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RE: SCIENCE AND THE CREATIVE DAYS OF GENESIS
There are some fairly good reasons to think that "day" in genesis means one 24 hour day. Firstly, the bible uses it to mean 24 hours in the vast majority of passages. In the bible, when the word day is used in conjunction with a number..ie 3 day's travel...it means 24 hours time period. In Exodus 20:11, God states that the whole of creation took 6 days. Even each day is bounded with an evening and a morning.
Now I agree that the earth is 4.3 billion years old. But in this bit of history, the bible is simply wrong. Make of it what you will...
Thanks uvas. I enjoyed reading your comments.
Genesis 2:4 (NKJV) "This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day [Hebrew: yowm] that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens"
In this verse, all seven days are described as one day. Would you agree that the word "day" in the Bible can be taken either way? Either as a 24 hour day or as an undefined period of time? If so, in this regard, would you agree there is no contradiction with science if it is possible the Bible is describing long epochs of time by the use of the Hebrew word "yowm" translated "day?"
Thanks again for your stimulating thoughts.
There a a few passages that day is used as a undefined amount of time. But when it is used in that way there is no number attached, as per your example. Most passages have a number attached..ie 3 days travel... and all of those refer to a 24 hour day. And in Genesis, the days are used with a number, first day, second day, and so on. And on top of that, each day is bounded by evening and morning, so I don't think it is likely that a Gen:1 day is some large geologic time denomination.
Uvas,
Thanks. That is an excellent point. Evening and morning sounds like a 24 hour day. However, I could also see it used to demonstrate progression (i.e. from dark to light or from chaos to organization.
To attached a number would mean that each period of time (Hebrew: yowm) would be equal in length like a 24 hour day. Otherwise for example, three "yowm" of different lengths would make no sense to be categorized together in that way. So when we speak of the day ("yowm" of Israel in the Wilderness, that was just one period of 40 years. We would not look for more periods of time.
However, let's assume you are correct that the days in Genesis are 24 hours periods of time. Would you then feel that looking to science for evidence of creation would be a waste of effort? Do you have a thought on how long it took to create the universe? Again, should Christians look to the evidence of science? If not, then why not? After all, don't we look to archaeology to confirm Bible stories and history?
You are welcome to answer, but don't feel compelled. These are just questions that come to my mind.
Yes, my point being is that the days in Genesis are attached to numbers, so as in all other parts of the bible where this happens, it is referring to 24 hour days.
I think looking for evidence of creation is a viable part of science. Indeed cosmology is involved in this. How long did creation take? Well, our best estimates is that our universe is just under 14 billion years old. So it took that long for the universe to reach its current state. Should a Christian look to the evidence of science? I personally believe that one should believe in as many true things as possible, and science seems to be our best way to understand the truth of our reality.
Uvas,
Thanks. I appreciate hearing your perspective.