Do Christians (or anybody else) believe Genesis 1:6-8 literally?

Question

Here it is--

Genesis 1:6-8: "And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."

The simple meaning of the words is that the sky is a solid object and there is water overtop it, and the sky in fact keeps the water off us. Does anybody believe this is how it is? If not, why take any part of the creation story (including Adam and Eve) literally?

And yes, the word "firmament" does mean a solid object, hence the "firm" at the beginning. Don't take my word for it, check these out...

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06079b.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firmament

Answer 1

They have to, or else admit that they are not believers.
They would be using it to disprove physics if they could. But they lost that fight with physics centuries ago.
That is why they are attacking paleontology and biology now. They think they can deny Evolution.
The history of the Church's war against Science is a very long one. The Church has lost every battle so far.
They have cost the lives of a lot of brave men but they have been losing.

Answer 2

Yes, when the earth was created it was inteded to be a paradise. The firmament of water was to create a green house effect regulating the temperature earth wide. Notice what Genesis 2:5, 6 says "Now there was as yet no bush of the field found in the earth and no vegetation of the field was as yet sprouting, because Jehovah God had not made it rain upon the earth and there was no man to cultivate the ground. 6 But a mist would go up from the earth and it watered the entire surface of the ground."

Then we move on to the account of the flood in Noah's day. Genesis 7:11 "In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the springs of the vast watery deep were broken open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened."

Answer 3

Here is the literal meaning of Genesis.

1. God is creator.
2. Creation is good and peope are very good.
3. God gives people a way of life to live and if God is not obeyed then bad things will happen.

Answer 4

Yes.

In biblical usage, the term firmament means " heavens". Literally, it means "something stretched out, like a hammered metal. "

Divided the waters: The notion of upper and lower waters is somewhat mysterious. The language simply refer to waters gathered in a liquid state and to moisture in the atmosphere.

Answer 5

before the flood in Noah's days the earth was like a glass house, no direct sunlight and no rain. The mist from the ground was enough to water the plants. This was called a canopy.........once the flood came and the canopy was open, the earth now received the direct sunlight and the rain cycle began...........that was the first time a rainbow was mentioned.

Answer 6

>>The simple meaning of the words is that the sky is a solid object and there is water overtop it, and the sky in fact keeps the water off us.<<

The simple meaning of the words is that there is water in space -- which is exactly what science has confirmed:
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/milkyway_water_010412.html

Answer 7

The solar is the extra advantageous gentle that regulations the day. The moon is the "lesser gentle" that regulations the evening. it is not substantial that the moon may be seen during the day - it would not "rule" the day, the solar does. Likewise, the moon "regulations" the evening, no longer the solar, and it is not substantial which you won't be able to see the moon on a clean Moon - that's in simple terms for one evening. the classic Israelites have been completely attentive to the stages of the moon. you are trying to stress poetic language right into a "scientific" translation.

Answer 8

God simply introduced gravity in the universe. Difficult to describe it if there is no word coined for this force at the time.

Answer 9

according to the ancient Sumerians the firmament is the asteroid belt

Answer 10

Only people who don't understand the meaning of the word metaphor think this way.

Love and blessings Don