So were the 6 days of creation 6 litereal days or 6 metaphorical days? Why can't Christians agree?

Question

Some Christians say that the 7 days of creation (including the day God rested) were 7 literal days, where as other Christians think of them as metaphorical days. They take the verse "1 day is like a 1000 years in God's eyes" as their basis. So which is it? How do you support your view?

Before answering, keep in mind that Adam only lived for 900+ years (according to the bible). Now if each day was actually a 1000 years, by the end of the 7th day Adam's age would already have surpassed his actual age. The sun was created the day after plants were created. If each day was a 1000 years, the plants would not be able to survive (photosynthesis). Some Christians believe each day might even be longer than a 1000 years, which would make it even more absurd though. And don't forget to compare how the word "yom" is used throughout the bible.

Answer 1

i would have to say no one can agree , cause they were not there and don't know.

Answer 2

Those who take Genesis metaphorically don't look at it as "6 metaphorical days"; they look at the entire story as a metaphor. Even the ages of the patriarchs in the Genesis 5 genealogy can be seen to have metaphorical meanings rather than literal ones.

And yes, there are inherent logic flaws in the Genesis story, and the flood, and the Tower of Babel... but from Abraham the history seems to pick up quite precisely.

Grammatically, the word "yom" as it is used in Genesis1, with a designator (IE first, second...) always means a literal day.

And the whole "a day is as a thousand years" thing comes out of one of Peter's epistles, and has no context whatsoever in the creation story except by people who are trying to manipulate scripture to say what they want it to.

But, to answer your question (finally, I know!) Christians don't necessarily agree because they know that historically it cannot be possible, without God intervening in ways that the rest of the Bible suggest would be very uncharacteristic for him. The easiest explanation is to look at Genesis 1-11 more metaphorically. These ideas directly conflict with those Christians who believe that the Bible is the literal an inerrant word of God, and that science, anthropology, and archeology are all wrong.

Answer 3

The average Christian doesn't know the bible well (speaking from personal experience) so they are influenced by other input.
I agree with Julia D, regarding the meaning of "yom".
As for the day being as a thousand years to God, that's telling us that God is outside of the constraints of time. Time was created for humans.

Answer 4

Yep, that's what happens when someone comes along and steals the holy books of another people - takes them without any knowledge or understanding of what's in them, and then makes up all kinds of incorrect and twisted meanings for the purpose of promoting their own political and power agenda. Oh, and then demonizes the people to whom the books originally belonged.

If you want to know the actual meanings of what's in the Torah rather than the nonsensical inaccuracies the Christian bible and Christianity teaches, go to a Jewish source. There are many on the web. like http://www.chabad.org look under "parshah".

Be careful it's actually a Jewish source though, not a "christians in jewish drag" messianic "jewish" website. Those are christian fundies who like to dress up like jews and try to snag jewish souls for conversion to christianity that way. Im already a bit suspicious of you anyway, because of your thing there about "be careful how yom is used", because if you aren't Jewish you probably don't have a clue how its used or what it actually means if you're going by what you've learned from christians.

source: me, jewish

Answer 5

It looks to me like they were literal days because it says, "And the evening and the morning were the first day," second, third, etc. So there was a definite measure of time going on based on a rotation of light and darkness. Even though the sun, moon and stars weren't created until day four, God started measuring time as we know it when He separated the light from darkness. Whether that was a 24 hour period, I don't know, but I'm inclined to think so. But if someone knows better, I'm open to it.

Answer 6

Forgive me, but Gen1:3 " 'Let there be light' " - The Sun
Gen1:11 "Then God said, 'Let the land produce vegetation' " - the plants you spoke of
You probably saw Gen1:14 " 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky' ". There God is referring to the stars, not the sun.

God knows what he's doing ;-) he's not gonna make planets, and watch them wither and die until he makes the Sun :)

Answer 7

Literal.And which Christians disagree?The Genesis account is clear on the matter.You don't need to jump around looking for support of something so blatantly obvious.

Answer 8

Check out this link that gives 7 different ways of Interpreting Genesis 1 http://www.christianity.co.nz/science7.htm

Answer 9

Literal days, some just don't believe God is God

Answer 10

maybe beause no matter which one oy believe it will not change yor salvation....requirments for salvation, repent, be baptised, recieve the holy ghost...the rest is just details