"Day" in Genesis vs. "Day" in the NT...an Old Earth Creationist dilemma-

Discussion in 'Religion & Philosophy' started by Gorn Captain, Jul 19, 2013.

  1. Gorn Captain

    Gorn Captain Banned

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    As we see, some creationists accept or endorse the idea that the "days" of Genesis may not have been 24 hour days, but long, even millenia-long periods of time. As part of a way to explain undeniable biological or astronomical facts that would conflict with a "Young Earth" creationism which puts Creation at 6-10,000 years ago. They say "If a day in 'Genesis' was 10,000,000 years....there is no conflict with science and the Bible's account of Creation."

    The problem comes in OTHER uses of the word "day" in that SAME Holy Bible.

    Easiest to point to-

    1 Corinthians 15:4 "and that He was buried, and that He was araised on the third day baccording to the Scriptures,"


    So if we accept the days of Genesis as equal to some figure like 10,000,000 years each....and the Bible is consistant.....then Jesus laid in the Tomb for....30,000,000 years. Right?

    Now, the Old Earth Creationist is stuck....do they say that "days" in Corinthians and the rest of the New Testament....or even in the account of Jonah (three days and nights in the "great fish")... are an accurate 24 hour day.......but the "days" in Genesis are incredibly long millenia level periods of time?

    What OTHER words don't mean the same from one book of the Bible to the next???
     
  2. elijah

    elijah New Member

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    Have you ever played a bass, or fished for bass??
     
  3. Gorn Captain

    Gorn Captain Banned

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    "days" in the Bible are homophones???? How does that work? Or perhaps a "day" in Hebrew isn't the same as a "day" in Paul's Greek?

    Again, skip the NT if you like. Old Testament...Jonah. In the belly of the great fish for three DAYS and nights. Was that a normal day or a "Creation" day...and how do we tell them apart?

    And if we can tell them apart....could there be OTHER words in the Bible that that "look" the same but aren't???
     
  4. thebrucebeat

    thebrucebeat Banned

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    Where is the evidence that the word "day" in scripture has two completely different and unrelated meanings as in the example you show here?
    Not even a good try.
     
  5. Gorn Captain

    Gorn Captain Banned

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    elijah is one of those Old Earth Creationists who thinks "A day in Genesis could have been millions of years"....but now has to explain why Jonah wasn't in the belly of a great fish for THREE MILLION YEARS. :)
     
  6. AKR

    AKR New Member

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    The thing is, this is already cemented as 24 hour cycles during the creation period, so there's no wiggle room for old earth creationists.

    It doesn't say "and there was a few billion evenings and mornings - the first day." They're screwed right out of the gate.
     
  7. SFJEFF

    SFJEFF New Member

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    I listened to an interesting interview with a Biblical scholar- who pointed out that Biblical literalism didn't emerge until the Scientific era- that earlier Christians didn't feel any need or reason to argue that the every detail in the Bible was literal fact, and that instead were concerned only that the Bible had moral truths- that fact and truth were two very seperate things.

    And while I am not a Christian, the Bible does have some on point 'truths' and are totally independent of whether or not the Bible is fact.

    The Literalists who feel a need to twist things around to make a 'day' thousands of years long, in order to make it fit the scientific facts are I think undermining the Bible- and their faith. After all it is faith- not scientific reasoning that Christianity is based upon.
     
  8. elijah

    elijah New Member

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    There could be a chance that "days" are homophones.
    I would use a little bt of common literature sense, to figure them out.
    I very much think there could be words that aren't interpreted correctly.
     
  9. elijah

    elijah New Member

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    The hebrew word for day is "yom", and does carry different meanings.
     
  10. Gorn Captain

    Gorn Captain Banned

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    And that makes sense. It was EASY to be a Bible literalist...if there was no scientific evidence to the contrary. Why do you think the Vatican fought so hard against Galileo? They knew one "tiny crack" in the paradigm and the whole thing would bust open.

    - - - Updated - - -

    So a "yom" in Genesis means "millions of years"....but three "yoms" that Jonah spent in the fish's belly means "a 24 hour day".

    Are there lots of other words in the Bible that have two completely different meanings....like "die" or "resurrection"?

    Could they mean "went into a coma" and "came out of a coma three days later"???
     
  11. elijah

    elijah New Member

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    1. Not sure....I'd have to research further, but I would imagine yes.
    2. Maybe, but I doubt it.
     
  12. Gorn Captain

    Gorn Captain Banned

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    Why can you "doubt it"? If words in the Bible can mean "many different things"....why can't LOTS of words mean different things.

    For instance why can't I say....Lazarus didn't "die"...he merely went "into a coma" and Jesus came by and didn't "raise him from the dead"...he just "resuscitated" him.
     
  13. cupid dave

    cupid dave Well-Known Member

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    LOL

    What ought sensible educated people do, you ask?

    Usethe dictionary, of course.
    There they would discover that the word used, yowm in the Hebrew, has various meaning depending upon how understands the context of what he is reading.

    In each case you query above, the understanding of the context is subjective enough for people to rational choose which meaning ought be chosen from those available by definition.

    Yown can mean morning or afternoon, half a day, 24 hours, a duration in general, and Age, or actually, whatever length of time applies best.




