Sometimes, special creationism accepts the existence of an “old earth,” such that an ancient earth is accepted, but not evolution itself. This requires rejecting a completely literal interpretation of Genesis, but not abandoning it wholly and not simply reading it as metaphorical in the manner of Theistic Evolutionists.
When reading Genesis, Jewish and Christian Old Earth Creationists (OEC) can take a number of different paths:
Some Old Earth Creationists argue that the “days” during which events happened were not “days” as we know them — they may have been millennia or more. This perspective is justified by the argument that nothing in the text specifies the exact length of the “days” being described, and supporters will often quote 2 Peter 3:8: “One day with the Lord is as a thousand years” to justify the idea that “day” in the biblical text need not mean a 24-hour day in our understanding.
Others argue that the events occured during real days, but that long gaps existed in between those days. This view is also sometimes referred to as the “Intermittent Day” view and allows for both an ancient earth as described by science and special creation as described in the Bible without having to stretch the meanings of the words or develop metaphorical interpretations. This view was popularized by the famous Scofield Reference Bible, first published in 1909 and still in print today.
According to the Framework Hypothesis used by some Old Earth Creationists, the entire story of “days” is really a literary device which should not be interpreted literally. This is very close to Theistic Evolution because it relies upon a more metaphorical reading of key portions of the Old Testament, specifically Genesis.
Progressive Creationists accept most of modern science, including modern physics. Modern biology, however, is rejected in favor of special creation of each “kind” of organism. Progressive Creationists argue that, kinds were created sequentially — new organisms appear not from the evolution from earlier organisms, but from new acts of creation by God. Sometimes, progressive creationists accept biological development and argue that original species were created by God and have since evolved.
Prior to the advent of the Young Earth Creationist movement which came to dominate the debate during the latter half of the 20th century, the Day-Age and Gap theories were the dominant views among Christian Creationists. As a matter of fact, for the longest time the differences between those advocating evolution and those opposing evolution were not as great as they tend to be today. Creationists who disagreed with evolution were often willing to accept the progressive nature of fossil records, the great age of the earth, the figurative language of Genesis, and more.
Even at the margins of science and religion, it would have been difficult to find someone who advocated a young earth and a total rejection of all findings of evolution. Old Earth Creationism was, quite simply, the only significant form of Special Creationism which existed and which challenged the science of evolution. Most creationists would have regarded Young Earth Creationism as unnecessarily and unjustifiably extreme.
Today, just because both Old Earth and Young Earth Creationists believe in special creationism, it should not be assumed that they are really allies. In fact, Old Earth Creationists can be highly critical of Young Earth Creationists, especially when it comes to their impact on science education in the United States through their efforts to suppress the teaching of evolution in schools.
