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“I think it is very possible that “this creation” is the earth. I have an hypothesis that is long winded but can be broken down into a simple analogy. Walmart has tens of thousands of stores. Each store has a manager that, as far as the employees and customers are concerned, is the owner himself. The bible says we are God’s “Image” or “imagers” on earth. That is, as far as creation is concerned, we are his employees for his kingdom on earth, and the manager is Jesus and, as far as we are concerned, he is God. i.e. if we’ve seen him, we’ve seen God. So, Earth is but ONE walmart and Jesus is but one “God, as far as we are concerned. He didn’t die for demons. He didn’t die for goats or ET. He died for mankind on earth. And if you read scripture carefully, comparing versions and hebrew and greek to our modern english translations, I have yet to find a verse that skewers this hypothesis. The bible, its stories, its promises, and everything is about the earth and mankind on earth and, perhaps, our solar system. But it does not necessarily speak to any of the other stars, planets, solar systems, galaxies (which seem to be infinite in number, BTW). I’m not saying I believe this. I’m saying it’s possible. Earth is one “Wal-Mart”, but there may be millions, billions, or an infinite number.”

So when the Bible says God created “all things”, you are thinking it refers to “this one God” and all things are “this one heavens and earth”? I have talked to people before that had the notion that the God of the Bible might be God over more than one creation before, but you have taken that idea to a new extreme. I don’t think you can constrain the God that created “all things seen and unseen” to being “one God of many”.

Frankly, I was talking about “this creation” as in the present creation that we live in, as opposed to whatever the creation was like here on earth before the one we are presently living in now. That is the only theory I have found that is a viable alternative to young earth creationism.

What I’m saying is that God is Yahweh is the one God over all things, but that Jesus is God “as far as we’re concerned” an he’s God over this part of creation (our solar system).

I’m not saying that I believe that. Rather, I’m suggesting that such a reality would not violate what the bible says about God, Jesus and us.

Thing is, it appears there are two realms. The physical realm in which we live and the spiritual realm which we also call “heaven”. It is quite possible that the “new heaven and new earth is talking about the surface and atmosphere of THIS earth after it is scorched by fire before the new Jerusalem comes down. And we will all, in new bodies, live in THIS universe, but on a planet ruled by Jesus.

Then again, maybe I’ve read too much science fiction. :)

That is the only theory I have found that is a viable alternative to young earth creationism.

Well, here is another “hypothesis” I came up with when I realized that when the bible is interpreted to say “eternity” or “forever and ever”, a more precise interpretation often is “for the age” or “ages upon ages”.

So, I use this analogy: In the art world, sometimes a painting on canvas is covered over with white paint, and another painting applied. And this can happen more than once. So that if you peel away at the corner you can find a painting under the exposed one, and maybe a painting under that one, and a painting under that one.

So, regarding the ages in the bible, we have the period of time between Genesis 1:2 and Genesis 1:3 that could be billions of years and many, many ages. And after the earth is scorched and the new jerusalem comes down afterward in Revelation, there could be many ages to come.

And when we find dinosaur bones, we are literally looking at one of the other “painting” layers on the canvas called “earth”. Our general age began with flooding (”his face over the deep” language, not the “great” flood) and ends in fire, but there could be hundreds of ages that existed before that and hundreds to come. The Cambrian explosion being but one of them.

So our age “the current surface condition of the earth” is 7,000 or so years old. But the planet itself is much older and exposes to modern man the leftovers from previous ages when we know where to dig.

Again, the bible does not explicitly support this, but it doesn’t seem to contradict it either, and it would explain a lot of what is in the bible.

Now we see as through a glass darkly, but then, face to face. There is so much being hidden from us. And thanks to modern discoveries, our imagination starts reeling about who God really is and what he is truly capable of - not from an ancient shepherd’s imagination but from the imagination of those who expose themself to modern science fiction, which is based somewhat on modern science knowledge. The more we know about God, the more we know we don’t know about God. :)