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Introduction

This book’s title refers to the fable, The Emperor’s New Clothes, written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1837. That fable provides an underlying theme for this book. The whole fable is in Appendix A, but here is a short summary: A foppish emperor was taken in by two swindlers, who claimed they could manufacture a magnificent set of clothes for the emperor. The con men claimed nobody would be able to see or feel the clothes if they were unfit for their office, a fool, or stupid. Of course, nobody saw anything because there was nothing to see, but nobody wanted to admit it for fear of being thought a fool by everybody else. The pretense continued all the way to the occasion of a grand parade, when a little child exclaimed the truth: “But he hasn’t got anything on.” After which, the whole town realized the truth and repeated the child’s words, but the emperor, though suspecting the truth, paraded on. (One must wonder about an emperor who, believing in the scam, was willing to be seen stark naked by all the fools, stupid people, and incompetents who might be around.)


God, in Genesis chapters 1 and 2, gives us a simple, factual narrative account of the creation work that He did in six twenty-four-hour days. Set against this truth is the Framework Hypothesis, a false teaching that the first two chapters of Genesis are not really a simple narrative, but a kind of “secret code” that only experts can decipher. Once deciphered, this code supposedly teaches that the days of creation are actually periods of millions or billions of years, a teaching often called long-day creationism. Obviously, this idea supports the modern heresies of Darwinism and the Big-Bang. The child in the fable did not need to be an expert to see the plain truth and decisively refute the so-called experts. That child illustrates a purpose of this book: to equip people from all walks of life to be able to see the plain truth and confidently refute the highly credentialed “experts” peddling those false teachings. Since long days are not wearing clothes, it is easy to see their falsehood.


“My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh” (Ecclesiastes 12:12). There are already many good books and videos available that defend the scriptural teaching that God created the universe in six twenty-four-hour days. So why this one?

  1. This book tells you why you should care and why the issue is important, something often overlooked.

  2. It does not try to teach you science; many books are geared to those interested in science and leave many readers in the dark. (But those interested in science should profit from this book also.) There will be some science, but everything will be explained using simple, everyday things in your life. God did not write His precious Word for rocket scientists only, but for all of us.

  3. This book leaves the deep theology and complex arguments to more qualified expositors, and will help you see for yourself why six-day creationism is what God teaches in His Word.

  4. It explains the heresy of various Framework Hypotheses,1 which kowtow2 to Darwinism and Big-Bang cosmogony,3 and infect the evangelical church deeply and broadly. This book shows why they are false and will guide you through the first two chapters of Genesis so you can see this for yourself using sanctified common sense. Of course, Darwinism and Big-Bang cosmogony get hammered thoroughly as well, an easier and quicker job than you might think.


Some of the arguments presented in this book do depend on simple science for their proof. Such paragraphs are marked with Optional Science. If you like, you may just skip such marked paragraphs as the following paragraph will state the conclusion drawn from the optional paragraph. You will thus miss out on very little.


I am writing to my fellow believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, as one layman to another. But is Jesus Christ the center of your life? Do you live to glorify God? Are you trusting in the Lord Jesus alone for forgiveness of your sins? If so, kindly read on. If not, you have worse problems than what this book addresses. For an introduction to true, biblical Christianity, please see Appendix Byou are in mortal danger of spending eternity in hideous torment of body and soul in the fire of Hell.


There are those who wish to snow us under, flatly contradicting God’s Word, with sophisticated and plausible-sounding reasons why God did not create the universe or why God created the universe over billions of years, sometimes even twisting the Holy Scriptures to support their false teachings. The whole purpose of this book is to show you that, like the child in the fable, you can use the brains God gave you and confidently see the lies for what they are. You can have trust and faith in God and His simple and plain first-person account in the first two chapters of Genesis. You do not need to be intimidated by false teachers, however smart they may be or by their PhDs. Let me give you an analogy: suppose an astrologer claims he has spent most of his life studying astrology and has four PhDs in astrology and then asks for your zodiac sign so he can tell your fortune. You have the Holy Bible: “There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer” (Deuteronomy 18:10). Do you somehow need an equivalent education in astrology to know his astrology is worthless? Likewise, you will not need to know or learn any science or theology to profit from this book. If you understand and believe the Gospel of John, you are good to go.


Set against God’s revealed truth are the false teachings of Darwinism and Big-Bang cosmogony. Virtually everyone has some familiarity with these to one degree or another. But there is a subtler and more dangerous demonic lie that pervades Christendom, and even much of evangelicalism: the Framework Hypothesis, of which there are many variants.


