you would have to argue that God didn't speed up the evolutionary progress to create animals and humans.

I think you're getting the Big Bang Theory, and the theory of evolution mixed up. I do think some people can believe in God created life through the process of evolution (although I do not necessarily agree).  Creation of the earth through the process of the Big Bag, it doesn't make any sense at all. 

I'm confused, your title states that it is clearly impossible, but your blog asks whether or not it is...

Anyway, let me first start by saying I believe in 7-day creation, 6 thousand year old earth, the whole shebang.

Now that I've established that, there are some hard questions to ask. 

1)"There was evening, there was morning- the second day" does seem pretty simple.  An evening and a morning are denoted by a sunset and a sunrise.  you can make arguments about the rotation of the earth, but Moses believed the Earth had four corners and the Sun revolved around the Earth- no rotations there.  The Sun was not created until day 4.  What determined the strictly regulated 24 hour day before the existence of the sun?

2) Genesis 1:27 literally says "he made them male and female" on the 6th day.  But Genesis 2:22 describes the making of Eve as occuring after He rested on the 7th day.  It is admittedly difficult to reconcile the idea of Adam and Eve being the first two humans if a literal reading of the Bible implies there was at least one other woman before her, is it not?

Evolution has certainly occured.  You can make arguments of microevolution vs. macro vs. cosmological vs. whatever other kind, you want.  The definition of Evolution is "Adaptation due to beneficial mutation."  We have witnessed this process.  It has never truly been a question as to whether one can believe in both.  We do, we just use words like "adaptation" and "microevolution" to make ourselves feel like we're not buying in to a lie.  The issue that exists with evolution is just how much it has happened.  I believe Men were created unique, not developed from a previous primate, but the reason we are In G-d's own image is not our bodies, it is our immortal soul.  It is possible to have evolution without making it so dramatic as everything slowly evolving from single-celled organisms.  In fact, the existence of races, combined with the Adam and Eve story, or the Noah one if you like, indicates that humans have evolved ever-so-slightly in to different colors and the like.  The Big Bang may have occured when G-d said "Let there be light."  You are throwing out the baby with the bathwater if you say that it is impossible to mix the two theories.  What is impossible is to accept the creatorless origin that scientists provide while also believing in a Creator.  If the good Lord decided to start with one dog and develop all dogs, wolves, foxes, whatever else from it, that's His business, and it's fine with me.  If He started with just 100 animals, 10 animals, even 1 animal, and developed them one from another, He's G-d, He can do that, and I'm not one to object.  The fact is, we can know WHAT He did- created the world in 7 days- without knowing HOW He did it, and if His methods produced results that have given Scientists the evidence that they have (which they obviously did) then so be it.  I'm not G-d, you're not G-d, His ways are not ours.  I say why don't we stop debating it and just ask Him when we meet Him.  Does your salvation really depend on it?

The bible is not a history textbook; it is so much more than that.  Frankly I find no contradiction between a belief in a creator and an understanding and acceptance of evolution.  The idea of evolution, the idea that there is as grand design and order to it all...that it's not just chaos, for me, supports the idea of a great designer...a creator...a god who started it all.  Look how well genesis actually correllates with what scientists espouse: light (stars) are created, then water and and land rises and seperates from the water (geomorphology).  Sure, no scientist will ever say the earth was created in 6 days...is it possible to accept evolution and still believe in a supernatural act that created it all...set it all in motion?  of course its possible.  Infact, the wonderful scientific lens through which i view the world continually affirms my believe in a divine creator of it all. 
With that said, i think it would do you well to have an open mind on this subject.  If you want to interpret literally a short paragraph on how the earth was created that's your choice, but i really hope you examine what i've said here.  With that I'll leave you with a quote from Albert Einstein:
"Religion without science is blind, science without religion is pointless"

i think you can believe in both, as long as you clarify what evolution really is.  there are different types of evolution (unfortunately i don't recall all of them now, although i think there are 7?) so although i, as a christian, do not believe that humans evolved from apes, i do believe that certain species did evolve to better adapt to their changing environments.

but yes, if we're talking about creation of the heavens and earth in 6 days, then yes i take the bible literally.  it seems impossible, but then what is impossible with God?

@haemina@xanga - you've been watching Kent hovind   He's in prison these days for tax evasion btw.  Macroevolution, Microevolution, Cosmological Evolution, Social Evolution, and Technological Evolution are the 5 I recall him talking about.  The Evolution being discussed here is that of organisms, something Hovind broke in to Macro and Micro.  The majority of Evolutionists do not use these terms, they were created by Christians, and they ignore the original definition of Evolution.  What needs to be clarified is how far you believe evolution went. Scientists see gradual changes in species over time, some conclude that this implies even greater changes have occured that we have not seen, others conclude that these small changes are all there is.  I wish someone in the Scientific community would coin a term for the evolution from one species in to another species (where the difference between species is that they can not produce viable offspring) because that is the part of the theory that I don't agree with.

Actually, one of the best ways to put it is that you believe in the fact of evolution, just not the theoretical conclusions that have been reached based on it.

