Author Thread: God created everything
Moonlight7

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God created everything
Posted : 26 Jan, 2023 05:34 AM

What is the age of the universe?







In Genesis 1:1, we are told that “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The Bible gives no date for the creation; the only hint is that it happened “in the beginning.” In Hebrew, the word for “beginning” is bereshith, literally meaning “head.”



All Christians agree that God created the universe. Where Christians have a difference of opinion is in the interpretation of the word day (Hebrew yom) in Genesis chapter 1. Those who hold to a literal, 24-hour day believe in a comparatively young earth; those who hold to a non-literal, poetic day believe in a much older earth.



Many scholars and Christian scientists believe the word day in Genesis refers to a literal, 24-hour day. This would explain the repetition throughout Genesis 1 of the statement “and there was evening, and there was morning.” One evening and one morning make up one day (in Jewish reckoning, a new day begins at sunset). Others point to the non-literal use of the word day elsewhere in Scripture, e.g., “the day of the Lord,” and argue that evening to morning does not equal a day and should instead be understood as figuratively referring to beginnings and endings of periods of time (Genesis 2:4; 2:27).



If the genealogies in Genesis chapters 5 and 11 and the rest of Old Testament history are interpreted strictly literally, the creation of Adam can be dated to approximately 4000 BC. But this would only date the creation of Adam, not necessarily the creation of the earth, let alone the universe. There is also the possibility of “gaps” of time in the narrative of Genesis 1.



All that to say, the Bible does not explicitly give the age of the universe. Got Questions Ministries takes the position of a young earth and believes literal, 24-hour days in Genesis 1 are a preferred interpretation. At the same time, we do not have serious disagreements with the idea that the earth and the universe might be significantly older than 6,000 years. Whether the differences are explained by gaps or by God creating the universe with the “appearance of age” or by some other factor—a universe older than 6,000 years does not cause significant biblical or theological problems. In other words, this is not an issue over which Christians ought to suffer doubt or discord.



Ultimately, the age of the universe cannot be proved from Scripture or from science. Whether the cosmos is 6,000 years old or billions of years old, both viewpoints (and everything in between) rest on faith and assumptions. It is always wise to question the motives of those who argue the earth “must be” some specific age, and that the evidence could not possibly be interpreted as anything else. There are good and bad reasons, logic, and motivations on all sides of this question. Only one view will ultimately be proved true, but in the meantime some options are more biblical than others.





Did God use the "big bang" to create the universe?



No

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LittleDavid

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Posted : 26 Jan, 2023 03:25 PM

Most of the time I agree with Got Questions that’s why l often quote them. But I must disagree this time.

The correct interpretation of Genesis 1&2 is not simply up for grabs‼️‼️

Arriving at the correct biblical interpretation required one thing—Either we belief GOD or we don’t. Sadly, some Christians don’t!

Any imitation interpretation that turns the 6 days of creation into millions of years or forces in an artificial gap, where no gap exists, is just plain unbelief and false‼️‼️‼️

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Moonlight7

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God created everything
Posted : 26 Jan, 2023 04:05 PM

What is the Gap Theory?

Gap Theory





Genesis 1:1–2 states, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 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.” The gap theory is the view that God created a fully functional earth with all animals, including the dinosaurs and other creatures we know only from the fossil record. Then, the theory goes, something happened to destroy the earth completely—most likely the fall of Satan to earth—so that the planet became without form and void. At this point, God started all over again, recreating the earth in its paradise form as further described in Genesis. The gap theory, which is distinct from theistic evolution and the day-age theory, is also called old-earth creationism, gap creationism, and the ruin-reconstruction theory.



In young-earth creationism, Genesis 1:1 is seen as a summary of the complete chapter 1 in the Hebrew storytelling form. God created the heavens and the earth. Then verse 2 begins a detailed breakdown of the step-by-step process that verse 1 summarizes. However, the statement that “the earth was formless and empty, [and] darkness was over the surface of the deep” (Genesis 1:2) can be puzzling. The idea that God created a useless and shapeless earth is an uncomfortable position for some conservative theologians, and this leads them to the gap theory, or an old-earth perspective.



According to conservative proponents of the gap theory, Genesis 1:1 describes the original creation of God—perfect in every way. Then, between verses 1 and 2, Satan rebelled in heaven and was cast out. Satan’s sin “ruined” the original creation; that is, his rebellion brought about its destruction and eventual death, and the earth was reduced to its “formless and empty” state, ready for the “re-construction.” The length of time involved—the size of the “gap”—is not specified but could have lasted millions of years.



Of course, Satan must have fallen before Adam did; otherwise, there would have been no temptation in the garden. Young-earth creationists say that Satan fell sometime after Genesis 1:31. Gap creationists say that Satan fell between Genesis 1:1 and 2.



One difficulty of the gap theory is that it requires that creation suffer death and destruction before Adam’s fall. Romans 5:12 says, “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.” The gap theory counters by positing two worlds. Satan’s sin brought death to the original creation, whatever that was like; and Adam’s sin brought death to the re-creation, the realm of mankind. Through Adam’s sin, evil entered our world and the realm of man was cursed. But rebellion already existed outside the realm of mankind (in the spiritual realm), since Satan and his angels had already fallen (Isaiah 14:12–14; Ezekiel 28:12–18). Sin could not enter the realm of man until man chose it. And Satan, via the serpent, successfully tempted man to make that choice.



Objections to the gap theory include the idea that, if something important had occurred between Genesis 1:1 and 2, God would have told us so, rather than leave us to speculate in ignorance. Also, Genesis 1:31 says God declared His creation to be “very good”—a statement difficult to square with the theory that evil already existed because of Satan’s fall in the “gap.”



It is possible to hold to a literal, six-day creation week and still hold to the gap theory—the gap theory does not require evolution to be true, since the gap falls before the events of Day One in Genesis 1:3. And that’s why some conservative scholars do believe the gap theory, although its acceptance has waned since the days of proponents C. I. Scofield and J. Vernon McGee.



However, many of those who hold to the gap theory do so in order to reconcile old-earth, evolutionary theories with the book of Genesis. But it seems to be a strained reconciliation. The plain reading of Genesis 1 does not at all intimate a length of time between the first two verses. Genesis 1:1 tells us that God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:2 informs us that, when He first created the earth, it was formless, empty, and dark; it was unfinished and uninhabited. The rest of Genesis 1 relates how God completed the formless, empty, and dark earth by filling it with life, beauty, and goodness.

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LittleDavid

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Posted : 26 Jan, 2023 07:33 PM

Very good article explaining the gap theory fallacy and its problems.

Unfortunately the gap theory is just another inexcusable compromise fostered by ignorant Christians in an attempt to avoid the ridicule of “rejecting science”. But the gap theory is not scientific. Worse yet, it’s not biblical‼️ The gap theory is just another false teaching that should be exposed and rejected.

False teaching is tricky and dangerous stuff‼️ Even good men like C. I. Scofield and J. Vernon McGee where duped by it‼️‼️‼️

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Moonlight7

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Posted : 27 Jan, 2023 03:31 AM

The Bible explains what God wanted Us to know.



Some things aren't always in Scripture.



So many should not assume anything not written in. Bible.

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LittleDavid

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Posted : 27 Jan, 2023 08:06 AM

You’re right about that‼️

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