Cramming in the Years

Question

Young-earth creationists complain that there is no place in Genesis where you can cram millions of years. What do you think?

Answer

I agree with the young-earth creationists that there is no place to fit millions of years in the account of Genesis 1, at least on a literal level. However, there are some arguments worth considering that suggest that the Genesis 1 account was an ancient hymn of sorts, such that it ought to be interpreted metaphorically. In the account, it is clear that yom is a normal day not because that is the only thing it can mean, but because it is regularly qualified by the phrase "it was evening and it was morning." Nevertheless, if the entire account is metaphoric, the literal meaning of a normal day becomes much less relevant. Personally, I'm undecided on the issue. I think there are good reasons to take the account as historical, and good reasons to take it as metaphoric. Until that question of genre is decided for me, I can't fall in with either the young- or old-earth creationists.