[BroJoeK]

dsc: "After you get past the fact that God created the heavens and the Earth, all that is seen and unseen, what does it matter whether He did it in the twinkling of an eye or billions of years?"

I agree with you, but apparently a good many FRiends here don't agree with us, and for reasons that -- even after many lengthy discussions -- are not obvious to me.

What's blindingly obvious is that everywhere you look scientifically, God left us with abundant clues about what He did and how He did it.

It remains only to ask "why", and for that, of course, nature and science have no answers.

For that, you must turn to the Bible, and to a church or other institution expressly intended to answer such questions.

;-)

[dsc]

“for reasons that — even after many lengthy discussions — are not obvious to me.”

In some cases, I think it’s because a belief in the literal, historical truth of the Bible requires it.

Gott sei dank, my mother taught me the meaning of the words “parable” and “allegory” at a young age.