young creation?

[miyako_1984]

Miyako,

Where is it written that you must have the sun to have a literal day?  A literal day is defined as the passage of 24 hours.  The sun is only the object that God gave us to provide light during that approximately 12 hours during which most of us engage in life.  What do you in day 1 (Genesis 1:3)?  Let there be light...  You don't need the sun for a day and so therefore it is easy for the days to be literal 24 hour days.

Besides, your hypocrisy astounds me.  First you say there is no way that the days of creation are 24 hour periods of time, although it is clear from the text that it is and the Bible is clear on that.  But then your defense for why we can't know if they are literal days is because the sun wasn't created until day 4 uses a literal interpretation of Scripture.  Now tell me, please, which is it?  If you are going to interpret Genesis 1 figuratively, that's fine with me (although I can show you differently) but if you want to be figurative, don't use a literal interpretation to tell me I am wrong.  It's either all or nothing.  You can't pick and choose here...

In Him.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi,

hmmmmm

I wasn't actually using a literal interpretation- merely quoting yours and assuming you were sticking with literalness all the way through. My defence of a longer term for creation is not rooted in the bible at all. I understand a day to be the time of roatation of the earth around it's axis, a turning that takes just about, and a little over, 24 hours- this is where this number comes from. I think the bible defines one day, like the last post by the coming of morning light and evening passing but don't really see how this isn't to do with the sun- as this is the light that rises and sets because the earth rotates, no?

For fun, science would have it that in the past, days and this period of light were in fact much less than 24 hours and will one day be much much more (as the earth is supposedly slowing down due to gravity very very slowly- much like our moon which no longer rotates).

Anyhow, these are pretty specific points and largely semantic but the gist is there. Whilst I don't doubt God made the universe, six days need not mean the working week. Many scholars already claim that forty days and nights were something else entirely and time throughout the bible is a bit unclear perhaps with years, ages and generations in the OT lasting times not heard of on modern scales and calenders.

I don't mean to argue this to death- it was just a light comment and in the scale of God's big picture, I don't even regard it was immensely important. Unless, you feel I am undercutting God by more loosely interpreting his word? I certainly don't consider it 'all or nothing' to the extent that I am any less faithful for a figurative approach.

Peace, anyhow.

miyako.

[Bread_of_Life]

Lekcit,

Where is it written that you must have the sun to have a literal day? A literal day is defined as the passage of 24 hours.

Hang on, who defined a day as a 24 hour period? Surely a day has always been defined as one rotation of the earth, or as they would have known it in the olden days, from sun up to next sun up?

I mean, the earth's rotation is slowing down, so in a few million years, a day will be longer than 24 hours - does that mean that we'll have to make a different word for a solar day and still use "day" to mean 24 hours? Furthermore, a solar day has been less that 24 hours in the past, does that mean that actually our definition of a day has to be less than 24 hours to conform to the "original" solar day, and that we call our current 24 hour solar period as some other word?

Sounds all a bit far fetched to me!

[Guest truebeliever7]

1. If the universe is only 6,000 to 10,000 years old and it takes millions of years for light to reach Earth from many stars, how can we see them?

2. Did God create light in transit?

3. Was the speed of light faster in the past?

4. What about Big Bang?

5. Does young creation have anything to do with the fact that time is different at different altitudes?

6. What is Carbon-14 dating?

Here is what the word of God says.

Heb 11:3

3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

(NKJ)

The reason science cant find any answers to these and many other questions is because God does not find the questions revelant to His plan. Therefore man makes up theories and opinions and call them fact. When in reality they are just a waste of time. Sit there and read each one of your questions and at the end answer what does it really matter! Do any of the above questions have anything to do with our salvation. No they dont!

God Bless

Edited January 3, 2005 by truebeliever7

[Guest charlie]

Why must you believe in a young earth in order to believe in an old, infinite God? That's not a requirement for being Christian.

While I do believe God created the earth in six days I do not believe He did it less than 10,000 years ago. I think that figure is something man came up with......erronously and it's been "pushed" on the rest of us as something we have to accept as part of our faith.

How old is the earth? Who cares.

How old is God? Older than 4 billion years.

[Guest melo]

Why must you believe in a young earth in order to believe in an old, infinite God?  That's not a requirement for being Christian.

While I do believe God created the earth in six days I do not believe He did it less than 10,000 years ago.    I think that figure is something man came up with......erronously and it's been "pushed" on the rest of us as something we have to accept as part of our faith.

How old is the earth?  Who cares.

How old is God?    Older than 4 billion years.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The word for "day" in Hebrew is "yom", and it literally means a period of time with a beginning and end. It is routinely used to mean a literal day, but is also used in scripture to refer to the harvest time, a time of judgement, and other finite periods of time. Hugh Ross has written quite a bit about old earth creationism, which is not at all evolution-based and is not a compromise with the Word of God. I am a scientist, a molecular biologist, and I think it makes the most sense. He also elaborates a great deal on the debate between evolutionists and creationist, and how the 6000 year belief was begun (by two Catholic bishops, who had a contest to arrive at the exact date of creation using literal days. Their timeline was added to the KJ Bible at one point). Good reading. Bottom line: He is our God and Creator. The how and when remain mysteries.

[Guest Amazed of Grace]

Bear in mind that clocks /calendars are artificial devices created by man simple to measure the passing of time. God is outside of time so He is not tied to

[Guest melo]

Bear in mind that clocks /calendars are artificial devices created by man simple to measure the passing of time. God is outside of time so He is not tied to

[Guest Amazed of Grace]

So, what determines when "yom" is meant to convey a literal 24-hour period and when it refers to another period?

[Guest melo]

So, what determines when "yom" is meant to convey a literal 24-hour period and when it refers to another period?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Context.

[Purple Chris]

The word for "day", "yom", is also used to refer to the entire creation period. It cannot mean a 24-hour period exclusively. We have been WAY too hung up on the literal 24-hour period notion, to our embarrassment and discredit.

To say this is to say that people's faith in God and that He is certainly powerful enough to have completed creation (by the power of His word, not time, by the way) in 6 days...is an embarrassment and discredits them and Christianity in some way. That is wrong. We might take a lesson from Job who, when God challenged him about His creation, Job just shut up, realizing that He didn't know much at all...just like we don't.

Exodus 20:11"for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it."

Exodus 31:17 "It is a sign for ever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed."

The whole Sabbath was built upon the 6 day creation follwed by one day of rest. It is a very prominent them in the OT. To say of someones faith is an embarassment or is discredited because they believe that God not only could (because He is able), but did (because He said He did) create all things in 6 days is errant.

**and still no old earth creationist has answered my question**

Blessings,

PC