personally (pulls pin on grenade), I don't think God is bound by the earthly definition of a 24-hour day. (throws grenade into thread)
2 Peter Chapter 3 verses 8&9 reads:
‘But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.’
which is a direct allusion to and quote from Psalm 90:4 which reads:
'For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night'
Both of these scriptures, taken in their repsective contexts, do not refer directly to creation, nor were they intended to. And literal Young Earth believers (of which I am not - see: first sentence) undoubtedly bring Exodus 20:8-11 into the argument which reads:
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
And I get that. But IMO, the symbolism of the 6-day creation is not so much trumped by scripture as it is put into perspective by it 2P3:8-9 and Psalm 90:4, which while in context do not directly allude or refer to the creation story of Genesis 1, but directly tell the perceptive reader that time has no meaning to God.
Ultimately, what I'm saying is that the Earth might be 6,000 years old or the light from Proxima Centauri really has been traveling to Earth for billions of years. It doesn't matter, because in either case God is not bound by human-defined measurements of time.
Sarge, I'm on your side. I believe that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. I just don't know how, and I'm not supposed to know.
Acts 1:6-8 states:
So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
and 1 Corinthians 2:4-11 states
My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit."
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
So we don't know. But when you argue the case for Young Earth that is in stark contrast to solid scientific evidence by saying, "Well, maybe God made it that way," you may be right but you're not doing yourself any favors, you're just alienating smart people.
There's a better way to win that argument - scripture. :thumbup
Perhaps......
Perhaps the earth is 6,000 years old by GODS view?
