Are you a proponent of the "Old Earth" theory or the "Young Earth" theory or something else? I don't want to start a debate about who's right or wrong, I'm just being nosey :angel:
I said "other" because I'm in the "I don't know and don't think we need to know" camp. (But I have researched and thought about it quite a lot.)
I'm a young earth Christian. I fully believe the Bible. From genesis to revelation. The fact of the matter is no one can PROVE either. None of us were around then, however long ago it was. So it's an issue of faith no matter what you choose to believe. So I choose to believe the Bible.
Josie said it for me. But I also agree with Amie, I don't HAVE to know. It just doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. The end result is the same.
Believing in an old earth does not mean a person doesn't fully believe the Bible. There is more than one way to read a significant portion of Scripture, even the Genesis account and genealogies. Q: Do you take the Bible literally? A: The literal parts. As the Genesis account was written in exalted prose writing style, and given what we know about the audience to whom it was written, it's slightly more likely the Creation story is an account of the origins of function, not matter. Again, I'll reiterate that I don't know and I don't need to know. So I'm not asserting my beliefs here. What I take issue with are those who discount old earth Christians as somehow less righteous or less Bible-believing.
[Side note to the camp that says "young Earth is the ONLY acceptable way to interpret Scripture": You're handing the non-Christians a target on a silver platter. Because if we continue to assert that young Earth = Biblical sovereignty, then all the other side has to do is prove that the earth is old and they've disproven the entire Bible. Dangerous gamble to make!]
I agree with you Aimee. It's always made me inwardly snicker when people take the creation day always literally and then offer that Jesus drank GRAPE JUICE during the Lords Supper. But I'm just pot stirring now, so I will shut up. I do agree with you Aimee. If I had to go one way or the other, I'd choose young earth, but not because of the Bible, just because I was raised that way.
I'm YE, but I have to laugh at the bolded part. DH and I went to a different church one evening because his cousin was preaching. It was all about the evils of alcohol. Apparently whenever it talks about wine in the bible, it was not alcohol. I'm not sure why at the Wedding at Cana (and yes, he used this passage in his message) they talked about guests being drunk...:lol:
I do take the Bible literally, and I do believe we are living on an old earth. For most of my life I didn't study the issue or think it was important. Then I had a kid who wants to be a scientist so I had to delve into the issue.
It's been several years, and I admit a lot of the book was over my head due to the physics and math aspects, but the book The Science of God, I feel does a great job of proving Genesis correct, even on timeline, due to calculations in how fast time moved at the time of the "big bang" versus now. It is an interesting perspective!
I feel the same. I've thought about it, and it's interesting to hear both side, but I don't feel strongly either way. The church I attend teaches new earth, but I don't agree that it's proven one way or the other.
I'm like you Embassy, I never really thought about it and now I have a kid who's into prehistoric life.
My dh and I have discussed this over and over again. If the earth is young, where do dinosaurs fit in? If the earth is old why don't we have proof? Is the big bang theory totally false, or was that some part of how God put this all together? There really are so many questions surrounding this topic on both sides. We have concluded that for us it doesn't matter. Whether the earth is young or old doesn't change anything for us. As for teaching dinosaurs....there are fossils so they are real, but as for their exact age, we teach that what scientists are guessing is only their best guess but only God really knows.
I've never really thought about it in depth, and that is just because no one really knows. And I also don't feel like I need to know. When I get to heaven, maybe I'll have a lil chat with the Lord and ask Him these things. Or maybe in the presence of the Almighty, I won't really care =) Either way, i don't believe we will ever know or need to know EVERYTHING.
I am a very adamant 100% young earth supporter. And I do believe that a young earth is supported through science.
We are Christians who believe in the old earth theory. I like the point made earlier about our choices of which parts of the Bible to take literally vs figuratively. I think at some level, all Christians/denominations pick and choose. I know that in my denomination, we take one part *very* literally, yet with regards to other areas, we simply accept that we do not know, though if we were literalists, it would be the opposite
Not intending to start a debate, but answering to the same level... I'm an old earth Christian. I fully believe the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, and in context, I see nothing to preclude it. While some verses talk about six days, so other verses talk about the sun standing still. The latter verses do not force me to reject the idea that the earth rotates daily on its axis or orbits the sun, any more than the former verses preclude belief in an ancient earth. The fact of the matter is that 17 different branches of science yield evidence that consistently and independently point to the same very ancient age. While none of us were around, neither have any of us visited Saturn, but we see it, recognize it, and believe it. Interesting to see that the responses are evenly split. Honestly, I wish this wasn't a taboo subject, because it's not a slam-dunk opinion or litmus test as "Christian culture" would have us believe.
