We here at DBTS are absolutely committed to six-day creationism and a young earth. I had gotten the impression that a few years ago R. C. Sproul had converted to that viewpoint. Well, not exactly. In an interview with Tim Challies, Sproul clarifies his view:
Have you ever had second thoughts about the stand that you took in favor of a six-day creation and a young earth, especially in view of all the new material on the subject that has come out since 2006?
Well, that’s kind of a complex question because when I took the stand, I took the stand on a six-day creation. I didn’t take a stand on a young earth. I don’t know how old the earth is. I didn’t know then. I still don’t.
And what do we mean by “young earth”? If you’re thinking six thousand years, I doubt that. If you’re thinking 12 billion years, I doubt that, too. All I was speaking about was the understanding of what the Scriptures teach regarding the six days of creation. And I’m not even sure it’s correct to say that I took a stand. I said that’s what my view was.
When you say you have a view, it’s one thing to say, “I think that this is the way it is.” It’s another thing to take a stand where you say: “Here I stand. I’m going to die on this mountain.” I could be wrong in my understanding of Genesis. It’s a very difficult to deal with the literary genre in the opening verses of the beginning chapters of Genesis. I think there has to be some room for some flexibility on it.
The young earth viewpoint does not require one to believe the earth is only 6,000 years old. I personally think it is closer to 10,000. But I don’t understand why one would hold to a six-day creation and not hold to a fairly young earth (even 100,000 years is young to an evolutionist). And why the literary genre of the “opening verses of the beginning chapters of Genesis” is more difficult than the literary genre of the opening verses of the beginning chapters of Exodus (for instance) is beyond me. Why is Moses’ description of creation “more difficult to deal with” than his account of the Exodus?
