The Bible does not teach us the age of the earth. Any conclusions we draw from the Scriptures about the age of the earth are speculative. Lindsay makes a good point that God's concept of time is quite different from ours (II Pet 3:8).
Today there is a growing number of Christian scholars who argue for an old earth, and there remains many (like Mr. Cody Keith) who argue for a young earth. I believe that all Christians should be able to look at both scientific argument objectively because the reliability of the Bible does not depend on a young earth conclusion. Personally, I am a fence sitter on this one. I think the flood of Noah's time period will continue to squew the data of old earth scientists; however, something like supernovas will continue to baffle young earth proponants. When we witness supernovas we are witnessing the explosion of a star millions of years after the fact based on the speed of light.
The creation account is actually written in a poetic form in its original Hebrew language. So how do we interpret day? Our first clue that day is being used differently is that for the first three "days" there is no sun or moon (they aren't created until "day" four).
So what does the creation account tell us if not how and when the earth was created? The main points that we cannot miss are: 1) There is a Creator, who creates from nothing; 2) mankind, the pinnacle of creation, is accountable to the Creator; and 3) man has damaged his relationship with the Creator.
So, if Genesis 1 is a poetic description of an indescribable event (God creating stuff from nothing), some people begin to wonder if Adam and Eve are fictional characters who are used in describing the fall of man. How might we defend Adam and Eve as real historical figures? This isn't a question you will likely face at camp, but it is a popular question in post-secondary education.
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5 comments:
As christians we believe the bible to be true, because of this we know that all parts are true. This means that Adam and Eve were real people and their story is also. How can we say they are fictional, that would mean that a part of the bible is untrue and it's not. There are no lies in the bible. Therfore they and their story are all truth!
How do we understand Jesus' parables? Was he telling true stories, or fictional stories to make a point that was true?
In regards to Pauls question about Jesus' Parables... If we look at many of the stories that Jesus told, they can be for reading and enjoying but we cn also learn from them. There were a lot of people in the bible who made mistakes and from that we can learn. For example when Peter walked on water, he started to sink when he stopped believing that he could do it. In our lives if we lose faith them we will sink. These stories can also be used to get a view of what the bible times were back then and to use for dating when these events happened.
I think that the parables that Jesus told were true. They were stories that happened to different people and he was sharing them so that other people do make the same mistakes. The parables relate to anyone at any age even though they were written many years ago we can still use them and learn from them.
In reference to the "day" question. I believe that, although the bible is God's Words to man.. it was written BY Man FOR Man. I would take the creation account to be a Literal 7 days.
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