Question 1) According to the verse alongside, how long ago did God create the heaven and the earth? a) Thousands of years ago b) Millions of years ago c) Billions of years ago d) None of the above		In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Gen 1.1-2)
Answer 1) Creation of the Heaven and Earth Genesis 1.1 says that God created the heaven and earth "in the beginning." It does NOT say how long ago the beginning was. In other words, God did not see fit to satisfy our curiosity concerning the age of the universe. Thus, the correct answer to question 1 is "d" - none of the above. It's interesting that some Christians rigidly advocate the notion that we live on a "young earth" whereas the Bible is absolutely silent on this issue.
Question 2) Read the verses alongside. Now... after God created the universe, how long was it until God created people? a) Six days after "the beginning" (Gen 1.1). b) Six days after the earth was in the condition of being shrouded by darkness. (Gen 1.2).		In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them ... And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Gen1.1-2, 1.27, 1.31)
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. (Gen 1.2-5, KJV)		Answer 2) Creation of Humans Humans were created on "the sixth day." But six days after WHAT EVENT? To answer this question, look at the verses alongside. On the "first day," God provided light upon the earth. Why? Because, as Genesis 1.2 says, "darkness was upon the face of the deep." Therefore, God's actions on the first day were taken to deal with the dark condition of the earth as described in Genesis 1.2. Accordingly, the correct answer to question 2 is "b" - humans were created six days after the earth was in the condition of being shrouded in darkness -- which may or may NOT have been six days after "the beginning." However, this answer raises three new questions: 1) Did God originally create a dark and formless earth? 2) If not, what caused the earth to BECOME dark and formless? 3) And if not, how much time passed between God's creation of the earth, and the time when the earth became dark and formless? God did not see fit to directly and specifically answer any of these three questions in His Bible.
Question 3) Based on verses alongside, were the six days described in Genesis 1.5-31 actual days or were they long eras of time? a) Actual days b) Long eras of time		And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. (Gen 1.5) 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 Pet 3.8)
Answer 3) The Six Days of Genesis 1 It is true that the Bible sometimes uses the word "day" as meaning a period of indefinite duration, as illustrated by 2 Peter 3.8 above. However, God carefully defined the word "day," as used in Genesis 1.5-31, to cover an evening and a morning. In other words, a day consisted of one revolution of the earth relative to the sun. Thus, the answer to question 3 is "a" - actual days. This does NOT necessarily mean that each day was 24-hours in duration during the time period described by Genesis 1.5-31. The speed of the earth's rotation at that time is not known. It may or may not have been different from that which exists today. Incidentally, a "day" on planet Venus corresponds to more than 243 years on planet Earth. Why? Because Venus rotates very slowly in comparison to the speed of Earth's rotation.
Question 4) According to the verse alongside, what are the building blocks of the universe? a) Earth, wind, fire, and ice b) Elements and energy c) Invisible things		By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. (Heb 11.3)
Answer 4) The Substance of the Universe. Question 4 is a bit of a "no-brainer" because Hebrews 11.3 clearly states the worlds are NOT made of visible things. Thus, the correct answer to question 4 is "c" - the universe is composed of invisible stuff. Today, we call this invisible stuff by such names as atoms, neutrons, protons, electrons, quarks, etc. It is interesting that the Bible knew this fact long before "science" discovered the atomic structure of matter. Interesting but not surprising because, after all, the Author of the Bible is the one and only God who made the universe.
Question 5) According to the verse alongside, what is the shape of the earth? a) It is round b) It is flat c) The Bible doesn't say		It is God who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers ... (Isa 40.22a)
Answer 5) The Shape of the Earth The correct answer to question 5 is "a" - the Bible describes the earth's shape as a circle, which is to say, round. The earth is a sphere which is slightly flattened at the poles, with a bit of a bulge at the equator. (My friends might say that this sounds a lot like a description of my own particular physique.)
Question 6) Based on the verse alongside, upon what is the earth suspended? a) The back of a turtle b) It is held in space by Atlas c) It is suspended upon nothing		God stretches out the north over empty space; he hangs the earth on nothing. (Job 26.7)
Answer 6) The Earth In Suspense Question 6 is another "no-brainer." It is included simply to further illustrate the point that the Bible is accurate on matters of so-called science wherever God saw fit to discuss them. The correct answer, of course, is "c" - the earth is suspended upon "nothing," namely the invisible force that we call gravity. By the way, the incorrect answers ("a" and "b") were common beliefs among the populace in Bible times.
Question 7) What was the geophysical structure of the earth during the times described in the book of Genesis?
Answer 7) An Estimate of the Original Geophysical Structure of the Earth
Since the answer to question 7 includes a great deal of extrapolation on my part, I will not use the usual quiz format. Based on Gen 1.2 and 1.9, the earth at that time was totally covered by water.		The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (Gen 1.2) Then God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear''; and it was so. (Gen 1.9)
b) Based on Gen 1.6-7, God raised some of this water above the earth's atmospheric sky or firmament. These verses do not describe the formation of clouds (see Gen 2.5-6) because the waters were ABOVE the atmospheric sky (Gen 1.7). The waters above the atmospheric sky would have been instantly frozen, thus forming a shell of translucent ice around the earth. Accordingly, it is doubtful that there were seasons at that time. The earth's climate was uniformly mild, warm, and humid throughout the world. And there was no rain (Gen 2.5)!		Then God said, "Let there be a firmament (sky) in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.'' Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. (Gen 1.6-7) ...the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. (Gen 2.5b-6)
c) Based on Gen 1.9-10, the earth at that time was composed of a single land mass in the midst of a single ocean. There were no continents or islands or separate oceans.		Then God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear''; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. (Gen 1.9-10)
d) The waters for the great flood of Gen 7.11-12 had three sources: Tidal waves (fountains of the deep). Collapse of the ice shell above the earth (windows of heaven). Rain.		In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. (Gen 7.11-12)
e) Gen 8.1-3 describes the removal of the waters after the flood. Based on Ps 104.7-8, the devastating effect of the flood probably caused cataclysmic changes to the earth's topography -- tilting of the earth on its axis, volcanic eruptions, up-thrusting of mountains, formation of the polar ice caps, and so forth.		And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased. (Gen 8.1b-3) (Spoken to God:) But at Your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of Your thunder they took to flight; they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place You assigned for them. (Ps 104.7-8, NIV)
Afterwards, the earth no longer enjoyed a mild and uniform climate. Gen 8.22 may indicate that the seasons had their inception at that time.		(God said:) "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.'' (Gen 8.22)
f) Gen 10.25 may allude to the onset of the separation of the earth's single land mass into continents and islands.		To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother's name was Joktan. (Gen 10.25)

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