About 13.8 billion years ago:
God created matter, energy, space, and time (with an unimaginably powerful "big bang" explosion)
Genesis 1:2:
"Now the earth was formless
and empty, darkness was over
the surface of the deep, and
the Spirit of God was hovering
over the waters."
About 4.5 billion years ago:
Genesis 1:3:
About 4.5 billion years ago:
Genesis 1:4,5:
Date Uncertain:
About 4 billion years ago:
About 2.5-3 billion years ago:
Genesis 1:11-13:
Date undetermined - maybe 1-2 billion years ago:/
God "brought forth" the sun,
moon and stars in that order
by clearing the thick cloud
layer from around the earth.
He "presented" them in the
heavens where they could be
used for the figuring of
seasons etc.
About 500-600 million years ago:
About 230 million years ago:
Genesis 1:26,27:
Possibly 40 thousand years ago:
Agriculture emerges about
12,000
years ago and the earliest writing
a few centuries before 3000 BC.
"And God said, 'Let there be
light,' and there was light."
Sunlight became visible from
earth at this time. At some
point, God caused the sun to
ignite - quite literally as
a giant continuously-burning
hydrogen bomb. This verse may
either refer to this or to
when God cleared some of the
nebular dust away.
"God saw that the light was
good, and he separated the
light from the darkness. God
called the light 'day,' and
the darkness he called 'night.'
And there was evening, and
there was morning - the first
day."
God finished clearing the
nebular dust away and the
earth cooled. The earth's
back side became dark. Its
original atmosphere was
stripped.
Day 2:
Genesis 1:6-8:
"And God said, 'Let there be
an expanse between the waters
to separate water from water.'
So God made the expanse and
separated the water under the
expanse from the water above
it. And it was so. God called
the expanse 'sky.' And there
was evening, and there was
morning - the second day."
The earth cooled some more.
Some of the volcanic steam
which now surrounded it
condensed into water which
covered the earth's surface.
God made an air space between
the dark clouds and the
surface water.
Day 3:
Genesis 1:9, 10:
"And God said, 'Let the water
under the sky be gathered to
one place, and let dry ground
appear.' And it was so. God
called the dry ground 'land,'
and the gathered waters he
called 'seas.' And God saw
that it was good."
God caused the earth's crust to
form continents which pushed
up through the oceans. (God
had created single-celled plant-
like aquatic life by this time.)
"Then God said, 'Let the land
produce vegetation: seed-
bearing plants and trees on
the land that bear fruit with
seed in it, according to their
various kinds.' And it was so.
The land produced vegetation:
plants bearing seed according
to their kinds and trees
bearing fruit with seed in it
according to their kinds. And
God saw that it was good. And
there was evening, and there
was morning - the third day."
The first terrestrial plants must
have been created at this time.
There is, as yet, no fossil
evidence for them. Large amounts
of oxygen first appeared in the
atmosphere about 2 billion years
ago. God continued to create
other kinds of plants during
subsequent "days."
Day 4:
Genesis 1:14-19:
"And God said, 'Let there be
lights in the expanse of the
sky to separate the day from
the night, and let them serve
as signs to mark seasons and
days and years, and let them
be lights in the expanse of
the sky to give light on the
earth.' And it was so. God
made two great lights - the
greater light to govern the
day and the lesser light to
govern the night. He also made
the stars. God set them in the
expanse of the sky to give
light on the earth, to govern
the day and the night, and to
separate light from darkness.
And God saw that it was good.
And there was evening, and
there was morning - the fourth
day."
Day 5:
Genesis 1:20-23:
"And God said, 'Let the water
teem with living creatures,
and let birds fly above the
earth across the expanse of
the sky.' So God created the
great creatures of the sea and
every living and moving thing
with which the water teems,
according to their kinds, and
every winged bird according to
its kind. And God saw that it
was good. God blessed them and
said, 'Be fruitful and increase
in number and fill the water
in the seas, and let the birds
increase on the earth.' And
there was evening, and there
was morning - the fifth day."
God created an "explosion" of
aquatic life forms. He began
making true fish a little later
- 400 million years ago. The
first "winged creatures" were
insects - 350 million years ago.
God made the first amphibians
350-300 million years ago. The
oldest known true feathered
birds appear overlapping day
six - during the time of the
dinosaurs.
Day 6:
Genesis 1:24,25:
"And God said, 'Let the land
produce living creatures
according to their kinds:
livestock, creatures that move
along the ground, and wild
animals, each according to its
kind.' And it was so. God made
the wild animals according to
their kinds, the livestock
according to their kinds, and
all the creatures that move
along the ground according to
their kinds. And God saw that
it was good."
God made the reptiles, including
the dinosaurs, beginning about
230 million years ago. Most
mammals were created later -
beginning 65 million years ago.
God created the first tool-using
man-like apes about 2-3 million
years ago.
"Then God said, 'Let us make
man in our image, in our
likeness, and let them rule
over the fish of the sea and
the birds of the air, over the
livestock, over all the earth,
and over all the creatures
that move along the ground.'
So God created man in his own
image ..."
God created "man" - the first
"fully-modern" pre-Adamic men.