[westmanguy]

Well when the Bible was written, it said in Genesis the world and universe was created in 7 days.

I have a way of following Genesis but making things more realistic.

"days"

God doesn't necessarily have the same units of times as we have.

The first "day" could be 1 billion years in God's time units.

This is where the confusion came in the translation to the English version of the Bible.

Therefore we are recognizing the science that the universe is VERY VERY old, and we can apply it to belief by recognizing God could and most likely didn't mean "days" in our interpretation, but in a different unit/spanse of time to him.

I also will never and can never accept human life came from apes.

But this is something I have come to terms with recently that days can mean something different to God.

[stratos]

in the bible it talks about a day to God is like 1000yrs to man. I don't rem. the exact wording but this goes along with what your thinking.

[BartSimpson]

The Bible is the revealed wisdom of God to barely literate, nomadic shepherds. Their ability to comprehend such wisdom would be limited as if you were to explain a computer to a sparrow.

That there are problems with any of the interpreted issues in the Bible is of no surprise to me.

The only part of it that is actually attributed to God Himself would be the Ten Commandments.

[xerxes]

For once you have a good point. How would you define time if you are infinite?

[ShepherdsDog]

"With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." 2 Peter 3:8

[westmanguy]

your right their is no beginning or end to God, thats how I believe it.

but God could define time as spanses of time.

Remember a God doesn't have to follow the rules! lol

But yeah, I think most Southern Protestants (where the most 7-day believers live) need to get that the days could mean a billion years, or something, and are not literally days.

[ShepherdsDog]

What's to say that each phase of creation was of equal length? After the Big Bang....

[westmanguy]

I am coming to the point where I am trying to incorporate religiously-controversial science into my belief without compromising the words of the Bible and turning into a cherry-picker.

I believe the Bang Bang is a possible way God created the universe.

I believe that each "day" could be a different period of whatever length (not necessarily of equal length - yes) to incorporate Science's estimates on the age of the universe and earth.

One thing I can never ever EVER accept is that man came from apes.

Why?

For the lord thy God made man in his own image.

I could believe in evolution for any animals, but not for man and woman.

Will never accept that, because that right their compromises my faith if I were to accept it.

[RUEZ]

westmanguy westmanguy:

I believe the Bang Bang is a possible way God created the universe.

Or more commonly refered to as the Big Bang.

[ShepherdsDog]

$1:

For the lord thy God made man in his own image.

So you think God has two arms, two legs, eyes, a nose and looks just like us? God is formless and is not, nor has he ever been corporeal. When it says that we were created in God's image it means we were thinking beings with the ability to distinguish between good and evil.

$1:

I believe the Bang Bang is a possible way God created the universe.

Possible? 'And God said let there be light.' How is this any different than the Big Bang?

[ShepherdsDog]

Seeing as the Hebrew people originated in Sumeria, the currently accepted birthplace of civilization, you're likely correct. It was here that the agricultural revolution occured and the surpluses allowed the first cities to develop. The story of Cain and Able is thought to represent the conflict between sedentary agrarian society and nomadic herders.

[Blue_Nose]

So what is the "realistic" interpretation of the so-called "firmament"?

[DerbyX]

IceOwl IceOwl:

If you're going to tell a story about the beginning of the universe, you should probably have some sort of philosophy about how it happened. "Firmament" is just one more way of explaining the otherwise unexplainable.

So is magic.