Our religion teacher said that in the pas they counted differently?

Question

like if someone lived 600 years old it mean to be 60 and so on. What do you think about this?

Answer 1

I think that he is trying to rewrite the Bible. They had the same years we have today. It was measured from harvest to harvest. He is just wrong!!! Jim

Answer 2

No, people really did live to be up to 900 years old. You have to keep in mind that before the Flood, the Earth was very, very different than it is today. There used to be a 7th layer of ice or water above the atmosphere that kept out the damaging rays of the sun, increase oxygen to 30%, increased air pressure on Earth and caused everything to grow giant, including animals (like dinosaurs and giant mammals) and people. It is believed that Adam and Eve and their pre-Flood descendants were giants. Not only does the Bible say "There were giants in the Earth in those days", but the layer of ice or water above the atmosphere would explain this change. The increase in oxygen would mean that healing would occur rapidly, as the bloodstream became saturated with oxygen. Adam could have run for hundreds of miles without getting tired! With all the factors that cause aging today removed, people could easily live for hundreds of years.
During the Flood, this layer of water came down, so the rays of the sun came in and caused damage. Lifespans started dropping from several hundred down to 300-400, then down to 200, and today, not many people make it to 100. We also got smaller as a result of the change in atmosphere.

Answer 3

There may be a lot of differences between the era Genesis and today, but the year is a constant. It involves going through one full set of seasons, and even nomadic cultures base their plans on when the seasons change. This is simply another indication regarding the mythological basis of the Bible. They looked upon these ancient humans as kind of superheroes, and their longevity was testimony of how special they were.

If you insist on Biblical literalism, you're going to have to deal with the obvious disconnect regarding current human lifespans and those described in the Old Testament. On the other hand, if use the Bible to look for meaning beyond the exact language, you may find it useful in your own daily life.

Answer 4

There are still cultures today ("primitive" ones) that view time as flexible and can talk about their grandfather from 500 years ago or living for hundreds of years. It's not so much only in the past as just various cultures just didn't care so much about accuracy. It's not specifically counting different like 600 for 60, it's just metaphor.

Answer 5

Sounds like new math?

Just kidding.

I'd ask for proof? Not to be rude but asking for additional information.

I didn't see anything like that in the Bible were someone lived for 600 years and next to a disclaimer: we do our math different so for you it's 60 years.

((Not being a smarty pants...just giving an example))

Answer 6

The calendar system we use is not ancient by any means, and yet I doubt that any calender system used by those in the far past would have used the term "year", but not a similar 4 season structure to define a year. I think your teacher is guessing.

Answer 7

I think the bibles the greatest hoax ever. I believe in God, I just don't believe there's a story book to accompany him. The Bible was written by men who wanted to put their own spin on what was right or wrong. God didn't write it. I think God tells us right from wrong every day when we use that little voice in our heads that we call a conscience. Nobody survived being swallowed by a whale. Nobody walked on water. There was never a boat big enough to house the animal kingdom.

Answer 8

Never heard that one. I do know that numbers as we know them did not exist until the arabs invented them. Prior to that, people associated letters with numerical values. Below is an interesting article on long lifespans. It concludes that,

"Advances in the biology and biochemistry of aging have been remarkable, and, at the same time, they reveal that the aging process is, indeed, complex. Much remains to be learned and discovered about it. Recent discoveries do clearly indicate, however, that aging can result from subtle changes in the invisible realm of cosmic radiation and cellular chemistry. Given the subtly of these changes, investigators are gaining some hope and confidence that in the near future they will be able to slow the human aging process through drug treatment and dietary alteration.

Scientists' success in altering the life span of selected organisms (such as worms, yeast, and fruit flies) and their emerging ability to increase human life expectancy through biochemical manipulation lend scientific plausibility to the long life spans recorded in Genesis 5. If humans with their limited knowledge and power can alter life spans, how much more so can God? He could have used any of four (or more) subtle alterations in human biochemistry to allow for long life spans. He could have used the Vela supernova or other astronomical events, in combination with complementary biochemical changes, to shorten human longevity.

Exactly how God altered human life spans no one knows. However, recent discoveries in the biochemistry of aging continue to build the case for the reliability of Scripture—even of Genesis 5 and 6. Researchers stand on the threshold of additional breakthroughs in understanding the aging process. Further advances are anticipated in the endocrinology and hormonal control of aging, and in deciphering Werner's syndrome (a disorder that leads to premature aging).41, 42, 43, 44 One can look forward to these and other discoveries in the biochemistry of aging with the confidence that they will continue to lend credibility to the biblical record.

Answer 9

No, they counted the same as we do, from your birth to the same date the next year. I think that your teacher should get into another line of work, as it is plain to me that he/she does not believe in what he is teaching. God altered our life spans by allowing us to eat meat, and by making life very hard on us.

Answer 10

Well, it makes me wonder what religion he is teaching. Generally, bible teachers are literalist, wich means if the Bible say 600, it means 600. They may have counted diffrently, but not like that.

Answer 11

your teacher ought to be fired. that's what i think.

people may have counted differently, but 600 years is more than 60 years no matter what counting system you use.