Young Earth/Old Earth

[Carbon]

Are you a young earth or old earth believer?

 

[Carbon]

My vote was undecided.

I have many questions about the age of the Earth. One question being,

If the earth is young and created in six literal 24 hour days, and everything seemed to be around a 24-hour period, no indication of anything faster, no hyper speed etc... Then how could Adam name every animal in one 24-hour day, or less assuming he had to sleep?

19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. Genesis 2:19-20.

@Sereni-tea Thoughts?

 

[Carbon]

Then after naming all the animals, God put Adam in a deep sleep, took a rib, and made Eve all on the same day.

 

[Sereni-tea]

My vote was undecided.

I have many questions about the age of the Earth. One question being,

If the earth is young and created in six literal 24 hour days, and everything seemed to be around a 24-hour period, no indication of anything faster, no hyper speed etc... Then how could Adam name every animal in one 24-hour day, or less assuming he had to sleep?

19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. Genesis 2:19-20.

@Sereni-tea Thoughts?

Questions are good.

I think the answer lies in how we understand what the passage is telling us. These early chapters of Genesis are not meant to be understood by the surface plot - there is a lot of imagery going on here - often hard for us to see in our English translations but also because we have been conditioned to read it in a certain way. I have highlighted the last part of the passage you posted as I think that gives the clue to what we should be focusing on. The passage is about ontological identity - Adam didn't find a helper among the animals because they are different to him. This then leads onto your next post:

Then after naming all the animals, God put Adam in a deep sleep, took a rib, and made Eve all on the same day.

One thing you need to be aware of here is that the passage isn't talking about God performing surgery on Adam. Remember that Genesis was written to an ancient people who had no idea of anesthetics or surgery. In fact the word translated as 'rib' is the Hebrew word 'sela' and appeears about 40 times in the Hebrew Bible. Outside of Genesis 2, with the exception of 2 Samuel 16:13 where it is referring to the other side of a hill, the word is only used architecturally and refers to one side or the other where there are 2 sides (e.g. rings on the sides of the ark, rooms on 2 sides of the temple, etc.). So the passage is actually talking about Adam's side or Adam being cut in half. Remember what Adam says "This is bone on my bone, and flesh of my flesh", so not just the rib but flesh as well. How are we to understand it?

Consider other places in the Bible where we are told God puts someone into a deep sleep (e.g. Abraham in Genesis 15) and they have a vision. What is happening here is that God has put Adam into a deep sleep and gives him a vision about Eve. [Also bear in mind that here Adam and Eve are archetypes - we are to understand this as applying to all of us, not just Adam and Eve.] God is showing Adam that Eve is ontologically the same as him - she is his 'other half'. This places the identity of male and female as equals and they unite to form a new family unit.

 

[Sereni-tea]

Are you a young earth or old earth believer?

Genesis is an ancient text and we should strive to understand it how it was orignially intended, and not read into it with our modern day mindset and modern day questions. When understood in its literary and cultural contexts I think the early chapters of Genesis should not be understood as historical narrative or scientific discourse as the passages are filled with literary devices not seen in that type of genre. When understood properly then, I do not believe that the text indicates anything about the age of the earth. However I do believe that God has given us science which we can use to investigate the universe around us. From this I do believe that the earth is old.

 

[CrazyCalvinistUncle]

Created just the way the Bible states...but mature. Complete with impossible time feats by God, Adam, and a talking snake thrown in too boot. Because God.

And ya'll can hang on it.

 

[CrazyCalvinistUncle]

My vote was undecided.

While you are being undecided you might consider pondering these things

Luke 3:23-38
Acts 17:26
Romans 5:12-21
1 Timothy 2:11-14

 

[civic]

Are you a young earth or old earth believer?

I believe the Bible.

Exodus 20:11
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.


Exodus 31:12-17
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, 13 "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.14 "'Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people. 15 For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. 16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.'"

In Genesis 1 the word for day which is qualified by a number and the phrase “evening and morning” and for Day 1 the words light and darkness it means an ordinary day (a 24 hour period of time). It’s the same meaning today for a 24 hour period of time. Every time we read in Scripture the word day followed by a number, day and night or evening and morning in means a literal 24 hour period.

hope this helps !!!

