Just the fact that "God created the heavens and the earth in six days" should be a turnoff from religion

Question

Just the fact that "God created the heavens and the earth in six days" should be a turnoff from religion because the earth wasn't created in six days. I started reading the bible the other day, and this fact has thrown me off believing. Now, when people start saying that to God one day might be millions of years it's just like they're trying to desperately do whatever they can because they really WANT to believe. I want to believe to, but I feel silly. If a person wants to believe no one is ever going to change their mind, I know..... , but shouldn't this fact be like a turn off from believing in the Christian God? I don' t know, lately I've really been wanting to believe but I just dunno......

Terabell_Samantha_Ursu..., but the bible says, " then the evening passed, and the night, and then it was a new day..Aren't evenings a characteristic of 24 hr days??

I did started to read it because I've always cherished Christianity, (trying to be a better christian) but this threw me off...

Answer 1

I feel so sorry for you!

Answer 2

C. G First of all, many religious fundamentalists today distort the Bible when they insist that the earth was created in six 24-hour days. (Genesis 1:3-31) Such a view agrees neither with science nor with the Bible. In the Bible, as in everyday speech, the word “day” is a flexible term, expressing units of time of varying lengths. At Genesis 2:4, all six creative days are referred to as one all-embracing “day.” The Hebrew word translated “day” in the Bible can simply mean “a long time.”6 So, there is no Biblical reason to insist that the days of creation were 24 hours each. By teaching otherwise, fundamentalists misrepresent the Bible.—See also 2 Peter 3:8.

So, is it reasonable to believe that everything on this earth was created in six days?

There are some religious groups that teach that God created everything in six 24-hour days. But that is not what the Bible says.

Genesis 1:3-31 tells how God prepared the already existing earth for human habitation. It says that this was done during a period of six days, but it does not say that these were 24-hour days. It is not unusual for a person to refer to his “grandfather’s day,” meaning that one’s entire lifetime. So, too, the Bible often uses the term “day” to describe an extended period of time. (Compare 2 Peter 3:8.) Thus the ‘days’ of Genesis chapter 1 could reasonably be thousands of years long.

Answer 3

Was all physical creation accomplished in just six days sometime within the past 6,000 to 10,000 years?
The facts disagree with such a conclusion: (1) Light from the Andromeda nebula can be seen on a clear night in the northern hemisphere. It takes about 2,000,000 years for that light to reach the earth, indicating that the universe must be at least millions of years old. (2) End products of radioactive decay in rocks in the earth testify that some rock formations have been undisturbed for billions of years.
Genesis 1:3-31 is not discussing the original creation of matter or of the heavenly bodies. It describes the preparation of the already existing earth for human habitation. This included creation of the basic kinds of vegetation, marine life, flying creatures, land animals, and the first human pair. All of this is said to have been done within a period of six “days.” However, the Hebrew word translated “day” has a variety of meanings, including ‘a long time; the time covering an extraordinary event.’ (Old Testament Word Studies, Grand Rapids, Mich.; 1978, W. Wilson, p. 109) The term used allows for the thought that each “day” could have been thousands of years in length.

Answer 4

Hi C.G. I had the hardest time with 6 day creation, Adam and Eve, Noah's ark.. I mean give me a break!! Because I was raised as an atheist, and evolutionist.

I wanted to believe in God. But I felt that I could not, and still be intellectually honest. This went on for many years.

But when I started to really look into the science behind a literal 6 day creation, I had that barrier to faith removed. Now many people who are FAR more educated and intelligent than I am can give wonderful scientific reasons why the earth is ~3.4 billion years old, and why we are all the result of biological evolution. I personally cannot dispute them on a scientific basis.

But consider this C.G. There are many thousands of people with advanced degrees in every scientific field,- that do believe in a literal 6 day creation. And who have given considerable thought and study to it. Many atheists would have us believe that there is not a single educated, intelligent person in the entire world who believes that there is a valid scientific case for a 6 day creation. Despite their bravado, they are evidently quite insecure in their beliefs. Else they would not be here in R&S so much. Methinketh they protest too loudlly.

Answer 5

A turn off for some but a miracle for others. I don't believe it is possible to do the things that were written in the Bible. How could only 2 of every animal get on the same boat, survive and mate?! It makes no sense to me. So it did totally turn me off to the whole religion thing but to some it just a miracle that can never be answered. I guess people feel better when they have faith...I dont need faith, I have myself :)

Answer 6

It doesn't turn me off from religion.

How long is a year to God? We don't know. I believe that the Big Band Theory happened. I just believe that it is God that caused it to happen. After all, the Bible says that God created the heavens and the earth, but it doesn't say how he did.

Answer 7

If it is a fact, which it isn't, then you should take religion seriously because the fact that its a fact makes Christianity valid. (semantics sorry)

The bible doesn't say what a day is. A day on mars is different from a day on earth. The bible is a translation, so you would have to know what the original text was and understand that language. A day could mean, a phase. In phase one He did this, in phase two He did that.

Answer 8

One day to God is a thousand days to men - NOT a million.

Think of it this way; when you were a kid, and your parents said you were going to Disneyland (or wherever) on the weekend, didn't the weekend take forever to get here!? Yes because that time to you seemed like a lot. The older you are, the quicker time goes by because that same amount of time is relatively smaller in comparison to the rest of your life.

If you're 50, one year is 1/50th of your life (small amount). If you're 2, one year is HALF your life (takes a lot longer). Get it?

A 24-hour period (what we call a day) to God goes by in a flash to him because he has been around for so long.

That is what the bible means by that. The bible is FULL of metaphors. You just have to use common sense to interpret it correctly.

Answer 9

Why is it so hard to believe that he created everything in 6 days???

Are you putting a limit on God?? Are you saying it is impossible for God to do something???

All things are possible with God. He has no limits. So he can and did create the "heavens and the earth" in 6 (24 hour) days. To say otherwise is to doubt God's abilities.

Answer 10

Anytime something doesn't make sense, Christians always have an excuse. "Don't take it literally" "One day to God is like a thousand years" etc... They will tell you the bible is the literal word of God, until you call them on it, then they make excuses. The bible is a book written by men, not God. God was created in man's image--not the other way around. God was invented to make man's ego feel better and to explain the unexplainable.

Answer 11

The 6 creative days had nothing to do with creation of the heavens and the earth. They were time periods that God used to prepare the already existing earth for habitation. Those days could be thousands of years each.

If you will notice in Gen. 1:2 that the earth was in existence BEFORE the first "day" even started.