Creation of the solar system & galaxies(to Jeff Epler)
J. Michael McGill mmcgill@inetworld.net
Mon, 27 Apr 98 11:20:39 -0000 (00893694039, 199804271819.LAA10480@inet1.inetworld.net)
MCGILL
> Genesis Chapter 1:5 says:"...And the evening and the morning were the
> first day". Verse 8 says:"...And the evening and the morning were the
> second day". Verse 13 says:"And the evening and the morning were the
> third day:". Verse 14 says:"And God said, Let there be lights in the
> firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be
> for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:". Verse 19 says:"And
> the evening and the morning were the fourth day".
>
> My question is how can you have evening and morning on the first, second,
> and third day when the solar system and stars weren't created until the
> 4th day? Also on the first day the earth was non existent, Verse 2"And
> the earth was without form, and VOID;.." The earth wasn't created untill
> the third day, Verse 9 & 10"...let the dry land appear: and it was so.
> And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the
> waters called he Seas:..".
JEFF
I read a French book, called "It takes a lot of faith to be an atheist",
which expounded at length about all the scientific truths contained in the
Genesis creation account. I'd love to give a full report on it sometime,
but for now I'll just stick to telling you what harmonization they
proposed
for this difficulty.
You see, the atmosphere on primordial earth was largely opaque, so that
there were light/dark variations, but no features in the sky were visible.
At whatever geological era corresponded to "day 4", the atmosphere became
clear and the sun, moon, stars, and whatnot could be seen...
I hope you're convinced.
:)
MCGILL
Hello Jeff. Thanks for the answer. First of all Jeff I am a skeptic of
the Bible and not an Atheist. I consider myself a Deist. You gave a good
answer I have read before except that how do you explain the below about
the "day" or "days" of Genesis 1?
TILL
Exodus 20:8-11 also make it clear that the days in Genesis one were just
ordinary days.
>8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.
>9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work.
>10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to Yahweh your God; you shall not do
any work--you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your
livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.
>11 For in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is
in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath
day and consecrated it.
>
The rationale of "Moses" for consecrating the seventh day of the week was
that Yahweh had created heaven and earth in six days and rested on the
seventh. So if the six days in Genesis 1 were not 24-hour periods, this
statement in the 10 commandments makes no sense. Just as Yahweh had worked
for six days and rested on the seventh, so the Hebrews were commanded to
labor for six days and rest on the seventh.
MCGILL(3/8)
According to Josh McDowell and Don Stewart in their book "Answers To
Tough Questions Skeptics ask about the Christian Faith", they
say"Regarding the meaning of "yom"[the Hebrew word for day in Genesis
1], those who oppose the age-day theory point out that when "yom" is
used with a specific number, in this case six days, it always means a
24-hour day. Examples of this would be the 40 days Moses was on Mt.
Sinai and the three days Jonah was inside the great fish.
SJW
Excuse me for jumping in invited, but the book of Genesis clearly
defines "day" :
Genesis1
5
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there
was evening and there was morning, one day.
SJW
It seems that one day is from evening to morning. Too bad the
storyteller didn't have a Rolex.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"It vexes me when they would constrain science by the authority of the
Scriptures, and yet do not consider themselves bound to answer reason and
experiment."
Galileo Galilei, "The Authority of Scripture in Philosophical
Controversies"
"Having been admonished by this Holy Office [the Inquisition] entirely to
abandon the false opinion that the Sun was the center of the universe and
immovable, and that the Earth was not the center of the same and that it
moved... I abjure with a sincere heart and unfeigned faith, I curse and
detest the said errors and heresies, and generally all and every error and
sect contrary to the Holy Catholic Church."
Galileo Galilei, Recantation, 22 June 1633