 

[DialecticSkeptic]

Are you a young-earth or old-earth believer?

I am an old-earth creationist who accepts the science of evolution—that is, an evolutionary creationist.

 

[Marilyn C]

Then after naming all the animals, God put Adam in a deep sleep, took a rib, and made Eve all on the same day.

It could have been over time, however I`1ll go with the 24 hours. Now we need to remember that the animals then were the origin of the many later developments of types in a category. Of two cattle there comes forth all the variants we know today. So there would not be as many as we think with all the variety today. Also, the same goes for the ark, as in God bringing the origin of animals and not all the variations that are in the genes.

Another point is that Adam had such a good mind, memory etc that he would then remember all the names he called them.

 

[Marilyn C]

I am a young earth creationist. God said it and it was done.

 

[Selah7]

I’m old earth. We have evidence of the earth being billions and billions of years old—the stars, the archaeological artifacts, eternity before the foundation of the world—lots and lots of documentation.

 

[CrazyCalvinistUncle]

I’m old earth. We have evidence of the earth being billions and billions of years old—the stars, the archaeological artifacts, eternity before the foundation of the world—lots and lots of documentation.

You have a Bible and a God who says otherwise.

 

[Selah7]

You have a Bible and a God who says otherwise.

Prove it with scripture then.

 

[Deleted member 6]

You have a Bible and a God who says otherwise.

Adam (and also Eve) were created as adults, not babies. Why can't the earth be created to look older, too? Plus, I take the seven days (six in which He created all we see and don't see) as literal days, not an indeterminate period of time.

 

[Deleted member 6]

Prove it with scripture then.

Genesis 1 and 2? Are they not proof enough?

 

[CrazyCalvinistUncle]

Adam (and also Eve) were created as adults, not babies. Why can't the earth be created to look older, too? Plus, I take the seven days (six in which He created all we see and don't see) as literal days, not an indeterminate period of time.

That would be, at least, two of us.

 

[Selah7]

Genesis 1 and 2? Are they not proof enough?

Greetings there, bro. Let’s consider the following:

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Now since this verse is so important, let's look at it closely. Does it say when God created the heaven and the earth? No, it doesn't. Does it say that the earth is only 6,000 years old? Nope. So, when was the beginning? Let’s check out some more scriptures.

Isaiah 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

In the passage above, God says that He did not create the earth in "vain" and formed it to be inhabited.

The Hebrew word for “vain“ is "tohu" and it means desolation, utter waste. So Isaiah 45:18 is saying that God did not create the earth in a desolated state or as a wasteland. Let’s look at Genesis 1:2.

(2) And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

It says here that the earth was without form and void, which is the exact same word "tohu" used in Isa. 45:18.
Actually, the phrase is "tohu va bohu“—without form and void, which means totally and utterly desolate and wasted. But not to worry; there is no contradiction. Consider that the word “was” in Genesis 1: 2 was mistranslated and that it should read “became“—became void…. So what happened? In verse 2, something must have happened, and this event could have happened billions or trillions of years ago. Is this the reason we see evidence of it in the geological layers of the earth’s crust, in the fossils pressed between the rock, in the bones of dinosaurs?

According to the notes in the "Dake's Annotated Reference Bible “the Hebrew word “hayah” in the KJV is Trans. (became) 67 times, (becamest or came to pass) 505 times, (become) 66 times, and (come to pass) 131 times, but for some reason in Genesis 1:2 it is translated (was)…Gen. 1:2 And the earth was (became) without form.”

—to be continued?

 

[ReverendRV]

Are you a young earth or old earth believer?

I had a thought one day...

I know, I know...

And I asked Inertia about it. I said that since Time Dilation is true, and the Theory is we got the Moon due to a Planetary Collision; perhaps God brought the Moon to Earth in a few days, from across the Universe. Time Dilation would mean one planet was four days old, but the other planet would appear to be 13.8 Billion years old in just four days. The collision would explain why the Earth appears to be Old and Young...

Inertia said the premise had already been thought of, but dismissed. I can see why; but it was nice to find out that Scientists considered it...

 

[Sparrow]

I also hold an old-earth view. God is eternal. I am certain He has been busy in the universe for more than 6,000 years.