Excellent post roachboay, but I must correct you on one point. Or, more accurately, answer a question of yours.
The 5-7,000 year range for the age of the earth does not have to do with the 7 day creation. For those who view the earth as being that young, the 7 day creation is taken literally as 7 days. They get 5-7,000 years from the ages given to various persons mentioned in the bible - particularly those in the Torah, who "begat X" and "lived Y years."
To add to your point about translation and the question of whether or not the compilers and translators were also divinely inspired, it is interesting to note that the books of the Tanakh are presented in a different order than the books of the Old Testament. This was done so as to specifically shape the Old Testament story as a prophetic journey culminating in the New Testament.
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Originally Posted by ShaniFaye
I guess my "problem" is that billions or millions of years seems like an AWFULLY generic time frame and I have a hard time believing things to have been 100% without a doubt tested accurately.
Does that explain a little better for you Secret? (Sorry bout yesterday, my headache was really getting in the way of making me coherent)
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I think I may be at fault for speaking generically in that case - you're right, "millions or billions of years" is a generic time frame. What science tells us is actually rather specific: the earth is approximately 4.567 billion years plus or minus 100 million years (which, in science terms, is a very short period of time). Again, the idea that science admits the dating methods have not been 100% tested accurately isn't exactly something we should use to place doubt on their findings, because gravity is
also something science admits has not been 100% tested accurately, but we still expect what we throw up to also come down. Scientists are as confident about the range I mentioned above for the age of the earth as they are confident that what we throw up will come down, and that gravity is the reason why.