God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light (Genesis 1:3).
Isn’t it contradictory to say light was created on the first day, yet the sun wasn’t created until the fourth day?
Some have suggested that on the first day God created light, as well as all other types of what is called electromagnetic radiation (EMR). Some who hold this view believe God created the light of the sun and moon on the first day, but it only became visible on the fourth day as the atmosphere of the Earth became transparent.
Visible light is just a small part of the entire spectrum of EMR. The visible light range or wavelength of what we can see with the naked eye is from about 380 nanometers (NM) to about 740 NM. But the electromagnetic spectrum is much broader. It extends from low frequencies used for radio broadcasts, which we cannot see to very high frequencies of gamma radiation, which again are beyond our vision. This means electromagnetic radiation covers wavelengths from thousands of kilometers down to a fraction of the size of an atom. What we see with the human eye is only a very small part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Scientists say that the electromagnetic spectrum in principle is infinite and continuous. Indeed, while Einstein’s theory of relativity predicts that time, space, and mass can all change due to relativistic effects, the speed of EMR is always constant in all frames of reference. Perhaps that is why Jesus so aptly referred to himself as the “light of the world” ( John 8:12)—God as the constant, infinite, and continuous one brings his light to every dimension of the universe, from the distant stars to a fraction of the diameter of a proton.
On the very first day of creation God may have very well brought into existence the miraculous phenomenon of light along with the entire spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, ranging from the lowest of the low in frequency to the highest of the high. Then on the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-18), God formed the sun, moon, and stars to warm Planet Earth and radiate light throughout the visible universe.
The other possible response to this question involves asking a question about the nature of Genesis—“Was Moses trying to offer a scientific chronology of the creation event?” In other words, is the Genesis 1 creation account meant as a scientific account of the sequence and manner of creation? If yes, then some explanation such as the above is necessary. If no, then this difficulty disappears.
