Posted on 02/05/2002 9:04:00 PM PST by Sabertooth
For example: how thick is the firmament? What is meant by the face of the deep? From John, "In the beginning was the Word": what is that about? These things have meaning, but not to literalists.
As to trying to show that Genesis contradicts itself, remember, God is explaining an act of his that is probably in totality far beyond what we could ever fully grasp and understand(like infinity and exactly who God is in all his manifestations, his omnipotence). Like a nuclear physicist trying to explain his job to his 2-year old child, God has likely simplified the story in order to explain to us in a way in which we can grasp the basics. So the story is told using images that any person can relate to, picture, and understand the concept being conveyed, but not necessarily literally.
No one will ever be able to fully explain or comprehend how God implemented creation, and it doesn't really matter. What's done is done, and we certainly aren't going to replicate it! What matters is that he could do it, and do it again, and anything he would like, so lets recognize his awesome power and presence and bow in humble thanks.
Or I guess you could believe in a big bang that just so happened to coincidentally have all kinds of absolutely statistically impossible string of convergences that resulted in a perfectly balanced self-correcting system that just so happened to produce men with souls(sorry dolphins, liberal affirmative action still can't give you that, maybe Flipper can go searching with the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz sequel).Even for a skeptic, the odds of a higher power creating the universe are far greater.
Genesis 1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass,,( NOTE: NO SEED YET)
the herb yielding seed,(NOTE: SEEDS CAME AFTER GRASS),
and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind,,,(NOTE: FRUIT CAME BEFORE SEED)
whose seed is in itself,,(NOTE: SEED MENTIONED AFTER FRUIT FORMED) upon the earth: and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass,( NOTE: NO SEED YET)
and herb yielding seed after his kind (NOTE: SEEDS CAME AFTER GRASS),
and the tree yielding fruit,(NOTE: FRUIT CAME BEFORE SEED)
whose seed was in itself,(NOTE: SEED MENTIONED AFTER FRUIT FORMED) after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
...Clearly show both plant and seed were made on day three, together, not seed that became plants in some mixed up order, but both were created on day three. Grass was made before seed, see that?
I will look into this more and report back. I remember studying this but cannot recall the explanation I was given so I will look it up further.
Exactly. Genesis is generally attributed to Moses, but biblical scholars generally believe there were two authors, P and J. The first creation account (Gen 1:1 - 2:3) is attributed to P, based on writing styles. Neither author is considered to be Moses, by the way.
Interestingly enough, the Creation Hymn (Gen 1:1 - 2:3), as it is often known, is considered to be the story of Creation handed down through the generations from Adam's time, which is why the poetic style is so distinct.
Instead of thinking it is limiting God, think of this: I am quoting Him at what He said. He did not say He took undetermned time periods, He said He took 6 days. He did NOT say He let us evolve, He said He created us. See the difference?
This approach is not limiting God, it is trusting what He said as truth. If we cannot trust what He said, why believe it at all? Remember what Satan said?
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said,.....
The arguement that we are limiting God, is actually calling God a liar. It is clear what He said, it says He did it in 6 days. What you might want to ask, is why did it take so long? Why wasn't it immediate? Why take as long as 6 days?
(HINT: It has to do with why we wear clothes, why the family is important, why we worship on a certain instead of others...)
We only agree if you beleve the waters were created day one! :-)
So, looking only at that point (it could be key after all), what makes a day 24 hours long? A sun, a earth, the earth rotating on it's axis once in 24 hours.
At which point in Genesis are these requirements met?
The JEDP theory is a LIE!!!
Trust Jesus instead. Notice who He quoted when using the Old Testament!
(Mark 10:3 KJV) And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?
(Luke 16:29 KJV) Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
(Luke 16:31 KJV) And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
(Luke 20:37 KJV) Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
(Luke 24:27 KJV) And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
(Luke 24:44 KJV) And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
(John 1:45 KJV) Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
(John 5:45 KJV) Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.
(John 5:46 KJV) For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
(John 6:32 KJV) Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
(John 7:19 KJV) Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?
Moses has to be REAL, not that theory about the Priesthood, the Deuteronical blah-blah, JEDP thing, throw that out!!
You're right, we may not agree after all :-) We both agree that the waters existed before the heavens and the earth. Yet Rashi explains that the waters were not completed (perfected) until the 3rd day (which is why God does not say "it was good" on the second day).
The "24-hour day" that is observable on most of the earth is the result of the Earth's rotation making the Sun alternately visible and invislbe to a ground-based observer. The Sun did not exist, however, until the Fourth Day. Therefore, something else must have created the light and darkness for the first three "days"; I see no reason to believe that those "days" were of the same duration as one rotation of our planet.
No, we don't! :-)
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