I know MANY devout Christians, including Southern Baptist,
and Protestant, that accept Geneisis as abstract.
if Pastor Randles, who i respect greatly, can explain this to me, i will listen respectfully and gratefully. but:
Joshua 10:12-14
King James Version (KJV)
12Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
13And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
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Do the SAME standards apply, in the ENTIRE Bible?
or are they different for some books, like Genesis?
Jews, and Christians, for 2000 years, believed the Sun and moon, went around the earth.
Martin Luther himself, personally condemned Copernicus, for saying otherwise.
IF you take the above literally, you would certainly agree with Martin Luther.
And REJECT the Earth orbiting the Sun.
.
“They have just altered and damaged the DNA.
is not evolution unless that animal can produce offspring with the same trait.”
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and you think they can’t? and changing the same code, in the same DNA spot, in different species, alters the same trait.
...i believe Daniel prophescised the length of Tribulation.
7 days = 7 years. MANY other phrases in the Bible, are not literal. and many multiply days into years.
if Daniel can do it, why “MUST” the 7 days in Genesis be literal ?
Jesus himself talked in parables and abstractions.
did He, or any Apostle, say that we couldn’t assume Daniel meant years, instead of days?
i have never understood that inflexible obsession.
God gave us minds to understand our environment.
HE told us, “examine all things, keep that which is true”.
...EVERY branch of science, from Geology to Biology, tells us the Earth is older than 1 million years.
People from EVERY religion, including many Christians, accept the science.
only a few, believe God left us false clues, to deceive us.
...and if someone tells me that Tribulation will last for 7 literal days, at least i’ll respect them for consistency.
instead of arbitrarily chosing which verses to interpret literally, and which to use symbolism.
My God, is consistent, logical, and trustworthy.
GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH.
...in ANY way he WANTED to.
i have no need to use some science, and dismiss the rest,
because of a literal interpretation of a single verse.
especially when so many other verses, are clearly NOT.
(or are poetic, like “the Sun stood still”,
when God actually made the EARTH STOP TURNING !!!)
Christians use science in their daily lives. including medicine based on the same basic research.
we rightly criticise MUSLIMS for living in the 7th century.
...and then we should tell non-Christians, interested in learning about Jesus, that ALL science must be ignored,
that even indirectly requires that the 7 days in Genesis,
is abstract, like the 7 days of Daniel ?
I follow my Lord and Saviour Jesus.
i don’t need to reject the Earth orbiting the Sun,
or reject hundreds of years of repeatable science and research, which God gave us the ability to do,
because of a SINGLE abstract verse, from the OLD Testament.
...for example, the fact that the book of Joshua states that the "earth stood still and the moon stayed" is written from the perspective of someone on the earth, just as you or I would say "the sun rose", (did it really?).
The account of the battles in Joshua are not meant to be technical explanations of the cosmology, they are true accounts inspired ,but told from an earth bound perspective. There is no where in scipture that tells us that the sun goes around the earth...Christians and Jews may well have believed that but only because they believed the conventional wisdom of the day, they weren't led to believe that by scripture. <<"...i believe Daniel prophescised the length of Tribulation. 7 days = 7 years. MANY other phrases in the Bible, are not literal. and many multiply days into years. if Daniel can do it, why “MUST” the 7 days in Genesis be literal ?">>
The difference between Daniel's seven days and Genesis' is the expression from Genesis"evening and morning" which calls upon us to believe in a 24 hour cycle.Correct interpretation of the Bible is not arbritrary. I Hope this helps and thanks for the respect!
You are misunderstanding the original language which is easy enough to do. The term 7 days had more than one meaning. It basically meant a group of seven associated with time. In the case of Daniel the context is what gave the understanding of which period of 7 associated with time was meant.
During the creation account each individual day was described as an evening and a morning defining each day as a specific 24 hour period that we know of as an individual day.
Even in our language if not clearly defined as a 24 hour day the word day can mean an undistinguished time period such as when someone says "back in my day". Misunderstandings are easy when one hasn't yet studied the question in depth when it comes to translating language from one dialect to another especially when great distances in time are involved. Be sure to make a careful study when you have a question concerning the Bible and most importantly be sure to pray for The LORD's help.