Answers in Genesis (https://answersingenesis.org) is a great organization with many helpful resources, including the famous Creation Museum and (Noah’s) Ark Encounter. Their website has a paper that includes the following brief statement about the Framework Hypothesis:


The Framework Hypothesis4 is essentially an attempt to reclassify the genre5 of Genesis 1 as being something other than historical narrative. Proponents have attempted to identify figurative language or semi-poetic devices in the text. Thinking they have successfully shown that the Bible’s first chapter is not to be taken in its plain sense, they make the claim that Genesis 1 simply reveals that God created everything and that He made man in His own image, but it gives us no information about how or when He did this.


The leading promoter of the Framework Hypothesis pulled no punches when explaining his goal in promoting it. “To rebut the literalist interpretation of the Genesis creation week propounded by the young-earth theorists is a central concern of this article. The conclusion is that as far as the time frame is concerned, with respect to both the duration and sequence of events, the scientist is left free of biblical constraints in hypothesizing about cosmic origins.”6


This is just a fancy way of saying that God was not telling a straight story in the first two chapters of Genesis. But if you know the secret codes, you will supposedly see that Genesis chapters 1 and 2 are not about how God created the universe in six twenty-four-hour days, but supposedly have some other meaning. The same article7 states that Hebrew scholar Steven Boyd concluded that Genesis 1 is narrative; the chance of it not being narrative is virtually zero.8


But you do not have to take an expert’s word for it. God made human brains with special “circuitry” to process language so people of all cultures have the ability to use and understand such things as irony, sarcasm, poetry, fables, imagery, and factual narratives. Thus, your sanctified common sense will tell you that the first two chapters of Genesis are a simple and straightforward narrative. You may not completely understand all the events, but you will have no trouble knowing what the events were.


In almost all cases, the reason some people adopt some variant of the Framework Hypothesis (lumped together as Framework Hypotheses from here on) is to try to make the Bible match up with modern science.9 All Framework Hypotheses are false but are believed by a large number of highly intelligent people who are using their brains alone when they should also be using faith in God. Many of those who believe in some Framework Hypothesis are good, godly, sincere, Bible-believing Christians, but they have been misled by bad science; bad science that permeates our time and culture like thick smog. I extend particularly charitable forbearance to those educated fifty or more years ago; much in both theology and science has changed since then. At this time, let us just note that our argument is not against honest science, per se, nor against scientific data and observations. Our argument is against various false interpretations of data and observations. Because Bible-believing Christians are the main target audience of this book, Framework Hypotheses are a main target of this book’s arguments.


An obvious question is, “Should I care?” Some questions, such as “How can God be three Persons in One Trinity?,” are mysteries known only to God. Other questions, such as “When did God create the angels?,” do not seem worth much time or ink. But, “Are the first two chapters of Genesis reliable and readable information that our God wants us to know?” Emphatically yes—that question is important. So first, we will explore why it is important, then show that you can, without the help of too-clever experts, read and understand God’s message to you in the first two chapters of Genesis with confidence, profit, and to the glory of God. The beginning of Genesis is a plain, straightforward, and simple, yet majestic narrative; beginning Hebrew students often do their first real reading in the Hebrew of Genesis.



1hypotheses: plural of hypothesis

2kowtow: to get down on hands and knees and knock the forehead on the ground three times. This act of worship was demanded by ancient Chinese emperors and, especially for Westerners, deemed offensive and humiliating.

3cosmogony: the study of the origins of the universe, stars, the sun, the earth, and so on

4This description is the meaning of Framework Hypothesis adopted by this book. There are various ways, some theologically useful for various purposes, of finding structures and relationships in Genesis 1 and 2, and also connections to other parts of the Bible. So long as these do not dilute the teaching of six twenty-four-hour day creation, we do not consider them to be Framework Hypotheses in this book.

5genre: class of literature such as prose, poetry, narrative (story), satire, and so on

6What’s Wrong with the Framework Hypothesis?, Dr. Robert V. McCabe and Tim Chaffey, https://answersingenesis.org/creationism/old-earth/whats-wrong-with-the-framework-hypothesis/ (accessed April 20, 2020).

7Ibid.

8Boyd spoke in mathematical language: “Genesis one can be classified as narrative with a probability of virtually one.” This means that the chances of Genesis 1 not being narrative are practically zero.

9This statement is rather general, so unsurprisingly there are exceptions. To attempt to review all of the variations of Framework Hypotheses and long-day views, views that deviate from six twenty-four-hour creation ex nihilo, would convert this short book into a large tome.

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