A “six day” creation seems possible...if viewed in relativistic terms given the expansion of the universe, as has been demonstrated, time passes more slowly in extreme gravitational environments. And whereas the universe would have been more “compressed” in the past, it seems such a scheme is viable.
And as radioactive isotopes decay at known rates (rubidium 87-strontium 87 with a half-life of 50 billion years - which is older than the universe itself) have been used to date igneous an metamorphic rocks, as well as meteoric and lunar samples, it seems odd to me (and to you from earlier)that God would wish to play tricks on us. Without the physics to uncover these phenomena, it would be impossible even to light our cities. Thus I am more inclined to these miracles than a literal six day creation.
It seems important for me to state however, that I do not believe the United States could ever have been founded without benefit of Christianity, to which I am eternally grateful...noting too that Benjamin Franklin had a scientific bent.
And, just changing the subject momentarily, I love your screen name. She was a very brave and faithful woman indeed.
Onedoug, I don’t think he’s playing tricks. Maybe he’s just letting ideas of evolution play themselves out, to see who will stick with what He told us and who will be drawn away to believe something else.
Differing literary styles are found throughout Scripture...parables, poetry, letters, prophecy, authentic historical fact, etc. One by one, those styles can be eliminated when describing Genesis, except for the latter. It isn’t poetry, or prophecy, etc....but it is an historical account. It’s the only way it can be read.
The people in the pages of Genesis are real individuals who lived and breathed; they’re mentioned elsewhere in Scripture. Jesus-—though I know you don’t believe in Him-—referred to Adam and Eve as real, and as having been made in the beginning.
If we discount the creation story as myth, then the entire Bible begins to fall apart. It begins with man’s need to be redeemed and how it happened, and ends with the foretelling of ultimate redemption.
About my Freep name-—thank you. You know, what you said about C of A is exactly why I chose her as my alias here. She underwent terrible trials, but she never broke and she never lost her faith. An admirable woman, IMO.