All Christians are, by definition, creationists. That is, they believe that God is the creator of the universe. (Creationists are usually labeled as such due to their rejection of evolution, but even evolutionists can technically be creationists if they believe in theistic evolution.)
Some, however, believe that Creationism is not enough to guarantee orthodoxy. Beyond the affirmation of God's special creation, another issue is raised regarding how long it took. The precise amount of time one refers to when affirming creation, they believe, must be taken into account as well. [Young Earth creationist Kent Hovind, for example, states that holding to old earth creation is tantamount to cultic heresy (Link).] This has not kept several individual denominations make explicit their belief in the age of the Earth (Link).
Numerous issues contribute to, and come from, the debate between all these views. Evolution is often blamed for the old earth position, and young earth is seen as the answer. John Morris wrote: "The real key, however, for resolving the creation/evolution controversy is in a study of the age of the earth. Evolution demands long periods of time, but if the earth is much younger, as the Bible teaches, then evolution is even more foolish." Others, would argue that evolution has enough problems - even with a multi-billion year old universe there is still not enough time or material for evolution to take place (Link1 Link2). Another issue concerns the intermediate time after the creation days. While calculations based on genealogies may be interesting there are several problems with trying to attain accuracy with this method (Link).
Those who believe in scriptural infallibility must admit that Scripture seems to disagree with what most scientists think. But harmonizing the accounts leads to several possibilities. The reality is that there exists a wide spectrum of positions which finds actual proponents in evangelicalism:
- ‘Young Earth’ which holds to "literal 24-hour creation days" and a creation date as early as 4,000 BC.
- 'Old Earth' sees the days of Genesis as long ages and a creation date well over 4,000,000,000 years ago.
- ‘Gap Theory’ states that a lengthy time gap is found between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 after which follows a re-creation.
- ‘Theistic Evolution’ accepts both the old age of the earth and the evolutionary origin of man.
Regardless of the relative strengths of these theories, the question that arises here is what counts for orthodoxy. In Christianity, orthodoxy is determined by adherence to scriptural teachings as stated in the Church’s creeds (e.g., Apostles, Nicene, Athanasian, Chalcedonian). The Nicene Creed, which is generally considered as the standard for Christian orthodoxy opens with, "We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth." Therefore, orthodoxy requires belief in the special creation of the universe by God. Timing, here, is not at issue. Nor is it the issue in any of the other orthodox creeds.
It might be argued that the early Church Fathers had an implicit understanding that needs to be overlaid onto the creeds, but this would be difficult to argue. First, as Greg Neyman writes, "Old-earth creationists have pointed to Justin Martyr, Origin, Augustine, and others from the first four centuries after Christ, as believing in an old earth. At the same time, young-earth creationists have defended these past Christians as believing in a young-earth"(Link). Any argument that can produce two opposing conclusions is not very useful. Second, what individuals were thinking while writing their beliefs is difficult to know unless specified in writing. The creeds were set forth to define the faith, and if there was anything additional necessary to affirm orthodoxy those things could have been included.
In the end, the Bible does not clearly state exactly the age of either the earth or the universe. Further, according to creedal standards, neither is an appropriate test for orthodoxy. This does not mean that the issue is unimportant, but we should all be careful when leveling charges of heresy against those who disagree over non-essential dogmas.
For further reading: