The Age of the Universe
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I was once asked this question............by a Church member or an underling a few years back. So I created this blog below.
Do you believe that the Earth is 4.5 billion years old according to science, or 6000 years old according to the Bible?
I as a 30 year Christian try to think outside the box of normality. Is the universe 6000 years old? Is the universe 13.7 billion years old? Do these two questions clash or is there a translation barrier !! This is how I think. I try to bring both poles of thought towards each other starting with the facts. We know the universe has to be over 6000 years old because we see light from stars that are millions of light years away, so we would have to be naive to think the universe is 6000 years old.
Onward to what Genesis says about creation, does it really say the universe or earth is 6000 years old? I don’t think it does, I think its a mistranslation of a primitive language that had only around 4000 words at the time Genesis was written, whereas the English language has 500,000 words. So many of the Hebrew words were used in multiple ways. For instance the original meaning of the Hebrew word YOWM (Day) means “to be hot” and there are at least 50 other meanings listed in strong’s concordance’s lexicon of Hebrew words. A year, a month, a period of time, chronicles, evening and morning (Beginning and end), age, perpetually, long, some time, whole, X required season, continually etc. etc., well you get the point.
YOWM or “To be hot”, what would this mean and why was it used since God is supposed to have given Moses the first five books of the Torah. Well when the universe was spoken into existence by God, it took 400 million years for the first stars to form. So the first Day (to be hot) was the Evening (Darkness, 400 million years of darkness) and the Morning ( The stars started forming) and the first day was a “period of time” and in my opinion it lasted from 13.7 Billion BC until 4.5 Billion BC (9.2 Billion years) when the Sun & Earth were formed. So lets take a second and look at the Bible and the WMAP research and see if this matches.
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Now look below at the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) which launched in 2001 and won many awards, they mapped the whole universe out. Below as we see, you had Quantum Fluctuations which I contend is God, then you had Inflation, followed by Afterglow, followed by 400 MILLION YEARS of Darkness !! Just like the bible says in verse 2, and there was Darkness on the Face of the Deep !! Gods word is perfect, it is us who are confused. DARK AGES Mapped out by the WMAP, followed by what? The first stars forming at the 400 million year mark. Verse three says what? and God said “Let there be light” God is right again. We are looking at Creation from Gods POV, no man was there of course and with God he is not subject to time, he created time for us via this universe, but He is eternal and thus was never created. Remember the verse, a thousand years is like a day and a day like unto a thousand years unto God. In other words God lives in the past, present and future all at the same time.
So we had the Big Bang, followed by Inflation, followed by Cosmic Microwave background where after 375,000 years loose electrons cool enough to combine with protons. The Universe becomes Transparent to Light. The Microwave background begins to shine. Then the dark ages/clouds of dark hydrogen gas cool and coalesce.
The first stars appear….Gas Clouds collapse, the fusion of Stars begin, the first of which appears at about 400 million years after the big bang. So, when the bible says Darkness was on the face of the deep, God knew exactly what was happening in the very beginning! The more we look for the answers, the more that science and the bible will converge, if both sides with differing viewpoints would only take their blinders off.
The second day (period of time) of course would be from the Earth & the Suns formation until the grasses and trees came forth on the Third day (period of time) then on the Fourth day it seems God Set the Seasons or placed the Moon in its perfect orbit where our seasons are not strange, but orderly, I know the moon and earth is supposed to have collided. Anyway, that set the seasons, times, years etc. etc. Mind you, all of these ideas are rudimentary observations. A theory of how the things God says in His Holy Word and Science can both be factual. They are not meant to imply everything went down just so and in like manner, the dates of course are guesstimates, I wasn’t there.
On the Fifth day God created the Sea animals/birds and what not, were the Dinos created here or with the land animals? The fifth day lasted 300 million to 400 million years or so. On the Sixth Day around 300–350 Million BC God created the Land Animals. During this period of time the Dinosaurs became extinct about 70 Million years ago. Then during this “TIME PERIOD” (6TH DAY) God decided to create man 6000 or so years ago. Some might protest that men have been around much longer, but I offer this up, where is the data? Men are record keepers and we don’t have proof of men going back further. Now as per “MEN” being observed by scientists to have been around X Number of years, I never said Animal like men weren’t around, I stated Human Beings were created 6000 years ago, when God placed His spirit in us and thus we are immortal in that our souls can not die. We were at that point in time “Created in Gods Image”. The other fossils and bones mean nothing, because Scientists have no way of testing for God imparting His spirit into mankind and creating “Human Beings” with powerful intellects.
On the Seventh Day God rested, which only means He ceased Creating the Heavens/Earth/Mankind/Animals. So when we see stars and galaxies created today, it was ordered forth 13.7 Billion years ago. So its not necessarily either or. We need to start looking at things with an open mind, be we an atheist or a Christian.
