So, where do you stand on the question, about how old is the earth.

[Sue D.]

@Downunder -- The trinity / Godhead has Always existed.

Why not take God's Word for what it Is saying, as in "the evening and morning" equaled the 1st day, etc. and every day Since then.

Another passage relating to the age of the earth -- Matthew 1: 17 especially "So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity to Babylon are 14 generations and from the captivity of Babylon until the Christ are 14 generations." So -- depending on long a generation is -- how long was the life-span of the people. A rough idea of the age of this world Can be figured.

And considering the earth was created with everything needed For sustaining life / Adam and Eve -- it was created with 'age'. Adam and Eve were able to have children of their own.

And there Are places in Genesis such as 4: 3 "And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord." Emphasizing "in the process of time". An approximate period of time had passed that no one knows how long a time Had lapsed. Maybe 20-30 yrs?! He was old enough to be bringing his own offering to the Lord.

 

[Downunder]

@Sue D. look if you are convinced that the world is a young creation, ready made instantly for Adam and Eve then feel free to do so.
As for me I am equally convinced that before Adam the world was ancient. Possibly millions of years old.
Genesis 1 neither confirms nor denies either viewpoints.

 

[Sue D.]

@Downunder -- would be interested in hearing your reasoning.

 

[Downunder]

@Downunder -- would be interested in hearing your reasoning.

Because their is no doctrinal reason for the Earth to be young.
It does not matter if the world was millions of years old before God planted a garden in Eden.
What really matters is Adam and the fall. The story of redemption begins in Genesis 2 onwards ...
Genesis 3:
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals;
upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed;
he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

 

[Bob Carabbio]

Want to focus here for a moment. What are you referring to as Before the "Adamic Creation". Possibly from the Gnostic Gospels? Just remembering something from a Long time ago. Another race of people -- not alians. But -- maybe it's regarding those who lived in the area called Nod -- to the east of the Garden. And Then God Created Adam and Eve. Supposedly Adam had another wife , Lithia or something. Is that what you're talking about?

Nope. There's the fossil presence, and scientific dating, for a couple of issues. And of course light from stars that are farther that 6,000 light years away. And the growth rate of Coral. Did God put all those things in place to Purposely mislead us??

 

[Sue D.]

@Bob Carabbio -- The fossil presence can be explained by the world-wide flood. The scientific dating covers a Lot of years. Depending on the mind-set of the scientist.

No -- He put those things in place -- not to purposely mislead anyone -- but maybe to show His handiwork -- how marvelous the world all around us is.

I've no clue about the growth rate of Coral -- but I Have heard a bit about the light years / stars and such.

 

[Sue D.]

Because their is no doctrinal reason for the Earth to be young.
It does not matter if the world was millions of years old before God planted a garden in Eden.
What really matters is Adam and the fall. The story of redemption begins in Genesis 2 onwards ...
Genesis 3:
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals;
upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed;
he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Well -- maybe the doctrinal reason is that God is omnipotent -- God is perfectly capable Of doing just exactly what Genesis 1 and 2 says He did. And in the time frame that He's given us.

And the Fact Is that God Did put that garden in Eden for Adam and Eve and the future generations to enjoy.

If it Didn't matter -- then Why would God have told Moses to write all of it down. God has given us His Word for a Reason. In order to answer the questions we would have about the 'when, how, what for'.

 

[Hekuran]

Well -- maybe the doctrinal reason is that God is omnipotent -- God is perfectly capable Of doing just exactly what Genesis 1 and 2 says He did. And in the time frame that He's given us.

And the Fact Is that God Did put that garden in Eden for Adam and Eve and the future generations to enjoy.

If it Didn't matter -- then Why would God have told Moses to write all of it down. God has given us His Word for a Reason. In order to answer the questions we would have about the 'when, how, what for'.

I agree that God has a reason for giving us his word -- but I don't think answering the 'when' and 'how' questions about creation is what Genesis 1 and 2 are about. We live in a scientific age in which we are fascinated by how everything works, including how the world came to be. But Genesis was written by and to people in ancient times, who had very little interest in such matters.

What Genesis 1 and 2 does tell us - God formed the earth, creation is good, humans are made in the image of god, God is pleased to spend time with humans, humans are commissioned to care for God's creation, a cycle of work and rest is built into creation, men and women are partners that complement each other, and much, much more.

The 'what for' question is beyond the scope of science. And that is exactly the question the Genesis story conveys so beautifully.

 

[Sue D.]

@Hekuran -- people back in those days were just like us -- they weren't some neadrothal / caveman type of people. God gave them that information as well as all the rest of mankind.

And it's Also true that God chose the various man to write what He wanted written -- inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Do you consider the book of Genesis to be true, accurate? Genesis Does mean -- beginnings. Your phrase "the Genesis story" -- a story can be either fiction or real.

The world-wide flood is Also in Genesis -- do you believe that That really happened?