@adifferentkindofbeautiful@xanga - I think you're right.This post deals much more with the origin of the universe than the evolutionary process, but you may as well adress both.

Someone stated previously that there was a difference in evolution and creation, and I agree with that.  As a christian you can believe in both considering how the earth was made is completly different then how life advanced.  Taking aspects of both to create a theory in which you would believe in, is to me compleltly reasonable.

I am a Christian who believe in Jesus Christ and that God created the Heavens and the Earth and who most definitely believes that things most CERTAINLY evolve.

@Justme_234@xanga - ...I'm not really seeing the Noahs ark complaint.  Unless you're discussing the idea that Noah took proto-species (one kind of dog, one kind of cat, etc) and they speciated and repopulated in all the various forms. Nevermind, I see exactly what your complaint is.

I took a class on cosmology this past year (how the universe functions). Fact is, even the big bang theory has some holes in it. Who's to say God didn't create the universe THROUGH the big bang?

Scientists have had to invent Dark Matter and Dark Energy to explain some of the crazy accelerations that happened during the formation of our universe. God? ... I think so.

Interesting post.  I asked a similar question in my first post (and still my only post).  I personally don't think that believing in christianity precludes a belief in the process of evolution nor does an understanding and acceptance of said process exclude a belief and faith in God.  If you say that it is impossible for the two to be reconciled, then where do I go with where I believe and what I know?  I am a molecular biologist who firmly believes in the sovereignity and power and holiness of God, yet at the same time I do accept that the process of evolution occurs.  As a scientist in training, I need to look at the evidence that has been collected and come to some conclusive statment that properly answers and describes the situation.  Looking at what we know about genetics and the similarities of genes and various rates of mutations, it is not improbable that evolution occured.  However, evolution as we currently describe it may be a misinterpretation of the data.  Of course, it is hard to track the rates at which various beneficial mutations arise in a large population.  As you said, the best wine that Jesus made and the physical age of Adam would be completely off because it is a misinterpretation of the data. 

While evolution may very well be a huge misinterpretation of the data we have, it does not necessarily exclude the existence and involvement of God in the universe (and in our lives).  The issue I believe at the heart of this debate is whether or not God is given the credit and honor for the existence of the universe and the life that lives on this earth (and perhaps other worlds in the universe).  The process by which evolution occurs is the rise of a mutation in the genetic coding of an organism that randomly happens to be beneficial to the organism and allows it to live and reproduce more effectively.  If one attempts to explain that life as we know it arose through evolution without God taking a part in the process, it is nearly impossible that life as we know it would arise (chances are very very close to zero).  In contrast, if a person believes that God had a hand in the process of evolution (influencing the environment to select for a specific mutation and perhaps causing the various mutations), it is not impossible that evolution would occur.  Looking at the similarities between the proteins and genes that exist in every living thing, from viruses to the trees to cattle to us humans, it is a beautiful thing to see these connections not because it came to be through a random process, but by the artistic and subtle yet powerful hand of God.

If evolution occured under the guiding process of God, it is beautiful and a display of God's mastery and power for it involves a complexity that no human mind could fully comprehend and only the mind of God could comprehend and shape it in a way to further make creation beautiful.  If creation occurred, it shows God's mastery and power because no other person or thing could cause the inception of the universe we live in.  Both views can fully support the majesty of God.

Or one could say that God used the coding from one animal and re-used that bit of coding in another new animal with a slight twist to make it unique yet serve the same function (an example would be coding for a protein that transports ions across the cell membrane except it changes one amino acid for a simlar amino acid).  However God created the universe (via instant creation as viewed by a literal reading of genesis or evolution in a subtle yet artistic manner) does not detract from the main point:

God is Holy and perfect, we are neither holy nor perfect and God requires death for this because his holiness cannot tolerate imperfection, Jesus is God's son and God in the flesh.  He lived a perfect life, died in our place, and rose up from the grave in three days so that we would have the chance to be called the children of God.  All that we must do to receive this is to accept the lordship of Jesus over our lives and confess and repent for our wrongdoings.

I don't assume that morning/evening/day are literal. Not taking those as some literal 24 hour period does not = throwing out the Bible. There are problems even within the different "versions" of Creation within Genesis that would cause problems for the literalist.

If the last question really was "Is it possible to believe that God created the Universe/Earth/all species in a literal six days AND believe that evolution was the mechanism behind the current diversity of species" then I would say no. There are problems with a God that would create dinosaur fossils.

I've come to believe that when it comes to the development of our world, the Bible and evolution/cosmology don't need to contradict each other. There do need to be some divine interventions for a reconciliation (like the issue of first souls), but that's sort of to be expected in a supernatural universe.

I believe that the story of creation and Adam and Eve are Jewish myths passed down from generation to generation to help explain the world and humanity. Now, myth is a dirty word in Christian circles, usually meaning 'untrue.' I don't believe this is the case. There are still plenty of truths to take from this story. God DID create the universe. God DID create us in relation to him. And we were effed up from pretty much the beginning. Just because something wasn't meant to be taken literally doesn't dilute its power.