Genesis 1

Summary: The earth is created by God in six days. Day one: light is created, and divided from darkness. Day and Night named. Day two: The heavens are created. Day three: water and earth are divided. Vegetation comes into being. Day four: sun, moon, and stars created. Day five: water and air animals. Day six: Land animals including man and woman. The creation is pronounced "very good."

Questions:
1. How long did it take God to create the earth?
It depends on who you ask. It could be that the earth was actually created in six days. God is omnipotent after all. It could be that the original Hebrew translated here as "day" indicates an indeterminate length of time and not a day. A scripture in the LDS Pearl of Great Price suggests that one of God's days is a thousand years which would mean that the creation took six days (plus the day of rest)(Abraham 3:4). None of these times coincides with a geological understanding of how old the world is (except if the time is indeterminate). I'll come back to this question in my personal reflections.

2. Why this particular order of creation?
Mostly I think that it's important that mankind is created last of all, and it is only after they are created that creation is proclaimed very good; before that it is merely good. I also have to wonder what the meaning of "dominion" is. There isn't really any insight into this in Strong's Concordance, but it would be nice to think of us having to have care over the world, rather than ruling it. It seems to me that too many people feel as though they rule the world without feeling that they should also care for and "replenish" it.

Personal Reflection: It has never really bothered me that the age of the earth is unknown and that our best guesses don't jibe with scientists' guesses. I believe that God is all-powerful and I also believe that we don't understand everything he does. I think we can deal with this discrepancy by simply trusting God and waiting for more information.

Note: Sorry, I didn't cite anything really or put in much as far as outside commentary goes. I'll try to do better tomorrow.