That topic is the word "create" and how it is defined and used in Genesis
Ch. 1 by Christians.
The topic was Gen. Ch.1 when:
>John E. Rylander wrote:
>> (2) Why would any matter created ex nihilo necessarily have the
appearance
>> of age?
Bill Payne wrote:
>Suppose a shiny new copper penny with the date 1998 suddenly appeared on
>the desk right before your eyes. If you were watching the spot and
>actually saw it appear, and then picked it up, would you not wonder
>where it came from? We assume cause and effect, which, in our
>naturalistic mindset, requires us to consider that a newly created penny
>came from pre-existing matter. Therefore, it would have the "appearance
>of age."
In this analogy, you used the word "created" to explain part of your
understanding of Genesis Chapter 1. While your usage of "created" is
perfectly acceptable in the English language, if my references and
understanding is correct, it falls short when dealing with the Hebrew
language of Genesis.
The Hebrew word (Bara') translated as "created"ALWAYS emphasizes the
initiation of the object, while the Hebrew word (Asah) translated as "make
or made" ALWAYS deals with the refinement of what has ALREADY been created.
In other words, by using the words Bara; and Asah, Genesis makes the
distinction of:
1. The initiation of objects and
2. The refinement of those objects.
Notice in Genesis Ch. 1:1, that the heaven and the earth are "created,"
followed by the heaven and earth being "made" in verses 7-10, with the sun,
moon and stars "made" in v. 16. (The earth is not just created, but it was
made also, over a particular time period in accordance with the meaning of
Asah .)
Then in v.21 whales are created, followed by ALL land animals "made" in
v.25.
( Apparently, no land animals were created except birds?? If land animals
are refinements of what already existed (sea creatures), isn't this starting
to sound a little like evolution?? )
Then Man is "made" in v.26 before he is "created" in v.27. (This isn't
redundancy, it's 2 words with 2 different meanings in a specific chronology.
Man was refined from what?)
As a fully indoctrinated YEC, I was taught that God created everything.
But, on close examination of Genesis, I found that God didn't create (ex
nihilo) everything, but that many creatures (including man) went through a
refinement process (Asah) and was "made" from something that existed before
it (or he) existed.
Can you or another YEC explain the above in a manner that supports YEC views
satisfactorily - with the *vast majority* of Scriptural evidence in favor of
the YEC position, or show me where I misunderstood the evidence?
Thanks,
Mike Burling