Old Earth vs Young Earth

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Old Earth or Young Earth?

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shininglight

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First of all, I wanna point out that this is not a matter of salvation. I dont see any harm in believing in an old earth or a young earth. So lets be friendly in the discussion. This is something I haven't made up my mind about. All I am sure of is that "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth'. Was the beginning six thousand years ago? Six million years ago? Six billion years ago?

What do you think?
 
Exodus 20:11
(11) For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
 
Geneology of man in the Bible only allows for thousands of years since Adam. Yes I believe the days of creation to be literal 24 hour periods.
 
shininglight said:
All I am sure of is that "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth'.
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In my mind, that's the whole point of the creation story.

We debate details that contribute very little to the actual point.
 
I am an Old Earth supporter and theistic evolutionist. Science definitely supports the idea and I think you could make a good case that the word yom would, in this case, refer to a very long period of time.
 
If one wants a great book on the subject, I would recommend earth catastrophic past. Great book which shows how modern day science can not possibly determine age of things, which explains why things are the way they are. and can desribe how things which scientists say had to have took millions of years can actually be proven to not take long at all. and how the flood changed things.

I think of peter when he said that in the last days (today) men will mock God and say things are has they have been since the beginning (which is what all this scientific data is based on. and then mentions the creation and the flood. Two major things which have made (creation), and the catastrophic change (flood) the things here on earth.
 
BigFriendlyApologist said:
I am an Old Earth supporter and theistic evolutionist. Science definitely supports the idea and I think you could make a good case that the word yom would, in this case, refer to a very long period of time.
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Personal opinion based on science or on the opinion of those scientists who are non-believers, will without a doubt lead to confusion. This is not a matter of debate, but is a matter of what the Word of God projects as to the truth and verity of what is recorded.

There is a series of men who died at a certain age in Gen. You can can trace up to a certain degree the number of years... Example: Adam lived 930 years, so from the time of his creation to his death is 930 years.
 
BigFriendlyApologist said:
I am an Old Earth supporter and theistic evolutionist. Science definitely supports the idea and I think you could make a good case that the word yom would, in this case, refer to a very long period of time.
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Old earth I dont really have a problem with, evolution I do. I believe things "adapt" or maybe even evolve on a horizontal plane, but a human has always been a human and so forth.

Do you believe this statement?

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Animals were not made in Gods image. There is no way we evolved from them.
 
shininglight said:
Old earth I dont really have a problem with, evolution I do. I believe things "adapt" or maybe even evolve on a horizontal plane, but a human has always been a human and so forth.

Do you believe this statement?

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Animals were not made in Gods image. There is no way we evolved from them.
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Could not God have made us in his image through his foreknowledge of evolutionary processes or by impacting them at several junctures along the way? "Image" refers to our spiritual image, not a literal body image. It has more to do with our minds and our souls in communion with God then with body.
 
Ultimately, there are generally three options when it appears that God and science contradict. Firstly, God is false. Secondly, the science has been misinterpreted. Thirdly, God's Word has been misinterpreted. Often, it is the last problem that causes the most harm when believers stubbornly stick to old interpretations without examining new and more reasonable explanations.
 
BigFriendlyApologist said:
Ultimately, there are generally three options when it appears that God and science contradict. Firstly, God is false. Secondly, the science has been misinterpreted. Thirdly, God's Word has been misinterpreted. Often, it is the last problem that causes the most harm when believers stubbornly stick to old interpretations without examining new and more reasonable explanations.
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the problem is what some people call reasonable. are not reasonable at all. They only appear to be reasonable, until you get down and dirty and actually look to see where they get their reason and how unreasonable it really is.
 
BigFriendlyApologist said:
But neither should we discount what they say or ignore the evidence they present :)
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Nope. As always, we should with an open mind look at what they say. weigh all the evidence. and then and only then come to a conclusion.

The problem is, most of us go in with closed minds. and do not look at all.
 
maybe another way to ask this question is....
Adam and Eve were created in a mature adult form, the animals too. That being said, could it be possible that the Planet itself was created a mature planet?
Would it have been possible for the planet to be created as an adult planet with fossils and etc. Just a thought
 
I think study will show most fossils occurred as the flood was occurring on earth.
 
zander said:
maybe another way to ask this question is....
Adam and Eve were created in a mature adult form, the animals too. That being said, could it be possible that the Planet itself was created a mature planet?
Would it have been possible for the planet to be created as an adult planet with fossils and etc. Just a thought
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I suppose it is possible, but we have to also ask ourselves what is most probable? Hypothetically, if it were true, why would God do such a thing if he knew it would deceive many in future years? It doesn't make sense from my perspective.
 
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