Christian traditions have never held a single unified reading of Genesis 1–2, even before modern cosmology entered the conversation.

The Range of Historical Views Figures as early as Augustine and Origen read the creation days non-literally, centuries before geology or the Big Bang were on the table — this isn't purely a modern accommodation to science.

Where Traditions Differ Today Approaches range from strict literalism to various concordist readings to fully non-literal theological readings that treat Genesis as making claims about who created rather than how or when.

A Reasonable Starting Point Whatever the mechanism, the text is making a theological claim about dependence on God as creator — that claim doesn't stand or fall on the age-of-the-earth question the way popular debate often assumes.