Let me start by saying that while I believe in Creation I am not a Creationist nor do I believe in Creationism. The bible does not support the notion that the Earth is only 6,000 years old (roughly).
^ Yes, that's the usual excuse. But
Shawnster said:
Yet, never will you be able to find a place where the Bible contradicts science.
3D Master just posted a whole slew of counterexamples to the original claim, and those were only from the very beginning of the book, too. There's a lot more where that came from.
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
Well, let's revisit 3D Master's points and see if we can find an explanation that harmonizes the Bible's Genesis account with science.
Some of 3D Master's complaints stem from the particular translation of the Bible he's using. For example he refers to whales at one point. Other Bible translations don't specifically mention whales. It's good to remember the Bible wasn't originally written in English. What one translation calls whales another may call "sea monsters."
Let me preface this by stating that Genesis is written under the assumption that God is the Creator of all things. If anyone feels this statement alone contradicts science, then there is nothing more I can say.
However, if anyone is willing to consider the facts presented in Genesis without being turned off by the conclusion of God or a higher intelligence, then consider this rebuttal.
As with other things that are misrepresented or misunderstood, the first chapter of the Bible deserves at least a fair hearing. The need is to investigate and determine whether it harmonizes with known facts, not to mold it to fit some theoretical framework. Also to be remembered, the Genesis account was not written to show the “how” of creation. Rather, it covers major events in a progressive way, describing what things were formed, the order in which they were formed and the time interval, or “day,” in which each first appeared.
When examining the Genesis account, it is helpful to keep in mind that it approaches matters from the standpoint of people on earth. So it describes events as they would have been seen by human observers had they been present. This can be noted from its treatment of events on the fourth Genesis “day.” There the sun and moon are described as great luminaries in comparison to the stars. Yet many stars are far greater than our sun, and the moon is insignificant in comparison to them. But not to an earthly observer. So, as seen from the earth, the sun appears to be a ‘greater light that rules the day’ and the moon a ‘lesser light that dominates the night.’
So there's a heaven and an Earth before anything else. Totally scientifically false.
Why? What came before the heavens or, in other words, the creation of the Universe?
The first part of Genesis indicates that the earth could have existed for billions of years before the first Genesis “day,” though it does not say for how long. You can see this conclusion in the opening statement "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Notice this creation was before the first day. How long before the first day? The Bible doesn't say. Science tells us from geological records the Earth is several million years old. Nothing in the Genesis account contradicts this. "In the beginning..." could well have been many million years before "The First Day."
Science tells us the Universe appeared suddenly. This sudden act of creation is called "The Big Bang." Again, the Bible states the same thing. "In the beginning..." all the matter in the heavens and the slag that later coalesced into the Earth were formed. Instead of attributing this to the Big Bang, the act is attributed to God.
Again, this goes back to the scientist I referred to above. "The essence of the strange developments is that the Universe had, in some sense, a beginning—that it began at a certain moment in time. Now we see how the astronomical evidence leads to a biblical view of the origin of the world. The details differ, but the essential elements in the astronomical and biblical accounts of Genesis are the same.” - Astronomer Robert Jastrow.
Scientific Fact: The universe and all mattered appeared suddenly, in an instant.
Conclusion 1: The Big Bang Theory
Conclusion 2: God created everything.
Before going further, let's ask the question "what are the heavens and the earth referred to in Genesis 1:1?
We've already answered what the Earth is. It's this big hard thing we're standing on. Third rock from the sun. Mostly harmless.
The heavens are everything we see in the sky. Including the Sun, moon, stars, other planets, etc... Everything in the heavens.
Now, this is one thing that 3D Master has me puzzled about. He feels that since the Bible mentions creating the heavens at the beginning and then the heavens or expanse/firmament is created on Day 2 and then heavens/luminaries are again mentioned on Day 4 that this must mean the Bible is false. I'm not understanding the reasoning on this. We use the term heavens in many number of ways - God lives in heaven. Birds fly in heaven. "There may yet be brothers of man even now fighting to survive somewhere beyond the heavens." Same word heaven used in all three examples yet each example refers to something entirely different.
How come we can do that yet the Bible can't?
I'll go into specific detail about each of the Creative Days. As I've pointed out though before the creation of life on Earth, some of these other things were formed or forming.
Now, let's look at each "Day."
Day 1 - Let there be light.
Of course the sun and moon were in outer space long before this first “day,” but their light did not reach the surface of the earth for an earthly observer to see. Now, light evidently came to be visible on earth on this first “day,” and the rotating earth began to have alternating days and nights.
Day 2 - The expanse between the waters
There we have our firmament that stretched above the Earth around which water is kept; making it a dome of water above the Earth.
Totally scientifically inaccurate, if not outright ridiculous.
Why? How much water is in the atmosphere now? How much water was in the atmosphere when the Earth formed?
As the Earth continues to cool, the atmosphere forms. Some Bible translations call the expanse "firmament" while others use the word "expanse". This is because the Hebrew word ra·qi′a‛, translated “expanse,” means to stretch out or spread out or expand.
