Perhaps the issue is to do with how literally do we read the Bible? The bible does contain historical facts, but it also contains illustrations, metaphor and parables... Inspiring stories, etc.
The trouble comes when that gets mixed up... and it's not always obvious when they are mixed up.
One person's reply was that they err on the side of caution by assuming a literal stance, most of the time...
.... but why is that safer than assuming a metaphorical stance...
..... Better to consider both stances, and not take an outright position, seems safer to me...imo.
(To the person who said I follow a false religion... That's from the Christian pov, from a Buddhist pov, it's not false. It's just that we have different beliefs. I'm really not here to argue that I'm right and that you are wrong.. you might be right!
From a Buddhist pov, so long as you are not hurting people, you are developing compassion, that you are humble and selfless, then you are not so very far from Buddhism... Even though you might think I'm going to hell. I'm sure if you practice your religion well, you will indeed go to heaven.... I suspect my greed will send me to the hungry ghost realm )
Yes, yes that's the Christian povIt has nothing at all to do with your compassion, it only has to do with your Belief in Christ as Savior.
The scientists say that the world is far far older than could ever be the case from a literal reading of the Bible....
On the other hand, God can do anything he likes and make things appear as he wishes, for his own mysterious reasons.
Christians I've met seem to have a range of views as to the age of the earth. Some say thousands, some say hundreds of billions...
But does it really matter from a Christian point of view?
Would it change your Christianity if you changed your opinion of the age of the earth?
Perhaps the issue is to do with how literally do we read the Bible? The bible does contain historical facts, but it also contains illustrations, metaphor and parables... Inspiring stories, etc.
The trouble comes when that gets mixed up... and it's not always obvious when they are mixed up.
One person's reply was that they err on the side of caution by assuming a literal stance, most of the time...
.... but why is that safer than assuming a metaphorical stance...
..... Better to consider both stances, and not take an outright position, seems safer to me...imo.
(To the person who said I follow a false religion... That's from the Christian pov, from a Buddhist pov, it's not false. It's just that we have different beliefs. I'm really not here to argue that I'm right and that you are wrong.. you might be right!
From a Buddhist pov, so long as you are not hurting people, you are developing compassion, that you are humble and selfless, then you are not so very far from Buddhism... Even though you might think I'm going to hell. I'm sure if you practice your religion well, you will indeed go to heaven.... I suspect my greed will send me to the hungry ghost realm )
I've moved among multiple opinions over the course of my life. For a while I was a YEC, but I now see things in the first six days that just don't seem to fit in with that. One example is the evenings and mornings before the sun was created. Another is the symmetry of the passage, where God creates empty spaces on the first three days and then populates them, in the same order, on the final three days.The scientists say that the world is far far older than could ever be the case from a literal reading of the Bible....
On the other hand, God can do anything he likes and make things appear as he wishes, for his own mysterious reasons.
Christians I've met seem to have a range of views as to the age of the earth. Some say thousands, some say hundreds of billions...
But does it really matter from a Christian point of view?
Would it change your Christianity if you changed your opinion of the age of the earth?
Nope. It really doesn't matter but I err on the side of caution and take a literal approach to the Bible when it comes to things that are debatable so to speak.
It didn't change my views as I changed from young Earth to Old Earth.The scientists say that the world is far far older than could ever be the case from a literal reading of the Bible....
On the other hand, God can do anything he likes and make things appear as he wishes, for his own mysterious reasons.
Christians I've met seem to have a range of views as to the age of the earth. Some say thousands, some say hundreds of billions...
But does it really matter from a Christian point of view?
Would it change your Christianity if you changed your opinion of the age of the earth?
The scientists say that the world is far far older than could ever be the case from a literal reading of the Bible....
On the other hand, God can do anything he likes and make things appear as he wishes, for his own mysterious reasons.
Christians I've met seem to have a range of views as to the age of the earth. Some say thousands, some say hundreds of billions...
But does it really matter from a Christian point of view?
Would it change your Christianity if you changed your opinion of the age of the earth?
Would it change your Christianity if you changed your opinion of the age of the earth?