Hi BP,
As promised, I will respond to your arguments against my
Yom-Age view. I might also begin returning your favour by calling your position the Evo-Creationism view
. Seeing as YECs agree as much with biological evolution as we do, I think it only fair.
Firstly, in relation to Gen 1:1 and verse 2, there is a
waw at the end of verse 1 which designates a continuation into verse two. I make this point now to prevent verse 1 being claimed as only a summary of the creation account—it is definitely apart of the creation account if verse 2 is.
Black Phoenix wrote:So, the Sun, stars, and earth were all created at the beginning of day 1.
Nope
Now the phrase
Hashamayim we ha'erets, translated "heavens and earth", carries a distinct meaning which your YEC sources also understand. It consistently refers to the
totality of the universe. This means in Genesis 1, all the materials of the universe (i.e., matter, energy and whatever else it contains) were created. Verse 1 quickly continues into verse 2 where we are given a reference point—Earth is formless and empty—so we can assume everything prior to Earth being formless and empty was in place being included the
Hashamayim we ha'erets of verse 1. Thus, our galaxy, the Sun, and other required conditions for a primitive Earth to be existent, were in place at verses 1-2.
BP wrote:And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights-the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning-the fourth day.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
I take this to mean, that before this account there was no outer space nor earth. Outer space is the heavens, earth is well... earth!
In verse 2 we have, "And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters." The Spirit of God is therefore at Earth's surface where it is dark. Why is it dark if the Sun was previously created? Job 38:4-9 provides us with an answer: "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?... When I made a cloud its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling band." It was dark as God had enveloped Earth within a thick cloud (i.e., atmosphere). In Job we are also given the implications of an early period in Earth's history which Science also acknowledges—it is said Earth should have a much thicker atmosphere like Venus, however this basically got blown away (more on this soon).
Verses 3 and 4 (also a continuation of thought after verse 2) then say, "Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light." It is here light hits Earth's surface for the first time. One could assume the thick clouds/atmosphere creating darkness, as written in Job, were finally removed. How did God do this? Well he could have waived a wand perhaps, but there seems to be scientific evidence which tells the story of how Earth was released from its thick atmosphere. The solution to this mystery is said to lie with Earth's moon. Many believe an asteroid the size of Mars or larger hit Earth and was greatly absorbed into its core. Such a collision would have blasted almost all of Earth's original atmosphere into outer space. For more refer to
http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Dec98/OriginEarthMoon.html. Such an impact would have certainly broken Earth's atmosphere up enough to allow light on Earth's surface.
Then we come to day 4 where it says, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night." While Earth's atmosphere may have been allowing light to penetrate through it, it is easy to picture it as being translucent rather than transparent after such a dramatic impact. So light would be reaching Earth but the stars and so forth would not have been viewable, much like an overcast day. It isn't until day 4, after plants had been created (which no doubt contributed to the clearing of Earth's atmosphere by soaking up Carbon dioxide), that one is able to see "lights in the expanse of the sky." Verse 16 is simply providing further details on what was already made in the past (I believe on day one). As Rich points out about verse 16, "the Hebrew verbs indicate an action completed at some time in the past" (
http://www.godandscience.org/youngearth/genesis1.html).
Continuing this thought, Rich also explains on the same page that: "Verse 18 gives us another hint. The lights were placed in the sky to "separate the light from the darkness." Does this sound familiar?
It is the exact Hebrew phrase used for God's work on the first day when, "God separated the light from the darkness" (Genesis 1:4) By using this phrase, the text is recounting the formation of the Sun, moon and stars from the first day. If we accept that God created the Sun, moon and stars on the fourth day, then He didn't really create the heavens in verse one. So, the 24-hour day interpretation suffers a contradiction between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:16." (emphasis mine)
BP wrote:Notice the reference to evening and morning. What is the evening of a billion years? What is its morning?
Moses says in Psalms 90:6, "In the morning it [grass] flourishes, and sprouts anew; Toward evening it fades, and withers away." Does grass grow up in the morning and die by evening? If you desire more of a response, I think Rich does a great job responding to this issue further at
http://www.godandscience.org/youngearth/longdays.html.
Read Genesis 2:4 —"These are the
generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in
the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens" (KJV). Generations sounds like a long time. How long is a day in this verse?
God's seventh day of rest is never closed. Psalm 95:11 tells us God declared some will not enter into His rest. In Hebrews 4 we also have: "For He has thus said somewhere concerning the seventh day, "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works"... Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience." How long is the seventh day if we even today people can enter God's seventh day of rest?
BP wrote:Sometimes day, actually means day. Sometimes it means a unspecified period of time, (i.e, in the day of my childhood) but I don't see this.
You seem to be focusing in on the English word "day". The Hebrew,
yom, on the other hand (translated into "day"), can literally refer to a 24 hour day, sunrise to sunset (12 hours), or a long, unspecified period of time.
Kurieuo.