“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” 2 Peter 3:8, KJV
A commentary inspired by a Spacedaily article that highlights the differences in planetary motion in our galaxy, and its potential implications on the Christian faith. Planetary motion in this case refers to both spin and rotation, with the article using Earth’s 24 hour spin and one year rotation as metrics to describe the motion of its neighboring planets. According to NASA, Venus has the most dramatic differences, including:
- retrograde spin, meaning it spins from west to east
- 117 earth days for one solar day (sunrise to sunset)
- 225 earth days for its one rotation around the sun
The characteristics of Venus are even more puzzling considering that Uranus also has a retrograde spin but a much faster spin duration of about 17 hours and 14 minutes, which is beautifully illustrated and explained by NOAA:
117 earth days compared to 17 earth hours? How did Venus end up being so different from the other planets? Could Venus have such a distinct spin duration and retrograde motion through purely natural causes? Perhaps this is yet another cosmic sign pointing to God’s hand in creation.
Secondly, can this long solar day (sunrise to sunset) on Venus offer us a different perspective on the Bible verse from 2 Peter that reminds us that (a) God is outside of time, and, (b) time as humanity perceives, experiences and understands it, is limited? While it could be argued that the solar day as we see it today might have been prolonged if the spin of the earth had been much slower during creation week, it is nonetheless a point that does not necessarily refute, nor take precedence over, the six-day Genesis account of God creating the heavens and the earth. Even if the spin of the Earth was slower and caused longer solar days than we are used to now, it does not indicate that God allowed death and evolution to direct the development of organisms into humans (as argued by theistic evolution). Theologically, it would be against the character of God, who called His creation good, to include the death needed for evolutionary processes, in His definition of created good. However, I do believe that God can intervene in natural processes in a supernatural manner, which would explain the supernatural timing of the six-day creation week, and perhaps the slowing down of the Earth’s spin is how the Sun stood still for Joshua!
As an additional perspective from those who have been thinking about these issues far longer than I have been alive, below is a video from Answers in Genesis that discusses the implications of one’s understanding of the age of the Earth on their Christian faith:
Here is one more link on this topic, which doesn’t support longer solar days during creation week, but does attest to God’s ability to prolong a day as we understand it:
https://creation.com/en/articles/literal-days-before-the-sun
Feel free to comment below and happy Sunday…on Earth…