P.S. Just something to think about. Einstein’s theory of relativity is in the very first verse of the bible, relatively speaking…LOL.
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning (TIME) God created the heaven(SPACE) and the earth(MATTER).
I quoted Isaiah as prophesy in the future and Genesis in the past .. Abel sacrificed a lamb and Cain sacrificed grain .. Adam had been given fruit from trees until the fall .. Fish could have been eating fish the day they were created or not .. I was not there so I go on what I know of the mind of God about the matter or think I know .. Those big teeth look convincing but either way they were equipped .. Dinosaurs had some big teeth too ..
I don't have to believe the earth or the universe is over 6000 yrs old .. Way before the big bang and inflation theory God said he stretches out the heavens like a tent meaning stretching is possibly still in progress .. When God said ''let their be light'' it was .. If God inhabits His creation and outside of it where and when was He in darkness waiting for light to arrive ?
Exactly. Science has not produced anything that contradicts what Moses told us back in his day. In fact Science verifies that the Bible is accurate and true.
The Bible was written in a world of Tent & Camels. Yet the Bible has meaning for us today even though we live in high rise apartments and travel on Jet Airplanes.
Ha, Abraham was convinced enough to circumcise himself and all with him and after him .. Let that sink in .. If I'm from a different people and see that I'd be like ''you can have it, I'll leave , you God boys are crazy '' lolol
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eternally-gratefull
Guest
The Jews are literal one line of people from Abraham a brother of the Arabs hence why they fight so Much they fight for glory
They are nothing special
E
eternally-gratefull
Guest
they gave us The Word himself also.
But they are not special. They have to be saved just like you and I
That is a no fly. He believes that Creationism is a supernatural explanation. Not at all. The atheist does not know where the natural laws come from. But there are theists and atheists tend to both agree that Natural laws Created the Universe. The difference is theists tend to see the world in a fallen condition in need of redemption and restoration.
Often they put a lot more effort into being saved as they not only try to follow the law they add to the law.
E
eternally-gratefull
Guest
yes, thats why as a nation they denied their messiah because they misinterpreted the law. Like many gentiles even do today
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So for me I hear all these theories and they all try to fill in the gaps. Technically if you just read the scriptures there is alot we wouldn't understand about creation. But God gave us the ability to learn about how the world works. To me the creation should compliment the creator.
So by the evidence I hold my views more with a older universe.
In the end it doesn't matter to soul salvation but what some theories can do is try to take God completely out of the story. Now those we should care about and defend against.
The creation account is a quick explanation on how things came to be. But it also believed to be told in a poetic fashion. Every detail isnt told and that wasn't the purpose to be a science book.
So for me I hear all these theories and they all try to fill in the gaps. Technically if you just read the scriptures there is alot we wouldn't understand about creation. But God gave us the ability to learn about how the world works. To me the creation should compliment the creator.
So by the evidence I hold my views more with a older universe.
In the end it doesn't matter to soul salvation but what some theories can do is try to take God completely out of the story. Now those we should care about and defend against.
Well in your post 115# when I read it you didn’t mentioned Isiah chapter 11 as a future event and I had to copy some the verse to know what chapter you pulled that from.
post 115 reads as you where implying the idea that animals didn’t kill other animals in the beginning. beasts are not merely large scary animals with big teeth they used those big teeth to kill other animals and it was so in the beginning. Anywhere the word beast is used in the Bible it is not gentleness but aggressive creatures. The shark wasn’t created to eat seaweed, sharks eat other fish period it’s not a mystery and there wasn’t a time when sharks ate seaweed. either they do or don’t theres no grey area unless you are wanting to create a grey area there are sharks in the ocean like before.
I liked your read there’s a few things I think differently but it’s minor, but on the above heaven as space is matter as well. God is in His Heaven that Heaven is before the known heaven the universe. Is there space between matter yes there is but God created the heaven meaning it is something it’s not a unoccupied area
I believe that believing in a young universe is not a requirement for salvation, and I don't think God will bar anyone from entering heaven just because they believe the creation account uses figurative language. Let's take a look at Genesis 2:21-22:
21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
Is this not figurative language? Of course it is! So, why Genesis 1 has to be literal?
The Big Bang PROVES God you do understand that right ? Up until the Big Bang theory was pretty proven by the echo sound two scientists found most Scientists believed in an eternal universe, thus meaning there was no need for a Creator. The Big Bang proves there has to be a CREATOR. You are taking a positive and making it a negative. We both know God exists right ? Now Science says the Universe has a starting point, just like the bible says, whereas before they said the Universe was eternal.
How to we snatch defeat from victory ? God said LET THERE BE LIGHT !! The Laws of Nature tells us this ACTION has to be caused and thus there has to be a Being that caused it, and this ACTION would no doubt have to be a powerful action, thus BIG BANG.