Visualizations of Creation

When God began creating the heavens and the earth,...

Genesis 1:1a

~ -13800 to -4500

Big Bang

This chronicles the creation of the entire universe (heavens and earth) within one statement. This describes a Creator who was outside of space and time and harmonizes well with what is known about the Big Bang. The Bible is the only religious document which makes such a claim about a Creator being outside (or transcendent of) space and time.

Big Bang (~ -13800)

First Stars (~ -13400)

the earth was a shapeless, chaotic mass, with the Spirit of God brooding over the dark vapors.

Genesis 1:1b

~ 4500

Early Earth

This chronicles the chaotic state of the original earth, which had been bombarded by all types of rock debris from the early solar system.

Earliest earth (~ -4540)

Early moon collides with earth (~ -4500)

Then God said, "Let there be light". And light appeared. And God was pleased with it and divided the light from the darkness. He called the light "daytime", and the darkness "nighttime". Together they formed the first day.

Genesis 1:2-5

~ -4500 to -3000

Hadean, Archean

This chronicles from the beginning of earth's original opaque atmosphere to a translucent atmosphere, leading to a cycle of light and dark ("Let there be light") and the conditions for anaerobic life.

Earliest water on earth (~ -4300)

Earliest life (Anaerobic) (~ -3400)

And God said, "Let the vapors separate to form the sky above and the oceans below." So God made the sky, dividing the vapor above from the water below. This all happened on the second day.

Genesis 1:6-8

~ -3000 to -2400

Late Archean

Early Proterozoic

This chronicles the creation of the earth's atmosphere, the sky, between the thick opaque water vapors above the sky and the seas beneath the sky.

Cyanobacteria/Green-blue algae (Aerobic) (~ -2700 to -2400)

Carbon also dissolves in oceans

Algae later become sediments at ocean floor

Then God said, "Let the water beneath the sky be gathered into oceans so that the dry land will emerge." And so it was. Then God named the dry land "earth", and the water "seas". And God was pleased. And he said, "Let the earth burst forth with every sort of grass and seed-bearing plant, and fruit trees with seeds inside the fruit, so that these seeds will produce the kinds of plants and fruits they came from." And so it was, and God was pleased. This all occurred on the third day.

Genesis 1:9-13

~ -2400 to -580

Mid Proterozoic to Mid Phanerozoic

This shows a rise in the continental land mass as well as the earliest plant life.

Significant Rise of Continental Land Mass (-2000)

Earliest Fungi (-1500)

Sexual Reproduction (-1200)

Earliest Plants (-800)

Earliest Animals (-700)

Then God said, "Let bright lights appear in the sky to give light to the earth and to identify the day and the night; they shall bring about the seasons on the earth, and mark the days and years." And so it was. For God had made two huge lights, the sun and moon, to shine down upon the earth — the larger one, the sun, to preside over the day and the smaller one, the moon, to preside through the night; he had also made the stars. And God set them in the sky to light the earth, and to preside over the day and night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God was pleased. This all happened on the fourth day.

Genesis 1:14-19

~ -580 to -575

Mid Phanerozoic / Late Proterozoic

This chronicles a further change of the sky from a translucent atmosphere, where the light from the sun, moon, and stars are weak and diffuse, to a transparent atmosphere, where the light from the sun, moon, and stars can be seen clearly and bring about the seasons and mark the days and years.

Formation of the ozone layer to protect life from harmful UV radiation
(~ -580 mya)

Plants develop the carbon dioxide-oxygen cycle

Stable oxygen levels of about ~ 1% to 10%

Then God said, "Let the waters teem with fish and other life, and let the skies be filled with birds of every kind." So God created great sea animals, and every sort of fish and every kind of bird. And God looked at them with pleasure, and blessed them all. "Multiply and stock the oceans," he told them, and to the birds he said, "Let your numbers increase. Fill the earth!" That ended the fifth day.

Genesis 1:20-23

~ -575 to -65

Mid to Late Phanerozoic

This chronicles the rise of the sea creatures as well as the flying creatures and birds and the plethora of life forms that began to proliferate with the Cambrian explosion.

Cambrian Explosion (~ -540)

Anthropods, Molluscs (~ -520)

Tetrapoda (~ -300)

Dinosaurs (~ -250)

Mammals (~ -200)

Flowers (~ -150)

Birds (~ -120)

And God said, "Let the earth bring forth every kind of animal — cattle and reptiles and wildlife of every kind." And so it was. God made all sorts of wild animals and cattle and reptiles. And God was pleased with what he had done. Then God said, "Let us make a man — someone like ourselves, to be the master of all life upon the earth and in the skies and in the seas." So God made man like his Maker. Like God did God make man; Man and maid did he make them. And God blessed them and told them, "Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it; you are masters of the fish and birds and all the animals. And look! I have given you the seed-bearing plants throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. And I’ve given all the grass and plants to the animals and birds for their food." Then God looked over all that he had made, and it was excellent in every way. This ended the sixth day.

Genesis 1:24-31

~ -65 to ~0.1

Late Phanerozoic

This shows the rise of ants and beetles (creeping things), the modern order of mammals (livestock) and the pinnacle of God's creation with a human man and woman to populate and care for the earth and its creatures.

Rise of ants following angiosperms (~ -100)

Diversification of beetles (~ -100)

Primates (~ -60)

Modern orders of mammals (~ -55 to -33)

Modern man (Homo sapiens sapiens) (~ -0.2)