3. The Period of creation.
The period of the creation covers six days, as Gen. 1:31 and 2:2 are expressly reported (Hexaemeron). This period is neither to be limited for pious reasons (to put God's omnipotence more into the light) to a moment (Athanasius, Augustinus, Hilarius) nor also to be extended for unpious reasons (to reconcile the scripture with allegedly "fixed results" of science) to six periods of indefinite duration (so almost all modern theologians). Against the reinterpretation of the days into creation periods decides the decomposition of the days into evening and morning, which forces to the assumption of a twenty-four-hour day.1441)