Earlier Apprising Ministries showed you that Dr. John Piper Ok With Old Earth View, which puts him further at odds with his friend Dr. John MacArthur.

In that prior piece I pointed you to a short post called John Piper–Young Humanity, Old Earth OK by Ken Schenck, “Dean of Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University and Professor of New Testament and Christian Ministry.”

Therein Schenck told us about “an interesting interview with John Piper” (see video below) where Dr. Piper “allows for a variety of views on how old the earth might be prior to humanity’s arrival, presumably including the evolution of lower forms of life.”

But interestingly enough, just posted a couple of days ago at MacArthur’s Grace to You blog, in The Chicken or the Egg? we read:

One rather obvious fact ignored by many is that the universe was mature when it was created. God created it with the appearance of age. When He created trees and animals, for example, He created them as mature, fully developed organisms. According to the biblical account, He did not create just seeds and cells. He certainly did not plant a single cell programmed to evolve itself into a variety of creatures. He made trees with already-mature fruit (Genesis 1:11). He didn’t merely create an egg; He made chickens already full grown. (Thus Genesis 1:21 plainly answers the familiar conundrum.) He created Adam full grown and fully capable of marriage and procreation…

the fact remains that Adam certainly had many features associated with maturity. He wasn’t created as an embryo or an infant. He was a fully-grown man. There is no reason to doubt that he had normal adult features; he certainly would have had fully developed muscles; and we know he was created with enough knowledge to tend the garden, name the animals, and talk with God. Without any growth, history, or experience, he was still a mature adult man.

Suppose a modern scientist could travel back in time and arrive in the garden moments after Adam’s creation. If he examined Adam, he would see adult features (perhaps a navel, calluses, or smooth edges on his teeth—or at the very least, an adult frame and musculature). If he could converse with Adam, he would find a man with adult knowledge and fully-formed language skills. But if he interpreted those things as conclusive proof that Adam was more than one hour old, he would simply be wrong. When we’re dealing with things created ex nihilo, evidences of maturity or signs of age do not constitute proof of antiquity.

And what if that same time-travelling scientist did a botanical study of a newly-created oak tree? He would observe the size of the tree, note the tree’s fruit (acorns) and probably conclude that the tree itself was many years old. What if he cut down one of the trees to examine its growth rings? Would he find growth rings inside, indicating that the tree had been there for many seasons? Why not? Those rings of xylem and phloem are not only signs of the tree’s age, but they also compose the tree’s vascular system. They are essential to the strength of a large tree as well. But if our imaginary scientist concluded on the basis of tree rings that the tree was 90 years old, he would be wrong again. The garden itself was created mature, fully functional, and therefore with the appearance of age.

The garden was no doubt filled with creatures that had every appearance of age. On day seven, when the Lord rested from His labor, everything was fully mature and fully functional. The eagles soaring overhead might appear to be 30 years old, but they were less than a week old. Elephants roaming around might have had full tusks and appeared to be 50 years old, but they were merely one day old. Any mountains, rivers, or other geological features probably also appeared to have been there for some time. There were no doubt beautiful waterfalls and canyons, and other features that the typical geologist would surmise had been formed by several ages of wind and water or volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. But the fact is that they were all made in one day. And when Adam looked up into the heavens and saw that incredible expanse with millions of bright stars, he was seeing light from millions of light years away—even though those stars had all had been there less than four days. The light he saw was itself part of God’s creation (Genesis 1:3).

All those marks of age and maturity are part of every creative miracle. When Jesus turned water to wine, for example, He utterly bypassed the fermentation and aging process. He made wine instantly from water, and those who tasted it testified that it was the best wine of all (John 2:10)—meaning it was mature and well-seasoned already, even though it was an instantaneous creation. When He multiplied the loaves and fishes, He created bread and fish that were already cooked and ready to eat.

We certainly expect people who reject Scripture and despise God to accept the notion that the universe has existed for aeons and aeons. For obvious reasons, they want to eliminate every supernatural explanation for the origin of humanity. They don’t want any binding moral law or omnipotent Judge to whom they must be accountable. So of course they embrace the naturalistic theories of evolution and an ancient earth with great enthusiasm.

But it is shocking and disturbing to see how the idea that the earth is billions of years old has begun to dominate even the evangelical Christian community… (Online source)

You can read this article in its entirety right here. In a post called Old Earth View Book Influences well known Pastor , which is no longer available online we learned about the book that helped Dr. Piper arrive at his position:

The book is called Genesis Unbound: A Provocative New Look at the Creation Account by John Sailhamer. A review at Answers in Genesis tells us that while this author is among the first rank of Hebrew and Old Testament scholars, in this book he holds to a kind of modified gap theory with many fanciful ideas, absurd claims, and theological problems…

That’s why it’s surprising (or maybe not) that over at Apprising Ministries we read today that this same book has convinced John Piper to take an ‘old earth’ gap position on creation.

Sadly, this type of thing from Dr. John Piper is having the effect of making some otherwise fragile associations even a bit more fragile; especially with his unfortunate decision to bring in, as the keynote speaker, Purpose Driven Pope Rick Warren for the Desiring God Conference 2010 as the keynote speaker.

And I find it unfortunate that this is just one more thing in a series of events where we’re witnessing far too many Christian pastors and Bible teachers no longer believing in the literal six day creation account as recorded in the book of Genesis:

See also:

DR. JOHN PIPER AND UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS CONCERNING DR. JOHN PIPER

IS THIS DOCTRINAL AND SOUND DR. JOHN PIPER?

RICK WARREN TEACHING THE LAW OF ATTRACTION?

SADDLEBACK CHURCH, RICK WARREN, AND SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES

RICK WARREN DECEPTION ALREADY INVADING REFORMED CAMP

RICK WARREN AND PURPOSE DRIVEN ROMAN CATHOLICS