Just another Genesis idea...

[kmr]

Out of pure speculation, it occurred to me that a popular OEC interpretation of the Bible is the use of "Day" as a period of time. Suddenly I thought that if "Day" may not be a literal day, then it may not even stand for a set amount of time, it may only represent important moments in history. Therefore, in Genesis if you disregard the "time" and "order" of the days and instead focus on each time it brings up a specific place, i.e. each time the bible talks about the heavens, you get:

HEAVENS: God creates time > God creates space (heavens) > God creates light (presumably electromagnetism and physical laws) > God creates stars (lights in expanse of sky) > God creates Sun > God creates Moon

EARTH: God creates earth (if the "formation of the earth" refers to the formation of its internal structures like the core and the mantle, then of course in the start the earth would be formless and void) > formation of continents and dry land (tectonic activity follows formation of earth)

*WATER: God creates living creatures teeming in the water > God creates the "great creatures" and all other water animals

*AIR: God creates birds (could also refer to insects maybe, or perhaps leaves this out and skips to birds)

*LAND: Plants (plants and fungi were first to come to land) > Animals > Humans
-----* After each of these, God creates the concept of the creatures first and then talks about different kinds.

If looked at this way, the first chapter of Genesis reads like a history textbook. Each "chapter" (day) isn't in order by time it occurred, but talks about important events in history. However, each time a specific place is brought up, it is in order by time. For example, Chapter 12 of a textbook may be France in the 1700s, and chapter 13 may be England in the 1400s, and chapter 15 may be China in the 1600s. But the next time we bring of France, say, in chapter 16, it will be later on in history like the 1800s. Same here, each day is an important but not necessarily time-organized historical event, but each time you bring up a certain place, it is the next in a series of events.

-Adding on to this ever-growing list of interpretations that are "possible"!

[Canuckster1127]

There's nothing in the understanding of the word Yom that requires that the "periods of time" all are of the same duration or even that they are necessarily perfectly sequential with no overlap. I've seen some articles that take this tack on things. As a progressive creationist, I lean more toward there being no overlap and God's creative process being punctual in nature, but I have no real objection to accepting what you're suggesting above is a viable possibility.