms! Asimov claims that, "In fact, for some three billion years, the sea contained life while the land was sterile" (p 49). Derek Kidner conveys the exciting tone of the literal Hebrew rendering of this verse: "Let the earth vegetate vegetation, herb seeding seed, fruit tree making fruit after its kind" (1967, p 48). Does this sound like a gradual process requiring untold millennia to accomplish?

According to Moses, each form of life is to bring forth (reproduce) "after its kind." This cripples the notion that all life is somehow related biologically thanks to a parental process of organic evolution. Moses says there are boundaries between the different kinds of organisms. Despite the charges of uninformed critics, Moses did not teach "fixity of species;" instead he taught "fixity of kinds." While the species barrier is sometimes crossed in breeding, the "kinds" barrier is not. A precise definition of "kinds" is uncertain; however, the Bible student need not be concerned over this uncertainty. The man- made taxonomical system is no less at a loss to strictly define the common categories with which it works (see Hardin, 1966, p 198). As with days one and two, the creative activity is followed by an evening and a morning---thus completing day three.