Quote:
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Originally Posted by asaris
Problems:
1. As I understand it, the genealogies may well have skipped steps, due to an ambivalency in one of the words. If I recall correctly (and I probably don't), the same word means 'is the father of' and 'is the ancestor of'.
2. Sure, the timeline works out okay if each day in Genesis is a billion years. Unfortunately, the Bible says each day is to the Lord as a thousand years (and, actually, I'm not even sure off hand it says that). Moreover, the time frame is wrong. Land mammals haven't been around for the last billion years, I'm pretty sure.
The silly part is, as I'm sure I've said here before, the first chapter of Genesis was being interpreted metaphorically as long ago as St. Augustine. The fundamentalist interpretation of the passage as referring to literal 24 hour days is a modern invention.
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No, land mammals didnt exist a billion years ago, but there is an order to the story, first the earth, then plants, sea creatures, and then mammals and humans. It doesnt say mammals, I think it says cattle, but there is a simplistic evolution of events. Plants, Animals, Humans....
I dont recall the Bible saying each day is to the Lord as a thousand years, but I do recall the day to a year. If it can be a year or a thousand then why not a billion???
Perhaps God did create a single celled organism which carried the genetic code that would eventually evolve into an untold multitude of life forms. Even if that organism was brought here by a comet it just makes the story that much more interesting. The whole galaxy may have been seeded that way, but where did the original organism come from??? Science hasnt been able to replicate life, only manipulate it.