Are the 6 Days in Genesis 1 Literal or Metaphorical?

Day-Age Creationism and the Meaning of Genesis 1

What? Day-age creationism is the idea that the days mentioned in the Genesis 1 creation story are not actual 24-hour days, but metaphorical days that stretch thousands of years or even millions and billions.

It's a theory that's only a couple centuries old. Now some say Augustine of Hippo believed in an old earth, but that's a myth. Augustine wrote three commentaries on Genesis, and it's clear he believed the days in Genesis 1 to be literal days, and the genealogies in chapters 5 through 11 to be literal chronologies.

One of the biblical arguments for day-age creationism is the interpretation of yom, the Hebrew word for day. Sometimes yom means more than a 24-hour day, as in Psalm 137, the day of Jerusalem, or Isaiah 136, the day of the Lord.

The problem with applying this interpretation to Genesis 1 is that every day is qualified with evening and morning and a number, and every time in the Old Testament a day is described in such a way, it's in reference to a normal day.

The Psalm 90 and 2 Peter 3:8 Argument for a Thousand-Year Day

The main argument for the day-age theory comes from Psalm 90 verse 4 and 2 Peter 3 .8. For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. And do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day.

But the point is not the age of the earth, it's mercy. God is not slow to fulfill his promise regarding judgment, as we might consider slowness, rather God is patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but that all should reach repentance.

God Created All Things Instantly

There is no reason to believe the earth is millions or billions of years old. God is infinitely powerful, who created all things as instantly as we read about it when we understand the text.