From: allenroy (allenroy@peoplepc.com)
Date: Sat Oct 11 2003 - 01:14:57 EDT
Glenn Morton wrote:
> Allen there is not one assumption in your logic above but 2. You assume that
> your interpretation of Scripture is infallible. You assume that Genesis 1
> actually teaches about the actualization of the earth, not the planning for
> what the universe would be like.
I believe that the creation of the universe is found only in "In the beginning
God created the Heavens and the Earth." (Gen 1:1) The rest of Genesis 1,
beginning with verse 2, deals primarily with the creation of the biosphere on
planet earth. There may well have been a passage of a long period of time
between the "In the Beginning" and verse 2, during which time the earth was in
the condition as described in verse 2
Gen 1:2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the
surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the
waters.
I believe that the formlessness, emptiness and darkness finds it's explanation
in Job 38:9,
JOB 38:4, 8, 9 "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand. ... Who shut up the sea behind doors when
it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and
wrapped it in thick darkness,
Putting these verses together and you have: "the earth was formless and empty
as thick dark clouds wrap the surface of the deep, ....".
The POV of Genesis 1 is from the surface of this water covered planet that is
wrapped in formless, dark clouds. This POV is emphasized by the point that an
evening and a morning can ONLY be known or experienced ON a rotating planet. If
one were on such a planet you would not be able see, because of the thick, dark
clouds, if there was anything else out there, i.e. stars, planets, sun.
> If, as I argue, Genesis 1 represents the
> pre-planning for the universe, then Genesis 1 should be interpreted not as
>
> And God said, 'let there be light and it was so'
>
> But as
>
> And God said, 'let there be light'. [a later editor said]: 'And it was so.'
>
> But the passage doesn't say (and this is very important) 'And it was so
> IMMEDIATELY/Instantly'
That is convenient, invent a redactor, for which there is zero evidence, and you
can make the Bible say anything you want. And this comes from the guy who just
said. "Anybody who wishes may write his or her amplified Genesis. I don't wish
to."
Genesis 1:2-2:3 can be understood in the knowledge of a previously existing
universe (from verse 1:1) in this way:
GE 1:3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that
the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called
the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and
there was morning
If Gen 1:1 refers to the Creation of the universe, then, in verse 3, the light
that is created is not associated with the creation of the universe. It is an
event whereby someone on the surface of the globe, surrounded by black clouds
will then experience light in the clouds. It is not guaranteed, perhaps not
even expected, that the source of the light can be seen through the clouds.
But, whatever the source, it lights up the clouds only on one side of the planet
because "there was evening, and there was morning." Perhaps, the Sun,
originally created along with the universe along with the planets, is lit up at
this time. Now there is a source of light in the universe that is close enough
to the planet to penetrate the formerly dark, thick clouds covering the globe.
GE 1:6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate
water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the
expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky."
It is possible to understand this to mean that the clouds and ocean were
separated. The former atmosphere consisting of water drops supported, likely,
in water vapor and perhaps other gasses, is then "made," or modified, to be an
atmosphere with high visibility called "the sky." But clouds must still mask
the sun and the universe because no mention of them is made at this time.
GE 1:14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate
the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and
years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the
earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights--the greater light to govern
the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God
set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the
day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.
In order for the lights to be seen from the planet "in" the sky, perhaps as one
sees the sun "in" a window, the clouds would need to be dissipated. [This is
whether or not you believe that the sun and moon were first created at this
time, or if the dissipation of the clouds caused them to first be seen now.]
And if you can see the sun and moon, you can then also see the stars. The
making of the lights can be seen to be the making of them to appear in the sky.
It is not necessary to interpret Genesis 1 to be such that the universe is
created on "day four" of the creation week. Rather, Genesis 1 can be
interpreted to allow for a previously created universe to come into view from
the planet through a series of events during the Creation Week.
Allen
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Oct 11 2003 - 01:15:22 EDT