But you have to admit that it is also consistent (internally or otherwise) with the idea that 1 day could mean 1000 years?
I would argue that the consistency is better with the 1000 year version.
Evolution
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I would argue that the consistency is better with the 1000 year version.
Well played!
A good thought experiment goes back to the basics and builds up layer by layer to see if a conclusion makes sense.
We can talk in terms of species, or we can talk in terms of kinds, they mean the same thing much of the time but perhaps there are subtleties that differ the two. How do we determine what a "kind" is?
Can we produce one kind from another kind? If a lion and a tiger mate to produce a liger or tigon, is this a new kind? Biblically, where did giants come from? Are they are new kind that emerged from humans? I think there is no escaping the process of speciation (the emergence of new kinds). If you agree, let me know and I'll give you the next set of questions. If not, why not?
I don't care much if people believe in evolution, grativity, the flat earth, quantum mechanics, ghosts, aliens or the loch ness monster. What I do care about is people who say that belief or disbelief in any of these things is a requirement to be a Christian. They bring this to mind: But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.
I don't agree. I believe that approach is ignoring clear indications of symbolic language. One day is not 1,000 years; one day is like 1,000 years. The difference is subtle but critical.
A day is as a thousand years - to God. A day is a day to us. When God declared the days of creation, they were literal days. How else could you have "evening and morning"? If God was being figurative, "evening and morning" are meaningless. Now there is no reason why each day could not be separated by a period of time. How long that might be, we don't know.
"Day" is highly significant in God's word. He measures our life in days, His mercies are new every morning, goodness and mercy follow us all our days. Each day has its own problems. Lord Jesus told us not to worry about tomorrow. So when God introduces the day as a unit of time, He means it.
And it is according to God's viewpoint, not ours. We are bound by time, like it or not.
I addressed this in a previous post. I don't agree, because it makes no sense that God would use terms common to humanity to mean something other than what those terms commonly mean to humanity.
An interesting third approach.
Evening and morning could refer to the decline or rise of that characteristic period. One would have to compare to other scripture to test for significance.
Even with a gapless seven 24 hour creation, what is the significance of evening and morning except to differentiate days? Consider the fact that the literal interpretation of creation doesn't have a sun until midweek. Prior to that it was God Himself that divided day and night.
Apologies; I read your previous post after responding to that one. I understand what you meant.
What did Jesus mean when He said my Father is working until now, and I am working?
God's rest is eternal. The work was finished. It was then man's responsibility to carry out God's will. Of course, Adam blew it and Lord Jesus had to step in to become the Last Adam.
It's a differentiator between Israelites and Gentiles. Anyone wanting to become a Hebrew had to be circumcised. Some adults I knew said that it was most painful, even with modern surgery and pain relief. Not something people would do lightly,
Nothing can occur in nature without an instruction set, any more than a cat wandering around on a keyboard (as mine does sometimes) will produce an app. God placed genetic codes into His creation that determines what that creature will be. My understanding is that a vast array of codes were placed in the initial creatures. So, for example, Adam incorporated every race in his genetic makeup.
If the genetics are close enough, a certain degree of mix and match can occur, such as "ligers". Mules are a result of cross breeding donkeys and horses. However, few of the hybrids are fertile and cross breeding is still the best way to produce mules.
No one even thinks of crossing a whale with a penguin. Obviously they are not sufficiently alike. Speciation occurs when a particular variation is better suited to its environment. The pepper moth was once touted as evidence for evolution. It seemed to change from a light to a dark colour. However, when its environment changed, the light version of the moth became predominant once more. As the background became lighter once more, so the dark moth became more visible to predators.
Hard to know with giants. Goliath almost certainly had a thyroid problem, which is the usual cause of giantism. In reality, David was in little danger from Goliath, as long as he did not get too close. A sling and stone was the ancient equivalent of a rifle, up against a spear and a sword. David had 5 stones, just in case. He only needed one.
If God's rest IS eternal, why did Jesus say "My Father is working until now, and I am working"?
John 5:17