Creation, why seven days? (moved)

Because as a creator God was like an artist painting a portrait so he took his time and made a masterpiece.

Aidan K said:

the Bible states that God chose to create the universe in seven days. Why did He not do it all at once, in your opinion?

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Not to quibble, it was six days, He rested on the seventh day

Seven is the number of divine completion in the bible.

Aidan K said:

the Bible states that God chose to create the universe in seven days. Why did He not do it all at once, in your opinion?

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God chose to create a pattern for us to follow. We work six days and rest on the seventh day, because that is what He did, and that is what He wants us to do.

-removed-
sorry, forgot I can't reply because I'm not considered true Christian.

Aidan K said:

the Bible states that God chose to create the universe in seven days. Why did He not do it all at once, in your opinion?

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In the Bible, the number seven signified completion or perfection. So in the first Genesis creation account, God "resting" on the 7th day would seem to symbolically indicate that creation was completed. It should be noted that the story is a myth, designed to communicate theological truth rather than scientific information.

Aidan K said:

Well, for most, that's a given isn't it?

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There are vocal groups that teach it is a scientific or otherwise factual account. This view is rejected by mainline Protestants & Roman Catholics.

graceandpeace said:

There are vocal groups that teach it is a scientific or otherwise factual account. This view is rejected by mainline Protestants & Roman Catholics.

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Most Protestants and Catholics agree that the world was created in a literal 7 days.

Aidan K said:

I've never heard a priest say that the creation story is literal. Btw, I was Catholic for forty years

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I've been a Christian my whole life and a member of various denominations including Catholic for 3 years. Most conservative Christians agree that the world was created in a literal 7 days. I think you are the one who doesn't believe.

Aidan K said:

I've never heard a priest say that the creation story is literal. Btw, I was Catholic for forty years

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The RCC's catechism states:

337 God himself created the visible world in all its richness, diversity and order. Scripture presents the work of the Creator symbolically as a succession of six days of divine "work", concluded by the "rest" of the seventh day.204 On the subject of creation, the sacred text teaches the truths revealed by God for our salvation,205 permitting us to "recognize the inner nature, the value and the ordering of the whole of creation to the praise of God."

"Symbolically" seems pretty key.

Aidan K said:

the Bible states that God chose to create the universe in seven days. Why did He not do it all at once, in your opinion?

Click to expand...

The seven day week was of major importance in Israelite religion, as the seventh day had been set apart for them as a day of rest, all work was to cease, even their beasts of burden to receive rest from their toil.

So in the theology of the Creation story God works for six days and rests on the seventh, giving cosmic importance to the Jewish Sabbath.

The point of the Creation story in Genesis 1 isn't to offer a woodenly literal explanation for how God made all things, the text is theological, not historical or scientific. We know through science that the evolution of life on earth has been going on for about three billion years, and that the universe itself is about 14 billion years old. Genesis 1 is a theology of creation, not a natural history of creation.

-CryptoLutheran