My approach here has been to avoid taking sides in disputes where all partisans are “inside the fold” of faithful Christianity. Therefore I don’t hold out a particular view as being required of someone who wants to be a Christian. There are very faithful believers who hold a traditional view of earth being formed in six literal days. There are faithful believers who fully embrace the scientific views on evolution, yet feel that God is behind it all. There are several species of “old earth creationism” as well. (See my post “Varieties of Christian thought on Creation, with sources of further information”)

Genesis 1 gives every appearance of being a song, or poem, with stanzas that end with “and God saw that it was good.” Bibles, hymnals, and church prayer books will often call this the “Song of Creation” or the “Canticle of Creation”. One may extract very valuable theological information while yet recognizing that this isn’t intended to be a textbook of scientific data. We don’t need to get hung up on the particulars.

The major theological point here is that the universe we perceive isn’t an eternal, static thing, nor did it come about merely by mindless forces at play, but instead it is a purposeful creation by an unimaginably powerful God. Furthermore, it bears God’s benediction—it is “good”. In our tiny little corner of the cosmos, this should make us want to work toward the preservation of nature, and the well-being of all humans.