The Absolute Necessity of the Six Days of Genesis

The modernists reserve a very special animosity for the literal, 24 hour - Days of Genesis One. It is not only the elements that are rejected - but the Order of their presentation in the narrative. Scott Hahn and his "school" make much of this ORDER as a literary device, reducing Genesis One to a merely literary decoration.


Some cosmology!


God is just no scientist!


It is true that St. Thomas and the medieval were the first to see this format of


Day 1 ---- Day 4

Day 2 ---- Day 5

Day 3 ---- Day 6



(Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, Genesis - page 18 - based on ST.I, q. 70, a.1)



However, this literary scheme is presented somewhat as a mere afterthought, as anyone can see who consults the Summa's Treatise on the Six Days, Part I, questions 65 through 74 – a mere afterthought to a really stupendous cosmology.


And, if we see the four ancient elements of Earth-Water-Air-Fire as the entire inanimate realm of the atomic elements with light, which St. Thomas defines as a quality of the first sensible body, then the literal meaning and the ORDER of the Six Days, reveals in a rather spectacular way, the absolute necessity for the Six Days, exactly as they are revealed to us in Genesis One. Test it out this way.


Suppose the “work” of Day 4 – were to have happened on Day 2, as the evolutionists would have it. The “work” of Day 4 had God fixing the celestial bodies – Sun, Moon, and Stars, in their places in the firmament and revolving around the central, fixed Earth. But on Day 2, the Earth was still covered with Water. Day 2 actually saw the distinction of the Waters above from the waters below, and the setting of the outermost limits of the boundaries of the Universe by its farthest-reaching spheres. So if the Sun, Moon and Stars began to function on Day 2 – instead of on Day 4 – their entire purpose would be thwarted – because dry land only appeared on Day 3 – along with the waters of Earth arranged in Seas. Only with Day 3 and its proper work – was the existence of Sun, Moon and Stars meaningful. Granted – the water cycle was quite different before the Flood and after the Flood. But this – too – would have been quite meaningless if Day 4 had followed directly from Day One.


All the elements are ordered to the great cycles – wherein the inanimate elements enter into the living, animate forms to perform their essential processes. If even one of the Six Days had been in another place, these wonderfully necessary cycles of interchange would have been radically disrupted, destroying the Order of the Universe and its unity. Try shifting them around for yourself. It just does not work.


God’s created order is not just better or best, it is necessary. And not only is the ORDER necessary, but the literal – 24 hour day is also absolutely necessary. Day 3 could not have lasted millions or billions of years without the Sun, Moon and Stars of Day 4 – because without the celestial bodies, there could be no carbon cycle, the interchange of elements causing photosynthesis. There could have been no nitrogen cycle – so necessary for the disposal of waste. The 24 hour day is as necessary as the Ordering of the Days. It is impossible to imagine the Divine “work” of Day 5 occurring after Day 6 or before Day 4, which would necessitate putting Day 6 after Day 4. This would “create” chaos!


Any understanding of the vital inter-relations of the elements and their cycles – reveals the absolute necessity for the literal 24 hour day and the ordering of the Six Days – just as revealed to us in Genesis One.


I challenge anyone to reveal a flaw in the above --- not in my poor presentation, but in the claim for the necessity of the Six Days.