annsi, I am old earth creationist exactly because I am not a doubter of God's word. He has told us that a day isn't always exactly 24 hours with Him. I believe Him.
So then we know that He was in the grave for more than 3 days as we know it, and He was there for 3000 years.
Or that Israel marched around Jericho for 7000 years.
Hmm - I guess when God says "day" and uses specific words to denote a 24 hour day, maybe we should take Him at His word??
I would say among the scripturally accurate possibilities:
1. God could have created an old appearing earth a short time ago. Problem with that is, it basically makes God a deceiver and He flat out isn't. So while it does have the appearance of adhering literally to Genesis, it doesn't adhere literally to the rest of the Bible.
So when He created man, He created him as a zygote? Otherwise, God lied.
2. God could have created the earth exactly as Genesis says, only the days could be "specific periods of time but not 24 hour days."
Yes, but grammatically, that theory is not supported.
3. God could have created the earth exactly as Genesis says and with 24 hour days, just much further in the past than young earther's hold. This is sort of my default position, although the 24 hour part is negotiable since I seriously doubt God needed 24 hour periods and He dwells outside our time.
God doesn't need ANY time- He can create anything any way He wants to - but He told us how He did it and either He's not telling us the truth or we decide He is not telling us the truth.
4. Gap theory--this is my second default position. It allows a very literal reading of Genesis, and young earth for the current creation. It also allows a literal reading of scriptures which seem to point to there having been some other creation that fell into chaos. Perhaps when Satan fell and 1/3 of the angels?
This is slightly more plausable but God tells us that He created everything in 6 days so I need to go with what He said.
5. More and more we realize time as we experience it on earth is not necessarily space time. Since God existed before the universe, Genesis may explain things quite literally by earth time and yet not by God's time or universe time.
But the earth is in earth time as are we and God explained to us in OUR language and in OUR terminology how He created things. We can't say that "and there was evening and morning, the 4th day" and say that is not what it means. In Hebrew, that was very clear: one day.
So I am not a doubter of God's word. I doubt some theories and some interpretations, but not His word. Of paramount importance to me is the fact that God created everything. I can dwell in peace with those that understand the how and the when differently than I do, as long as they base their beliefs on the Bible. Where I would break fellowship is if they don't believe God created all.
But what of death existing before God tells us it began? What of the fact that God and Jesus tell us that Adam was the first man? How could there be mankind before Adam when God said that he was first? If we went by the first chapter of Genesis, we can maybe add in all sorts of stuff but when we look at the whole of scripture, I just don't see how we can interpret it any other way than the way God intended it to be interpreted - and the way that Jesus spoke if it as well.
I do know, much controversy within the world of physics accompanied this 'new idea", but it has withstood the the tests of time and mathematical predictability.