 

[Hekuran]

@Hekuran -- people back in those days were just like us -- they weren't some neadrothal / caveman type of people. God gave them that information as well as all the rest of mankind.

And it's Also true that God chose the various man to write what He wanted written -- inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Do you consider the book of Genesis to be true, accurate? Genesis Does mean -- beginnings. Your phrase "the Genesis story" -- a story can be either fiction or real.

The world-wide flood is Also in Genesis -- do you believe that That really happened?

I didn't mean that people in Bible terms were less sophisticated than us - but their interests were not the same as ours. It's only in the last 150 years or so that Western culture has become obsessed with science and scientific method.

If we want to understand something that comes from another culture, we have to set aside our own viewpoint for a while and try to understand from the perspective of the other culture.

 

[Sue D.]

@Hekuran -- what about the rest of my questions?

 

[Hekuran]

@Hekuran -- what about the rest of my questions?

Answering questions about the flood would likely take the thread off topic.

 

[Sue D.]

@Hekuran -- no reason that I can see that the flood would be off-topic. It has to do with the age of the earth. You'll find that in Genesis 6-8 or 9.

 

[Gregoryp]

This is a distraction, in the time you have been debating the age of the world, thousand of people are worshipping a false jesus in the temple of Baal, the italians are rebuilding the roman empire, hundreds of christians have been killed in Africa. We have so called believe that the world has centuries to to before the return of Jesus. the list goes on. None of the above could care less how old the earth is, they just want a new SUV.

 

[Downunder]

This is a distraction, in the time you have been debating the age of the world, thousand of people are worshipping a false Jesus in the temple of Baal, the Italians are rebuilding the roman empire, hundreds of Christians have been killed in Africa. We have so called believe that the world has centuries to to before the return of Jesus. the list goes on. None of the above could care less how old the earth is, they just want a new SUV.

Fair enough you do have a point. Although an armoured vehicle might be more appropriate for what is coming upon the Earth.

 

[Bob Carabbio]

@Bob Carabbio -- The fossil presence can be explained by the world-wide flood.

So why didn't Noah bring the dinosaurs onto the ark with him, so they'd still be around?? Were they CLEAN, or Unclean animals? Carbon 14 dating isn't absolutely accurate, but much more accurate that you're representing it. SO why do you think God would "slip in" all this FALSE EVIDENCE in his creation??

 

[Sue D.]

@Bob Carabbio -- so you really don't believe in Biblical accuracy. As for the dinosaurs -- sci-fi movies love to make them appear Huge -- pounding the earth. Looking them up in Google -- they are vegetarians.

Not all animals were on the ark -- two of every 'kind' were there. And very possibly as baby's so they wouldn't take up as much room or need as much food. And they were in the ark for 40 days and 40 nights of rain and then 150 days or 5 weeks or a bit longer.

You can read it yourself -- no need to get smart-alecky about it. "all this FALSE EVIDENCE in his creation".

Since you're not taking this seriously -- no reason to continue this with you.

 

[Waggles]

Not just dinosaurs but the unicorns were left behind too.

 

[Bob Carabbio]

@Bob Carabbio -- so you really don't believe in Biblical accuracy.

I believe in BIBLICAL ACCURACY as far as it goes. What I don't believe in is Academic THEOLOGICAL Accuracy. "Creation Science" is LOUSY SCIENCE, since it STARTS with a conclusion (a 144 hour creation cycle), and adapts/rationalizes/distorts Evidence to support it.

As for the dinosaurs -- sci-fi movies love to make them appear Huge -- pounding the earth. Looking them up in Google -- they are vegetarians.

And some were small and Some were HUGE, unless you think God Planted phony fossil evidence to lead science astray. You're obviously ignorant of Paleontology.

Not all animals were on the ark -- two of every 'kind' were there.

And you don't believe that Dinosaurs were a "Kind" obviously. And there were SEVEN of each "Clean" kind.

no reason to continue this with you.

BINGO!!! I couldn't agree more.

 

[Sue D.]

@Bob Carabbio -- Biblical Accuracy -- as far as it goes -- and you bring up Academic Theological Accuracy !!!!!

and the "adapts/ rationalizes/ distorts Evidence to support it. -- has it occurred to you that Maybe it's the Disbelievers who are trying to "adapt, rationalize, distort" Biblical / Theological accuracy to support Their humanistic theories.

As for the fossils -- there was a huge display of supposedly a kind of dinasaur -- and there Are many kinds -- with all the bones to show how huge it was -- in a display in a museum a long time ago. People were Very impressed. And then there was a news paper story about How it came to be in the museum. Some students were playing a practical joke -- managed to assemble all the bones necessary and 'create' the display. Well -- instead of being outraged by the fake dinasaur, the article was hidden and 'it' was continued to depict what they really Did look like.

Take a moment to Google -- Dinaseur sizes -- Wikepedia. -- Very interesting. Did you know that a hummingbird is in the fame 'family' as the longest / biggest dinasaurs that ever existed.

And it's not what God 'planted' -- it's what scientists have Found that is Most interesting.