The Genesis account says that God did it, but it does not say how. In whatever way the described separation occurred, it would look as though the ‘waters above’ had been pushed up from the earth. And birds could later be said to fly in “the expanse of the heavens,” as stated at Genesis 1:20.
Day 3 - Dry land appears and vegetation forms.
Fruits and plants first? Last time I checked, life started either amongst the volcanic vents under water, or in space, or in a pool of amino acids, and first there were bacteria. And the first primitive plants and animals were under water.
Shouldn't plants come before animals? Whose definition of plant or animal are we using? Is an amoeba considered an animal? Should this stage happen after the larger animals appear? Nowhere in the account for this day does it contradict what you're saying. We've had the earth covered in water, dry land is now appearing and primitive life begins.
By the close of this third creative period, land has formed and plants have been created. The diffused light would have become quite strong by then, ample for the process of photosynthesis so vital to green plants. Incidentally, the account here does not mention every “kind” of plant that came on the scene. Microscopic organisms, water plants and others are not specifically named, but likely were created on this “day.”
Day 4 - Day and night begins
Previously, on the first “day,” the expression “Let light come to be” was used. The Hebrew word there used for “light” is ’ohr, meaning light in a general sense. But on the fourth “day,” the Hebrew word changes to ma·’ohr′, which means the source of the light. Rotherham, in a footnote on “Luminaries” in the Emphasised Bible, says: “In ver. 3, ’ôr [’ohr], light diffused.” Then he goes on to show that the Hebrew word ma·’ohr′ in verse 14 means something “affording light.” On the first “day” diffused light evidently penetrated the swaddling bands, but the sources of that light could not have been seen by an earthly observer because of the cloud layers still enveloping the earth. Now, on this fourth “day,” things apparently changed.
An atmosphere initially rich in carbon dioxide may have caused an earth-wide hot climate. But the lush growth of vegetation during the third and fourth creative periods would absorb some of this heat-retaining blanket of carbon dioxide. The vegetation, in turn, would release oxygen—a requirement for animal life.
Now, had there been an earthly observer, he would be able to discern the sun, moon and stars, which would “serve as signs and for seasons and for days and years.” (Genesis 1:14) The moon would indicate the passing of lunar months, and the sun the passing of solar years. The seasons that now “came to be” on this fourth “day” would no doubt have been much milder than they became later on.—Genesis 1:15; 8:20-22.
Day 5 - Sea life and birds
Sea life and then flying creatures. This would also embrace the forms of sea and air life, such as the sea monsters, whose fossil remains scientists have found in recent times.
Day 6 - Mammals, man
Thus on the sixth “day,” land animals characterized as wild and domestic appeared. The final day ended with the creation of man.
How long were these 6 days? Many consider the word “day” used in Genesis chapter 1 to mean 24 hours. However, in Genesis 1:5 God himself is said to divide day into a smaller period of time, calling just the light portion “day.” In Genesis 2:4 all the creative periods are called one “day”.
The Hebrew word yohm, translated “day,” can mean different lengths of time. Among the meanings possible, William Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies includes the following: “A day; it is frequently put for time in general, or for a long time; a whole period under consideration . . . Day is also put for a particular season or time when any extraordinary event happens.” This last sentence appears to fit the creative “days,” for certainly they were periods when extraordinary events were described as happening. It also allows for periods much longer than 24 hours.
Genesis chapter 1 uses the expressions “evening” and “morning” relative to the creative periods. Does this not indicate that they were 24 hours long? Not necessarily. In some places people often refer to a man’s lifetime as his “day.” They speak of “my father’s day” or “in Shakespeare’s day.” They may divide up that lifetime “day,” saying “in the morning [or dawn] of his life” or “in the evening [or twilight] of his life.” So ‘evening and morning’ in Genesis chapter 1 does not limit the meaning to a literal 24 hours.
When we say "back in the day" we're not referring to one specific day.
“Day” as used in the Bible can include summer and winter, the passing of seasons. (Zechariah 14:8) “The day of harvest” involves many days. (Compare Proverbs 25:13 and Genesis 30:14.) A thousand years are likened to a day. (Psalm 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8, 10) “Judgment Day” covers many years. (Matthew 10:15; 11:22-24) It would seem reasonable that the “days” of Genesis could likewise have embraced long periods of time—millenniums.
3D Master referred to a second creation account in Chapter 2 of Genesis.
Chapter 2 of Genesis apparently adds some details. However, it is not, as some have concluded, another account of creation in conflict with that of chapter 1. It just takes up at a point in the third “day,” after dry land appeared but before land plants were created, adding details that were pertinent to the arrival of humans—Adam the living soul, his garden home, Eden, and the woman Eve, his wife.—Genesis 2:5-9, 15-18, 21, 22.
The factual order of events in Genesis matches what science tells us. The account lists 10 major stages in this order: (1) a beginning; (2) a primitive earth in darkness and enshrouded in heavy gases and water; (3) light; (4) an expanse or atmosphere; (5) large areas of dry land; (6) land plants; (7) sun, moon and stars discernible in the expanse, and seasons beginning; (8) sea monsters and flying creatures; (9) wild and tame beasts, mammals; (10) man. Science agrees that these stages occurred in this general order.