    [​IMG]


    2. Hadean Era-Archaean Era/ = Second Day

    3. Archaean Era-Proterozoic Era/ = Third Day

    4. Proterozoic Era-Paleozoic Era/ = Fourth Day

    5. Paleozoic Era-Mesozoic Era/ = Fifth Day

    6. Mesozoic Era-Cenozoic Era/ = Six Day

    7. Cenozoic Era-Common Era/ = Seventh Day
     
  14. thebrucebeat

    thebrucebeat Banned

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    Ah, the Clock of Errors.
     
  15. elijah

    elijah New Member

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    You can say anything, as well as I, but, that doesn't make it correct. In the sense of language usage, would your interpretation make logical sense?
     
  16. taikoo

    taikoo Banned

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    That is the worst case of someone trying to play equivocation fallacy I ever saw.

    - - - Updated - - -

    how could we have guessed the guy with the flannel board would soon show up for this one?
     
  17. taikoo

    taikoo Banned

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    Substitute "bible -truth" for the word "happiness" in the song..
    Its "different things to different people"

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPCmezsxeEo
     
  18. trevorw2539

    trevorw2539 Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    The OT was written in Hebrew. It was translated into Greek and other languages. The Bible was written in Koine Greek, translated into other Eastern languages like Aramaic, Syriac and Latin. Rome used Latin. Later it was translated into AngloSaxon (Old English) with various dialects.Wycliffe translated two versions - one based on Latin Grammar (not in Latin) the other based on English which was easier for the ordinary man to understand. Tyndale used Latin, Greek and Hebrew texts in forming his Bible. We then have the Queen Elizabeth 1st Bible which also resulted in the Douay Rheims Bible and the King James Authorised version, which had some slight changes itself. Since then it has been translated and interpreted many times.
    Early Hebrew had no vowels so meanings are interpreted in the context of the sentence.
    There are words in one language which have no meaning or comparison in another, so has to be translated as near as possible.

    And you are arguing about the word day!

    That is why the Bible should not be taken literally.
     
  19. Gorn Captain

    Gorn Captain Banned

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    Actually the Young Earth Creationist's take makes logical sense. A "day" during Genesis is equal to a "day" in Jonah's time and a "day' in Jesus' time. 24 hours.

    Now, it goes against all our geologic and astronomic knowledge...but it's consistant.

    What's inconsistant is the "Old Earth Creationist" apologia. "A day during Genesis could have been 10,000,000 years"....fine, then Jonah was in the fish for THIRTY MILLION years.
     
  20. Gorn Captain

    Gorn Captain Banned

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    Among many reasons....especially Genesis. To apply "literal truth" or "history" to ONE herding tribe's, from the Eastern Mediterranean, creation mythos...in defiance of scientific discovery....is ludicrious. Especially one that contradicts later texts in the same "perfect, inerrant Word of God" (i.e. Bible)...and one that contradicts even basic logic, like plants being created BEFORE the existance of the Sun.
     
  21. carloslebaron

    carloslebaron New Member

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    I love your thinking. What a spectacular point of yours, you have hit the target!

    I scare of your wisdom, I would like everybody to think the way you do. This is a fantastic point to be reviewed the way you are suggesting or demanding.

    So, I wiant to ask you a simple question.

    You know that we have clocks set in accord to the rotation motion of our planet. We have divided this regular motion (whole period) into 24 hours, the hours into 60 minutes, and so forth.

    I'll hope you agree to what I said right above.

    Now well, by any future cosmical event our planet suffered a change in its rotation speed, and after the phenomenon, our planet will take 33 hours to complete a rotation.

    In this scenario, when A)- we are obligated to re-calibrate clocks and make the current hours longer or B)- to change the numbers from 24 to 33 in the devices, regardless of this necessary update of clocks, how are you going to call the new rotation period of the earth: Will you continue to call it a day or you are going to call it something else?

    I'm curious. (please limit yourself to answer my question in base of the proposed scenario)
     
  22. elijah

    elijah New Member

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    While I agree with you, the word "yom" still has different meanings. Don't ask me, I didn't make the word.
     
  23. Wolverine

    Wolverine New Member Past Donor

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    An ancient book that reflects the ignorance/lack of understanding on the part of the authors simply cannot be incorporated into modern science.

    Plain and simple.
     
  24. reallybigjohnson

    reallybigjohnson Banned

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    No the Pope and Catholics such as the Jesuits actually supported his position and there was a meeting that determined that his view was plausible. The problem was that no one was able to detect stellar parallax because there were not instruments sensitive enough at the time. You need to detect stellar parallax in order for his theory to be proven true. He was eventually threatened with execution because he wrote very critical letters about the Pope which in that times was considered heresy. It wasn't his scientific view which many people did not have issue with it was his remarks about the Pope that aliented his support. If you read his letters you will find that Galilleo was very smart but also a very blunt person who didn't hold back on the name calling. Frankly had he been more diplomatic history would have been much different.

    Regarding the days issue that is just a reach by people who take it literally instead of how its supposed to be taken, figuratively and more of a story or parable.
     
  25. Gorn Captain

    Gorn Captain Banned

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    If the rotation of the Earth became 33 hours, then we would update our clocks and call 33 hours a "day".....yes.

    Now....do you believe that the Earth rotated at a rate of one rotation per MILLION YEARS or so when plants and animals were "created" by God? (please limit yourself to answer my question in base of the proposed scenario) :)

    - - - Updated - - -

    But was one of those meanings the Hebrews gave to "yom"......."means one million years"???
     

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