tqpix said:
As for the six day creation, this is where faith comes in. If God says it took six days to form the Earth, we must believe him, because we know that God does not lie.
Of the ten options listed in the poll, only the first one totally rejects the biblical account of creation. Although the second option rejects a literal interpretation and the gap theory may be accused of questionable applications of both scripture and science, neither of those options fully reject the scriptural account of creation. The other seven options accept a rather literal reading of the first chapter of Genesis.
Since the last three options listed generally restrict the meaning of the Hebrew
yom to mean either a 24-hour day or a 1000-year day, they are therefore incompatible with the bulk of scientific evidence regarding the age of the universe. Thus, they often say that God is testing our faith by making the Earth and the universe appear to be older than what the Bible says they actually are, and the important thing is not to let our faith waiver in the face of such evidence (though some will admit to the accuracy of the scientific evidence--but deny the conclusions drawn by mainstream scientists).
The other four options are for those persons who do not think that a literal reading of the Bible's creation account in the first chapter of Genesis necessarily contradicts a literal reading of the scientific evidence regarding the age of the universe. The principal rationales they use tend to be:
- If God's word in the Bible is true and if the evidence left by God's creation is also true, then the two should not conflict. It might be noted that this is also a principal rationale used by the folks who choose the second option (non-literal interpretation); and
- The Hebrew word used in the Bible is yom. Although the English translation of yom is day, yom was not limited to 24-hours. It could mean a period of time either shorter than 24 hours (daylight hours, for example) or longer than 24 hours, such as an age, era, epoch, or a period of time of uncertain or undetermined length.
There are different options because there are different variations. In addition to the basic Day-Age Theory, there is an option for those who point out that the Bible does not say that the periods of creative activity were necessarily consecutive (i.e., each
yom of creation could have been separated by periods of time when God was not creating, but was rather allowing His creation to develop and be prepared for the next creative
yom). There is also an option for those who agree with Dr. Gerald Schroeder that each period of creation should be measured as it occurred (i.e., traveling with the flow of creation from the moment of initial creation toward the present time--rather than trying to measure the time by looking backward against the creative process). Because scientific evidence indicates that the creative expansion of the universe was travelling near the speed of light shortly after the big bang, time dilation would cause a few hours measured at that speed to equal a billion years looking backward in time.
All of us in this forum are Christians. Thus, we generally accept the Bible as being God's word. Since, however, our English translations of Genesis refer to six days of creation, we may--and do--have different approaches to the large body of scientific evidence that indicates that the universe is billions of years old. That is why I set up this poll: So that you can express your opinion. Since Christian Forums limits polls to 10 options, I had to summarize the major positions I have seen expressed by Christians. I therefore request that you vote for the option that most nearly expresses your belief, and then tell us why you think as you do. If the option that comes closest to your belief does not exactly state your position, you may also express what your actual belief is in your post.
Thank you.
