Cardinal Baronius (1598) said "The Bible was written to show us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go."

The Bible isn't a scientific text book, although it does refer to scientific principles. It is a book about God, and, if interpreted correctly doesn't conflict with Science. Christians believe that the Bible reveals the wisdom of God. The Bible is our starting point, the Handbook for Life .

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" 2 Timothy 3:16

The church before Darwin believed in six literal days of creation, as this was their clear interpretation of Scripture.

"In the beginning [time], God created the heavens [space] and the Earth [matter]" Genesis 1:1 (with brackets added).

The Hebrew word for "created" in Genesis 1:1 is "bara", which means God created everything "ex nihilo", which is a Latin phrase for "out of nothing". Only God can do this.

Hebrews 11:3 "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible."

Colossians 1:15-17 "Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation. Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see—kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through him and for him. He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together."

Job 26:7 "He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing."

John Wesley affirmed the literal days of creation and a six thousand year date for creation; specifically for the purpose of placing death as the result of sin and not prior to it. He said ""And unto dust thou shalt return." How admirably well has the wise Creator secured the execution of this sentence on all the offspring of Adam! It is true He was pleased to make one exception from this general rule, in a very early age of the world, in favour of an eminently righteous man….. But setting these two or three instances aside, who has been able, in the course of near six thousand years, to evade the execution of this sentence, passed on Adam and all his posterity?" (Ref Sermon "On the Fall of Man " 1782). "No: God Almighty, whether you know it or not, did not make it as it is now. He himself made it better, unspeakably better, than it is at present. He made it without any blemish, yea, without any defect. He made no corruption, no destruction, in the inanimate creation. He made not death in the animal creation; neither its harbingers, -- sin and pain” (Ref Sermon "God's Approbation of His Work " 1782).